Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar

No need to wait for your next trip to Wilmington for the beach atmosphere and fresh seafood now that Shuckin’ Shack has arrived! The food here is to die for! The menu is filled with such tasty items and great prices, that it’s hard to settle on just one dish. This is one spot where I will allow myself to go all out. I mean how can you just order oysters without also trying one of their sandwiches, some wings, or crab legs?! My recommendation would have to be the Chargrilled Oysters!
The restaurant has a bar style set up with several tables surrounding. Although small, it has a very open and welcoming feel. The staff is friendly and there are a bunch of tv’s inside. Whether you need a spot to watch the big game or you are just craving some seafood, this is your spot! I can’t wait to go back.

This place was definitely a hidden gem! The oysters on the half shell were delicious and reminded me of my home state Florida. The beer on tap was cold and tasty. The music was perfect and covered all genres, and they offer a great selection of beers, wines and full cocktail specials. Plenty of TVs all around…
BUT…one of the most important assets to this place was the bartenders. Personable, fun, interested and on top of the drinks at all times. You can’t ask for much more in a place.
Definitely going to be a favorite stop of mine for happy hour (with their specials) or Saturday/​Sunday sports. Check it out!

We tried this new place and had a great time and a great meal. The oysters are fabulous especially the pamlicos I highly recommend them raw on the half shell. I do have a few suggestions, several items on the menu are market price, i would suggest a blackboard outlining the oysters that are available for that day along with the market price of the market price items that are on the menu. The chargrilled oysters are fabulous but i would mention that the parmesan garlic and jalapeño cheddar oysters contain bacon as some patrons may not eat pork. I would also list the soup (s) or chowders on the «daily» board. The fish and chips were done very well but i would not stack the fish on the chips as the chips were a bit soggy but don’t get me wrong the cod was excellent. I will definitely go back again.

Disclaimer: this place JUST opened this past month, so I believe that’s the main reason the stars are so low.
Anyways, we get here and this shack is located next to brueggers in cary, and it’s TINY. It’s the size of a dive bar. They can seat probably 25 patrons max? The biggest motivator for us choosing to drive all the way to cary for the shack was because they advertised a $ 16 lobster dinner! So it was no surprise that when we did arrive, all 25 of those aforementioned seats were taken. And since this place is so small, there’s no room to even stand by the side to wait. There was a crowd of us literally blocking the doorway (it was raining outside so nobody could wait outside). I understand if you’re a bar, or a little cupcake shop, or something that DOESNT serve dinner, much less SEAFOOD, you could pass with leasing a tiny space. But you’re located in a city where the seafood scene is lacking so you’d think the owners wouldve forseen this and leased a larger space. it was poor design.
Speaking of poor design, the biggest seating area is a long bench with stools and so what ends up happening 99% of the time is that two parties will leave space between themselves and since you’re so desperate for a seat because there are only 25, you end up having to sit smack dab in the middle between two parties, and it’s awkward.
Ok, so that’s just design and I can’t take stars away if that’s their intention. But what I CAN address and discredit shuckin shack for is the service. This was the worst service I’ve had in a long long long LONGGGG time. Mind you, there’s only 25 people in here in the 1^st place! But we never saw our server. It took a good 15 min to get water. It took another 45 minutes (!!!) to get our food. Another 5 minutes to ask for silverware. Another 10 minutes to flag him down for our check. Another 1– minutes to get our card picked up by him to be swiped. I am not kidding. It was terrible. We got one measly «thank you for your patience» as we were leaving but at that point, that did nothing for me. Oh, and I forgot to mention this earlier, but the $ 16 lobster dinner we came for? Sold out. At 7:00pm.
So what were the 2 stars for then? Well I ended up getting the lobster roll and that was delicious, I can’t deny it. Huge chunks of lobster. That lobster roll was the only saving grace for shuckin shack. My boyfriend got the wings and shrimp combo and both the wings AND the shrimp were bad. Wing tips were cold to the touch, REALLY cold. As in. I think these were frozen and then flash fried (wing tips left outside the oil??) …gross. Shrimp were bland. Sigh.
I’ll come back once this place works out its kinks. Disappointing.

