We accept reservations for lunch and dinner via Opentable.
We only seat complete parties.
After 15 minutes, your table may be given to the next group.
We always have space dedicated for walk-in parties and reservations are not required.
If you don't find the time you are looking for on Opentable, give us a ring 857-239-8064
If you need to cancel or modify your reservation, please call 857-239-8064.
Condé Nast Traveler
Reviewed by ANDREW SESSA
You can go refined or grand (think, massive seafood towers) at this pitch perfect neighborhood seafood spot.
What's the story behind this place?
In 2015, Michael Serpa, the longtime executive chef at the North End’s always-packed, no-reservations Neptune Oyster, opened Select Oyster Bar, a 50-seat spot in the Back Bay. That means you can now book a table to eat his top-shelf European-inflected dishes without waiting outside in line for an hour-plus. Instead, you'll enjoy an elevated menu on the parlor floor of a historic townhouse, outfitted in maritime-tinged rough-luxe style, with exposed brick walls, a pewter bar, and bare-wood tables.
Who tends to come here?
The restaurant’s position squarely in the middle of the Back Bay means it brings in a variety of diners: well-heeled locals from the neighborhood and the adjacent South End and Beacon Hill, ladies (and gents) who lunch while shopping along Newbury Street, business types, and couples on dates or celebrating special occasions.
Start us off with a drink. What does the bar do best?
Serpa, who also manages the wine program, has assembled a list of seafood-appropriate selections from the Old and New worlds. You’ll find plenty of French vineyards, as well as well-made American bottles, dry Rieslings, Spanish whites, lots of Pinot Noir, and other reds. There's a particular focus on Chablis, Serpa's personal favorite.
On to the food: Take us through the menu—especially what we can't miss.
The restaurant’s European inflection comes through in favorites like the crudos, the Spanish octopus, the sautéed petit clams, and the whole roasted sea bream. If you’re ready to splurge, go for one of the seafood towers (from just over $100 to $325, depending on size), which are stocked with oysters, shrimp, lobster, blue crab salad, and more. Serpa mostly emphasizes local fish, especially for specials—written on a chalkboard behind the bar—that change to reflect what’s in season. He sources some ingredients, like the aforementioned octopus, from afar when the quality is better.
How's the service?
Service feels more casual than the elevated food would make you expect, which works to the advantage of this neighborhood spot. The staff know their stuff, but there’s nothing stuffy about them.
So why would you recommend this place to, and for who?
Select Oyster Bar is worth the splurge and proves an excellent spot when you want to impress. As a lesser-known stop among Boston's seafood restaurants, it also has a bit of an insider's cachet. Speaking of insiders, those in-the-know, know to sit outside on the small back patio in summer.
“A sexy little place chock-full of Mediterranean seafood pleasures. The kind of place a young Hemingway would have walked into and said, “I’ll have one of everything” there’s a lot to love about Chef Michael Serpa’s charmingly simple eatery, including the friendly service, the warm, inviting atmosphere, the sublime cocktails, and the inspired menu of delicately treated, exquisitely delicious seafood.”
-Urban Daddy