Shell yeah: At long last, Amherst Oyster Bar will open next month

Famous for its giant popovers, Judie’s was a mainstay of Amherst’s dining scene, a popular place for people to go to on graduation, alumni and homecoming weekends and to celebrate special events for more than 40 years.

Closing at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, the restaurant at 51 North Pleasant St., which had previously expanded to incorporate the neighboring Barselotti’s bar, never reopened.

Next month, about three years after first being announced as the successor restaurant, with some build up in anticipation following extensive renovations that included deconstruction of much of the interior and removal and replacement of the entire front facade, the Amherst Oyster Bar will begin serving customers.

“Our goal is to provide a fun, inviting space where people can enjoy top-notch seafood in Western Mass,” Alex Phaneuf, general manager of Amherst Oyster Bar, said in a statement. “We’re bringing high-end, sustainable oysters and coastal-inspired dishes to Amherst, but with a sense of playfulness and approachability. Whether you’re a seasoned seafood lover or prefer non-seafood dishes, Amherst Oyster Bar is all about enjoying great food and good times in a casual yet refined gathering spot.”

The menu will feature a variety of fresh, sustainable oysters, seafood and what are described as “coastal-inspired dishes,” alongside a selection of non-seafood options.

John Page, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District, said he looks forward to the new restaurant and that he understands its team has been working diligently to take care of every detail.

“Like much of the community, I eagerly await the opening of the Amherst Oyster Bar,” Page said. “Right in the heart of downtown, it will be a tremendous contributor to the vibrancy of the downtown food and drink scene.”

With the sign in place and a recent day of interviewing staff, including a floor manager, line cooks, dishwashers, servers, bartenders, hosts and shuckers, at the sister restaurant Protocol – located in the One East Pleasant building – Amherst Oyster Bar appears on track to open, and not meet the same fate as Metacomet Cafe, a hamburger restaurant on South Pleasant Street that was announced in 2013, had a sign up for two years before serving its first customers and then closed after just two or three weeks in summer 2015.

The questions around whether Amherst Oyster Bar would finally arrive came as the date of opening kept being pushed back. First, it was thought it would be ready to serve customers by fall 2022, but then there was such deterioration of the building’s main porch that a delay was inevitable. Work continued into May 2023, when U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern got a tour of the project, and by late winter 2024 it appeared Amherst Oyster Bar might be ready by that summer. Instead, though, all construction stopped for a time and the announced dates of opening kept changing on both its website and the Archipelago Investments website, and in information presented to the town’s Design Review Board. Protocol, though, served oysters at the Amherst BID’s December Sip ‘n Shop Stroll, offering a sneak peek at what the new restaurant would have.

Should the opening go on as planned, it will conclude a part of the saga that included a reference during August’s Community Breakfast bringing together University of Massachusetts and Amherst officials and other community leaders, when many of the news businesses that had opened were referenced, before it was noted “we’re still waiting on oysters.”

Only in Amherst, which posts on the social media platform X, has also been tracking the arrival of the business, including getting photographs of the homemade signs placed on the business last July reading “when is this place gonna open?” and “we demand oysters!”

“Often get asked in my direct messages when/ if the Amherst Oyster House will even open,” one recent post states.

An answer now appears imminent.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at [email protected].