taylor shellfish farms

My husband and I were driving home to the Seattle area with our toddler and baby after a trip to Whistler, BC in January, and we decided to stop by at Taylor Shellfish Farms (for the first time) to pick up some oysters. If you are traveling on I-5, Chuckanut Drive is only a 15 minute detour along the water. Therefore, there's really no reason to miss Chuckanut Drive and Taylor Shellfish Farms!The staff was extremely friendly, and we bought amazing yummy oysters. They also had Dungeness crabs and even live geoduck when we came! But the best part is the view. The view is unparalleled, especially at sunset. Please look at my pictures - they were taken with just a point-and-click camera, nothing fancy. There are picnic tables and grills outside the shop, and if it is raining, there is even a covered area with bar stools overlooking the water.Two days after our trip, we had unpacked all our gear and I still could not find my expensive Burberry diaper bag that had all our passports and my kids' birth certificates in it. It was then that I realized that I left it on an outdoor chair at Taylor Shellfish farms! I called them, and they told me that they had found it, and they were going to write me a letter since I hadn't called in 2 days. These people are extremely honest and have impressed me yet again! Oh well, now I have an excuse to go there again!

Lots of choices for fresh oysters and clams and other seafood items. Prices are about the same you will pay at a grocery store but you won't find them as fresh with as many choices. They will place your oysters/clams in a bag of ice for the trip home so come with a cooler if you have one.

Taylor is located on the shores of Samish Bay several miles south of Bellingham. They are a major source of Oysters and Mussels importing their product around the state and country. You will find Taylor Oysters at every find restaurant in Seattle or the Bellingahm area, or anywhere in the state that is selling great Oysters on the half shell. You will find their product in fine restaurants in Vegas or San Francisco, up and down the west coast.They have a farm store in their commercial operations on Samish Bay that is a great little side trip in itself as you have to drive the spectacularly scenic Chuckanut drive (Hwy11) that runs down the coast of Samish Bay from Bellingham to Bow / Edison to get there.

We polished off 4 dozen oysters on our own! Outside picnic tables with shucker "helpers" on the table. You order inside and they give you a bucket of iced oysters with an oyster knife and towel and a lesson on shucking if you need it. You can bring your condiments but they have them for sale there too. There are several grills where you can bring your charcoal if you want to grill them. The backdrop is the oyster beds out in the bay, what a pleasant view and day it was. Just eat and pitch your shells on the ground, just like a peanut gallery. The drive down is a one lane road, take it slow. If you don't eat them there bring your cooler to take them home.

From FL. and visiting family and friends on our annual trip from FL.- tradition (over the years) is to go to Taylor's, get some oysters and Dungeness crab and cook it over a real firepit at our relatives hours at night.Works well and good conversation. Taylor's was busy (a Tuesday afternoon) and the parking lot was full of Oriental visitors eating shellfish near the beach were it was sold. Years ago, a "bed-run" gunny-sack full was $25 for about 100 oysters. Now they are sized and $51 for 60 oysters. Service was good at the cashier. Lots to look at in the retail store and outside at the gathering shore.We'll always recommend this trip and be back again next year.

Cool picnic spot and super fresh seafood. Hope to return next summer when they have their liquor license to enjoy the view with some fresh seafood!

For Canadians, if you do not want to drive many hours to go to Shelton (exit 101 along I-5 in WA), then paerhaps this is the place much more easier to vist to try the fresh oysters. Just exit from exit 253 along I-5 (drive from the north) or exit 231 along I-5 (drive from the south) in the middle point of Chuckanut Drive. Drive down the single lane to cross the railway track to reach to the shore. No decoration but you will find their retail shop to offer you fresh oysters from their farm. You can buy a few counts or in dozens. You can also eat in raw or bbq right there. They can lend you the bucket with ice n oyster knife n towel free. Bring your own sauce. Lemon is USD0.85 each if you don't bring your own. You can also select to eat in the open space or under shelter. Space and parking lot are not too big. They also offered live crabs. Otherwise, they can put the oysters in bags for you to bring home.

Located about the mid-point of Chuckanut Drive, Taylor Shellfish's Samish Farm is a must visit if you are doing the drive or if you just want to buy some delicious shellfish. Best known for raising and selling oysters, they also offers locally grown clams, mussels, and geoduck along with other seafood such as Dungeness crab and salmon for example. Although a little out of the way just to buy shellfish, it is well worth the trip. Everything I’ve had is supremely fresh and flavorful. Depending on the season, they will have multiple varieties of oysters for sale. Along with visiting the retail store, you can take a peek into their oyster farming facility, and when the tide is low you can see into the tideland and see the many oyster beds. Additionally, there are tables set up for outdoor dining so you can buy and eat your fresh shellfish along the seashore. They will shuck your oysters for a small fee if you can't do it yourself. If driving north on Chuckanut, the entrance is a soft left turn just after the hairpin curve, and if driving south, before you hit the curve, you will need to make a hairpin turn into the entrance. The Oyster Creek Inn restaurant sits at the entrance, so you can use that as a landmark if you don’t immediately see the Taylor sign. After turning in, you will drive about a half mile down to the shore through a narrow road and over the train tracks. Be courteous and share the road –don’t be shellfish (sorry I couldn’t resist). I did a little research, and make no mistake, Taylor Shellfish Farms is not a little mom-and-pop shop. Family owned and operated for over 100 years, they are one of the largest shellfish farmers in the U.S. They started farming oysters in tidelands near Olympia, WA, and now have many farms in the Pacific Northwest including this one in Samish, as well as farms north of the San Francisco bay area, Hawaii, and have business operations in Hong Kong that helps them reach the huge Asian market. Easy to see from their success that they are a well-run organization that delivers high quality product – as I can attest to from my happy taste buds and tummy. Don’t worry, I’m not an employee using this as a promotion platform; I just admire how they have grown and run their business.

This is not a restaurant, but a shellfish farms down below the restaurant where you can purchase oyters/shellsih to take with you,or eat raw on the spot (take hot sauce and beverage with you). Located off scenic Chuckanut Drive south of Bellingham WA, and down a long, narrow (cars or motorcycles) driveway beside the restaurant and you an actual oyster farm. The store offers a selection of raw oysters, both shucked and in shell, smoked oysters, muscles and so on. The are picnic tables right on the ocean and the grounds are covered in oyster shells. This is a slice of real west coast and worth the visit.. If you don't want the raw oysters, there are restaurants along Chuckanut for the cooked variety. We stop in and buy oysters all the time, at very reasonable prices, and they will give you your selection in a heavy plastic bag with ice, if you don't have a cooler.