Shaffer City Oyster Bar & Grill

Few New Yorkers know oysters the way Jay Shaffer does. The Long Island native even raises his own, on beds in Shinnecock Inlet (he sells them here as "Shaffer Cove" oysters). He opened this convivial seafood restaurant in the Flatiron District in 1998, and the bar swiftly became a go-to destination for Manhattan oyster lovers, not just for the dizzying range of East and West Coast varieties but for Jay's inimitable bluster and banter.