Popular seafood restaurant Crave Fishbar is now serving the Upper East Side; the home of the #Oystergram Happy Hour opened at 1462 Second Avenue (between 76th and 77th streets) on Saturday, August 17.
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Owner Brian Owens told East Side Feed that he’s from the Upper East Side and had always wanted to open a restaurant here. He was looking for the right space, with enough seats on a great block, and he’s thrilled to have finally found it. The space was formerly occupied by The Meatball Shop, which closed last August.
The first location, Crave Ceviche on East 51st Street in Turtle Bay, opened in 2007. That space was destroyed in a deadly crane collapse just the following year, but they reopened as Crave Fishbar across the street in July 2012. After garnering rave reviews, including from the New York Times, they expanded to the Upper West Side (428 Amsterdam) in 2016. They also own sister restaurants Crave Sushi Bar at 947 Second Ave (at 51st Street) and Tacovision at 244 East 53rd.
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The idea behind all of their ventures is sustainability. They bill Crave Fishbar as “New York City’s first 100% sustainable seafood restaurant.” They worked with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to create a menu that is supportive of ocean health, sustaining fish and other sea life. They are also a Certified B Corporation, a designation that means “a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.”
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For the Upper East Side location, they partnered with a fellow B Certified company, 3877.design, to create a space that is both beautiful and environmentally friendly. The space has a nautical theme, with gold-rope framed mirrors, wainscotting and lots of greens and blues. Owens pointed out to East Side Feed that the long bar–the showcase for all of their raw seafood offerings–is a composite of found materials including shells, making it on theme and sustainable.
The restaurant is also spacious, able to accommodate one-hundred diners. The bar area has small tables as well as several booths for cozy gatherings. A banquette with tables and some smaller booths lead back to a large dining room with a copper pressed-tin ceiling and a stunning skylight highlighted by swimming sea creatures.
The menu is obviously seafood heavy. The raw bar features an extensive selection of oysters priced between $3 and $4.20; some of these oysters are offered daily during the #Oystergram Happy Hour, between 5:00 and 6:30 pm, priced from $1 to $2.50. Appetizers like Salmon Sashimi Tostada, Plancha Grilled Spanish Octopus, and Rice Dusted Point Judith Calamari run between $14 and $25. Entrees are plentiful and diverse, with several seafood pasta dishes like Handmade Squid Ink Spaghetti with shrimp and fresno chiles ($32), fish dishes including Oven Roasted Barramundi ($35) and Whole Grilled Dorade ($38), as well as some specialties like the Lobster Curry ($39).
Crave Fishbar is open daily for dinner from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. You can check out the rotating menu on their website and catch the #Oystergram on their Instagram.
