A wintertime visit to Charleston isn’t complete without an oyster roast. Rest assured you won’t have any trouble finding one while you’re in town. The weekends of January and February are filled with oyster roasts for fun, for charity and, well, sometimes we don’t even need a reason. You might just find some friends and neighbors gathered around a backyard fire pit cracking open a cold one.
As this article from AmericanFoodRoots.com points out, “Oysters mean a party in South Carolina.” The article also highlights Bowens Island Restaurant near Folly Beach for a classic Charleston oyster experience:
You’re surrounded by fellow diners as you fight and claw your way through a mountain of craggy oysters to find the payoff – the big oyster in the middle of the cluster. It’s a religious experience. And it’s pure South Carolina.
The Charleston Restaurant Association is hosting the world’s largest oyster roast on Jan. 27. The 30th annual Lowcountry Oyster Festival features 80,000 pounds of oysters at Boone Hall Plantation. Dubbed one of the “Top 20 Events in the Southeast” by the Southeastern Tourism Society, crowds will pack the plantation grounds for oysters, food from local restaurants and wine and beer. Plus, there are plenty of activities for the kids, live music and oyster shucking and oyster eating contests. Feel good about slurping those oysters because the event benefits several local charities.
Learn more about oysters:
- Six surprising facts about oysters (you can eat oysters in months without “r”).
- Oyster facts from National Geographic (pearl oysters and food oysters are different so don’t expect to find a pearl at an oyster roast).
- South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement Program, a habitat restoration and monitoring program.
Let us know if you’re going to an oyster roast and how you like your oysters – hot sauce, lemon juice, plain?