Very fast service. Started with one Dozen NC Local Pamlico Oysters On The Half Shell. Big oysters but remarkable briny sweetness. Codfish and Fries were good but you should ask for no salt on your fries because my order of fries was too salty for my taste. FRIED shrimp and fried oysters with fries was good. Salad was fresh and crispy vegetables Painkiller Cocktail from bar was well done and deliciously prepared. Arrived at 1700 and this. Cozy place was empty but in one hour it was packed and jamming with a line out the door. Plenty of TV for Sports. Good hang out bar for the neighborhood.

Awesome new seafood restaurant in Cary. We absolutely loved the steamed oysters. They were amazing. Great beer selection and great service. I enjoyed the nautical beach theme and the attention to local NC craft beers. Everything was cooked to perfection and the service was impeccable. After lunch, we were able to move to the bar and catch some great NFL games. I will definitely be back, especially on Friday to try the Lobster Special!!!

Food was delicious! I will be honest I was skeptical about eating seafood away from the coast HOWEVER I am glad I made the decision to go. I had crab rolls that were delicious!!! I also had shark bite shrimp and calamari. Both were very very good. I also had shrimp and wings and everything was very very good. I also had pearls punch to drink and it pretty tasty! I HIGHLY recommend this place.

First time visiting and won’t be our last. Came in after a grewling day at work and found not only the best service but extremely juicy shrimp and succulent lobster tails. Ordered the house margaritas which were handcrafted instead of cheap margarita mix, yum! Becky was our server and she was one of the BEST experiences I’ve had with wait staff in quite some time. Definitely coming back soon!

Service and food are both equally delicious. Their waitresses bring the bang bang sauce to the yard. And damn right, it’s better than yours.

We desperately needed a place like this in the area. Food, drinks and atmosphere are all fantastic. I’m from New England, so I know good seafood, and this place doesn’t disappoint. The entire staff will make sure you’re well taken care of. Kudos to the entire Shuckin’ Shack team. Now, if I could just open an ongoing tab/​line of credit at this place… :-)

Hands down, the best seafood! Started with the crab balls and they were great! Absolutely loved the lobster roll! NC beers were on special and they had a great selection. Not to mention the awesome oyster shooters… you have to try one! The atmosphere really makes you feel like you’re at the beach. We will be back very soon!

As good as it gets! Being a chef I am always wary of new restaurants, usually waiting a couple weeks before trying them so that they can get thru the opening jitters. Well… I went to the soft opening and again a couple of days later and it can’t much better than it already is. Brad (the owner), T.J. and Sean (the mixologists), greeted me by name and made me feel right at home. A nice selection of draft and bottle beers and a good wine selection complement the awesome menu. Clams, oysters, shrimp, crab to name a few, steamed, fried, grilled, how ever you like it. I’ve had the opportunity to sample a few and everything was spot on. Fresh, scratch made, good sized portions all combine to make the Shack a great addition to the neighborhood.

Waited 2 hours to be seated, 2×1 cent size chicken pieces are a «portion». Charged for two portions, and would remove the second. Crab is very dry. Won’t be going back.

This place is awesome. We had a large group and Brad was excellent at taking care of us. Almost everyone at our table were seafood lovers from everywhere from France to Korea and everyone loved it. The crab was cooked perfectly. The clams were steamed just right and the oysters were steamed the just right. The shrimp were like butter. Actually the last time I had shrimp like these was in Naggs Head in late spring. So it is clear that these guys have their sourcing on point which is the name of the game in seafood. Having checked out every other oyster place in the area, this will be one of the major players. These are North Carolina locals and know their seafood. Several people at my table got chicken and it was excellent. The wings are huge. Several people got salads and commented at how good the salads were– especially the bacon dressing. I think we ordered nearly every type of item from the menu and not one person was unhappy.

Great fried shrimp and fries. Limited options on oysters. Great NC craft beers. Small place with seat your self so it would be difficult for large parties to get a table. Overall great addition to Cary.

Food was fantastic. So glad to have this in Cary!

They aren’t open yet as of December 22. They will open in early to mid January. So, call before you head there like I did. The person was very friendly. Can’t wait to try it!