A modern take on a Fort Wayne classic: Oyster Bar dishes on its new menu + cocktails

Walking into Oyster Bar feels like stepping back in time – into an 1880s saloon, to be exact. Push past the double doors at 1830 Calhoun St., and you’ll find a dimly lit, wood-paneled dining room where white-clothed tables line the walls, forming a narrow aisle to the bar and kitchen.

“For so many people, this feels like home,” says owner Kara West, who bought the bar in 2022 with Tony West, a chef who's cooked at Oyster Bar intermittently for about 30 years.

For the first few years as owners, the Wests didn’t change the menu or ambiance, which has hosted the likes of Aretha Franklin, B.B. King and Art Garfunkel on visits to Fort Wayne – among many local celebrities. But this year, they're bringing new flavors to the table. In July, Oyster Bar unveiled its first new menu since 2007, including its first craft cocktail list, designed as a collaboration between Tony and bartender Madison Maxwell. 

“The menu, the drinks, the atmosphere – everything is a little bit of now and a little bit of history,” Kara says.

The holidays are a perfect time to enjoy it, and give visiting friends and family an “authentic Fort Wayne” experience. To sweeten the deal, we’re partnering with Oyster Bar in December to bring all paid subscribers to The Local a free lunch calamari with the purchase of any main dish, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Monday-Friday.

We sat down with Tony, Kara and Madison to get pro tips and menu recs for your visit. 

Here are a few quick things to know:

• Chef Tony appreciates fresh, simple recipes that let the ingredients shine. New menu items include an Asian Rice Noodle Salad and a French Scallop Nantua (butter-seared diver scallops made with a rich cream sauce of crayfish bodies and served with grilled asparagus and arugula). There’s also a “Classics” section, including longtime features: Calamari and Louisiana BBQ Shrimp.
• Don’t like seafood? No problem. Kara says two of the most popular items on the menu are the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich (lunch menu) – which some say is the best in town – and the Baby Back Ribs.
• Try more with half-and-halfs. Oyster Bar makes it easy to sample entrees with their unique half-and-half deals, where you can get half of two entrees for the price of one – plus a $2 tip for the kitchen. “With half-and-halfs, you and a partner could try four entrees in one sitting,” Tony says.
• Snag a weekly deal. Monday is $2 small oysters and throwback beers. Tuesday is $4.50 hamburgers, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., and Thursday is lobster rolls, first-come, first-served. “They go quick!” Tony says.
• Check out summer Saturdays! Oyster Bar started sourcing more ingredients locally this summer and offering special Saturday menus, where Chef Tony and his team create one-day-only appetizers, entrees, desserts and cocktails – all using ingredients they purchased that morning at the YLNI Farmers Market Downtown.
• Special accommodations are welcome. Although Oyster Bar is not ADA-accessible (due to its historic building), it can accommodate wheelchairs, if guests call ahead, Tony says. The kitchen is also able to work around allergies or dietary restrictions – even to shellfish. Tony was a former chef for Parkview Health for 10 years.

Menu recs:

• Chef’s choice app: The Hush puppies. “I grew up near Southtown Mall and used to go to the arcade there in the summer almost every day,” Tony says. “There was a Long John Silver’s across U.S. 27, and we would ride our bikes to buy a root beer and a basket of hushpuppies. This is my tribute to that memory – made with chipotle aioli, pepper-scallion salad and blue crab butter.”
• Chef’s choice entree: Jambalaya. When Tony and Kara purchased Oyster Bar, many guests requested jambalaya (originally listed in their online menu by mistake). Now, they’ve added it to the lineup, and it’s become a favorite for both owners, made with shrimp, mussels, bay scallops, fish de jour, andouille sausage and rice tossed in a signature jambalaya sauce.
• Bartender’s choice: Madison recommends the Emerald Spritz made with aloe juice, Wheatley Vodka, cucumber, lime, habanero bitters and pomegranate juice. Next, she’s incorporating aloe into a mocktail list – coming soon!

More drinks on the new cocktail menu:

• 12 Mile Limit: white rum, rye whiskey, brandy, lemon juice and grenadine – a nod to prohibition’s "Rum Row" ships, known for wading 12 miles offshore (beyond jurisdiction) and suppling liquor to "rum-runners" who smuggled it to the coasts.
• Marma-Lady: tequila, orange marmalade, lemon juice, hot honey, jalapeno and egg white – because, legend has it, there may have been a brothel upstairs in Oyster Bar’s building at one point. (Don’t worry; it’s an office now.)
• 1830: bourbon, chocolate liqueur, vanilla and espresso – honoring Oyster Bar’s address.