Select Oyster Bar Boston sits at 50 Gloucester Street in the Back Bay, a 50-seat seafood room chef Michael Serpa opened in April 2015 after years running the kitchen at Neptune Oyster in the North End. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner seven days a week, with a raw bar of local oysters, Mediterranean-leaning hot plates and a seafood-focused wine list in a townhouse parlor of exposed brick and pewter. Here is what to know about the menu, hours, price range and reservations before you go.
From Neptune Oyster to a bookable Back Bay counter
Serpa built his reputation at Neptune Oyster, the no-reservations North End raw bar where waits often stretch outdoors. Select was his first solo restaurant: a place where diners can reserve a table for the same style of high-quality seafood without lining up on Hanover Street. The official site describes the room as inspired by Paris neo-bistros, with maritime finishes, bare wood tables and an L-shaped pewter bar that still anchors the space.
Awards followed quickly. Boston Magazine named Select Best New Restaurant in 2015, Best Wine Program in 2016 and Best Seafood Restaurant in 2019. Food & Wine listed it among America’s best new wine bars in 2016. The MICHELIN Guide has recommended the restaurant, and Condé Nast Traveler has called it a pitch-perfect neighborhood seafood spot for both a refined bite and a grand seafood tower. Serpa also oversees the wine program, with a particular emphasis on Chablis and other seafood-friendly whites.
Select Oyster Bar menu highlights
The kitchen focuses on local shellfish and fish with Mediterranean accents. According to the restaurant’s website and Condé Nast Traveler’s profile of the room, signature draws include daily crudos and ceviche, Spanish octopus, sautéed petit clams, whole roasted sea bream and chalkboard specials that change with the catch. Raw-bar oysters rotate by harvest, and the icy seafood towers — priced from just over $100 to about $325 depending on size — stack oysters, shrimp, lobster, blue crab salad and more for the table.
OpenTable lists typical checks in the $31 to $50 range per person before drinks and towers, which puts Select in the upper-casual to special-occasion tier for Back Bay seafood. The MICHELIN Guide has also noted dishes such as honey-butter Maine uni toast, crab salad and Casco Bay halibut with shaved cauliflower, pickled onions, almonds and golden raisins; a prime ribeye remains on the menu for diners who want a land option. A 20% pre-tax gratuity is added to all checks and goes to the service staff, according to the restaurant’s posted policy; guests who object can ask management to remove it.
If you are mapping a seafood crawl across the city, Select pairs naturally with other Boston Report stops: Row 34 in Fort Point for a louder oyster-bar energy, or Saltie Girl on Dartmouth Street for another Back Bay seafood room a short walk away. For classic New England bowls, our best clam chowder in Boston guide covers Union Oyster House through the Seaport.
Atmosphere and who it suits
The dining room is intimate — about 50 seats — so it feels more like a neighborhood bistro than a waterfront banquet hall. Service is described by Condé Nast Traveler as casual relative to the elevated food: staff know the wine list, but the room is not stuffy. Locals from Back Bay, the South End and Beacon Hill mix with Newbury Street shoppers, business lunches and date-night tables. In warm weather, a small back patio is the insider move.
Select works for a solo lunch at the pewter bar, a two-person anniversary dinner or a shared tower with friends. Private events for 15 to 75 guests are available for cocktail receptions, seated meals, rehearsal dinners and weddings, with custom menus, according to the restaurant.
Hours, address, reservations and tips
Select Oyster Bar is at 50 Gloucester Street, Boston, MA 02115, between Commonwealth Avenue and Newbury Street in the Back Bay. The phone number listed on the site is 857-239-8064. The restaurant’s website says it is open daily for lunch and dinner, with hours posted as 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Friday–Saturday noted separately at 10:30; OpenTable currently lists Friday and Saturday as 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Confirm before you go, especially on holidays.
Reservations are accepted on OpenTable for lunch and dinner but are not required; the restaurant says it always keeps space for walk-ins and seats complete parties only. Tables may be released after 15 minutes if a party is incomplete. If the slot you want is gone online, call the restaurant. The full menu runs from the start of lunch service at 11:30 a.m.
Tips: book ahead for Friday and Saturday dinner; ask about chalkboard fish specials; and plan the budget if you order a tower. For wine, lean into the seafood-centric list — Chablis and other crisp whites are the house strength. Street parking in the Back Bay is limited; nearby garages and MBTA stops along Newbury and Commonwealth are usually the easier path.