Emmett Watson's Oyster Bar

"Here’s where to go if you want a break from the tourists. Even if they stumble on Emmett Watson’s (named for the old-timey journalist who founded it), they’ll probably turn around and walk right out. The decor is faded and a bit grimey; this is a bona fide dive. But stay awhile and order a drink, some $2 oysters — we’re not ready to recommend anything else on the menu — and you’ll find it to be a welcoming, relaxed place that feels more like old Seattle than the market." - Harry Cheadle

"This purports to be the city’s first-ever oyster bar and it feels like it — a rough-around-the-edges joint tucked away in a quiet corner of Pike Place Market. The oysters here are served simply, raw or broiled with bacon, and come with a side of hot sauce. It’s the place to come if you want a taste of Old Seattle." - Mark DeJoy

"“It is given to some men to know a love so profound, so pure, so all-enrapturing, that their spirits can soar to the heavens and their passions flame at the very sight of their consuming desires. I have been given such a love,” wrote the journalist Emmett Watson in 1990. “I refer, of course, to my ardor for the family Ostreidae. This seductive love object can be found, as a general rule, between tidal levels or in shallow waters along the coasts of all continents.” Watson, who was probably paid by the word and it shows, opened Seattle’s first oyster bar in 1979, and when you walk in to this Pike Place Market hole-in-the-wall it seems like Seattle’s first oyster bar. Unglamorous, old-school, never crowded, simple. Just order the oysters, which come garnished with lemon and hot sauce, and enjoy a trip back in time." - Ronald Holden, Harry Cheadle

"“It is given to some men to know a love so profound, so pure, so all-enrapturing, that their spirits can soar to the heavens and their passions flame at the very sight of their consuming desires. I have been given such a love,” wrote the journalist Emmett Watson in 1990. “I refer, of course, to my ardor for the family Ostreidae. This seductive love object can be found, as a general rule, between tidal levels or in shallow waters along the coasts of all continents.” Watson, who was probably paid by the word and it shows, opened Seattle’s first oyster bar in 1979, and when you walk in to this Pike Place Market hole-in-the-wall it seems like Seattle’s first oyster bar. Unglamorous, old-school, never crowded, simple. Just order the oysters, which come garnished with lemon and hot sauce, and enjoy a trip back in time." - Ronald Holden, Harry Cheadle

"Named for the legendary Seattle newspaper columnist who was once the restaurant’s co-owner, this Pike Place Market staple has drawn long lines for decades and even won an America’s Classics Award from the prestigious James Beard Foundation. The cramped, no-frills restaurant doesn’t mess around with fancy mignonettes for its raw bivalves, which come simply garnished with a lemon wedge and cocktail sauce. The broiled oysters are also a solid pick." - Megan Hill