Anchor Oyster Bar

If you’ve ever had a sudden midday craving for a couple of oysters and a bowl of clam chowder, Anchor Oyster Bar is here for you. If you haven’t, one trip to the old-school Castro seafood spot decorated with light-up anchors and life preservers is all it takes before you start having mysterious visions of miniature clams dancing around in the sky at 2pm on a Thursday. The menu covers the usual from-the-ocean suspects—like prawn salad, a daily selection of oysters, and Olympic swimming pool-sized bowls of cioppino. Everything is excellent across the board, especially the delicate and crispy crab cakes. When Anchor Oyster Bar is busy, you’ll have to scrawl your name on the whiteboard and wander around Castro Street before a table is ready—but service inside and on the parklet is efficient and things move quickly.