What Docks Oyster Bar does

Docks Oyster Bar is a single-location full-service seafood restaurant established in 1987 in Midtown East Manhattan, operated by New Docks LLC. Located at 633 3rd Avenue near Grand Central Terminal, the United Nations, and Murray Hill, the restaurant occupies an Art Deco-designed space with an expansive raw bar, sushi counter, and window-lined seating. The core offering is dine-in lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch featuring East and West Coast oysters shucked to order, seasonal seafood specialties (Nantucket Bay Scallops, Florida Stone Crab Claws, Maryland Soft Shell Crabs, Wild Alaskan King Salmon), sushi, and classic American entrées, with average menu prices ranging from $20-$150 per item.

The business generates revenue from four primary streams: dine-in food and beverage sales, a daily 3-7 PM happy hour with discounted oysters, cocktails, and small bites, private and semi-private event hosting (six spaces accommodating 15-250 guests including full restaurant buyouts), and digital gift card sales ($25 to $1,000 denominations). A Weekend Lobster Clambake prix-fixe at $100 per person and off-site catering services supplement the core menu. The customer base spans Midtown East professionals, local Murray Hill residents, tourists, and corporate/private event hosts.

The technology stack is entirely third-party SaaS: SevenRooms for reservations and CRM, ToastTab for online ordering, and BentoBox for the website platform. There is no proprietary technology, no AI/ML capabilities, and no mobile app. The restaurant relies on organic social (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok), email signup via SevenRooms, earned media (WSJ, Time Out NY, Thrillist, The Infatuation), SEO, and customer review platforms for marketing. Supplier and sustainability partnerships include Barnegat Oyster Company and the Billionaire Oyster Project, with a cross-promotion tie to Sarabeth's Restaurants.

Name

Docks Oyster Bar

Legal name

New Docks LLC

Website

https://docksoysterbar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Docks Oyster Bar is a single-location full-service seafood restaurant in Midtown East Manhattan, established in 1987, serving oysters, sushi, and seasonal seafood to professionals, local residents, tourists, and private event guests near Grand Central Terminal.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Full-Service Seafood Restaurant

NAICS

Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Steakhouses & Seafood Restaurants (THAFACAE)

Keywords

• Seafood restaurant
• Raw bar
• Oyster bar
• Private dining
• Happy hour

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Food & Beverage Sales: The primary revenue stream is food and beverage sales from dine-in service, including a raw bar (oysters, clams, shrimp, crab, lobster), sushi, seasonally prepared seafood entrees, craft cocktails, wine, and beer. The restaurant serves lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch/late lunch.
2. Private Event Hosting: Revenue from hosting private and semi-private events for groups of 15 to 250 guests, including corporate gatherings, celebrations, rehearsal dinners, and full restaurant buyouts. Multiple event spaces are offered with customized packages.
3. Happy Hour: Daily happy hour from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the bar generates revenue through reduced-price cocktails, wines, draft beers, raw bar items, sushi rolls, and small bites.
4. Gift Card Sales: Gift cards sold in denominations of $25, $50, $75, $100, $150, $200, $250, $500, and $1,000, providing upfront cash flow and driving future customer visits.
5. Weekend Lobster Clambake Prix-Fixe: A prix-fixe weekend special at $100 per person, offering a multi-course meal including lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, and dessert, driving weekend revenue during off-peak hours.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Docks Oyster Bar is a full-service seafood restaurant in Midtown East Manhattan offering dine-in lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch featuring a daily raw bar of East and West Coast oysters, clams, shrimp, crab, and lobster; a sushi counter; seasonal seafood entrees; craft cocktails; and an extensive wine list. The restaurant also runs a daily 3–7 PM happy hour, a weekend lobster clambake prix-fixe at $100 per person, and hosts private and semi-private events for groups of 15–250 guests, with digital gift cards sold via its website.

Product overview

Docks Oyster Bar is a single-location Midtown East Manhattan seafood restaurant established in 1987, offering a unified dining experience centered around its raw bar, sushi counter, and full lunch/dinner menu. The restaurant's core offerings include fresh oysters and seafood (raw bar), expertly crafted sushi, seasonal seafood specialties, and classic American dishes. The Happy Hour Program and Weekend Lobster Clambake are key promotional offerings, while Private Dining and Gift Cards serve as supplementary revenue streams. The restaurant operates as a single establishment without a platform-plus-modules architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Full-Service Restaurant Dining Full-service dine-in lunch and dinner service featuring seafood, raw bar selections, sushi, and classic American dishes in an Art Deco setting at 633 3rd Avenue, Midtown East Manhattan, for individual diners and groups.
• Raw Bar Daily selection of East Coast and West Coast oysters, shrimp, lobster, crab, and clams freshly shucked to order and served on the half shell, including signature platters (Royale Plateau $80, Grand Plateau $150) for individual diners and groups.
• Sushi Counter
• Happy Hour Program Daily happy hour from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the bar offering reduced prices on oysters (Oyster du Jour $1.50/piece), draft beer (from $6), craft cocktails (Spicy Margarita $18), wine, and small bites (Docks Beef Sliders $3.50, Thai Chili Calamari $10).
• Weekend Lobster Clambake Prix-Fixe Prix-fixe weekend dining experience at $100 per person available Saturday and Sunday, including an appetizer (New England Clam Chowder or Field Greens Salad), entree (1.5 lb steamed lobster, jumbo shrimp, littleneck clams, mussels, red potatoes, corn on the cob), and dessert (Key Lime Pie or Seasonal Ice Cream).
• Private Dining & Event Hosting Private and semi-private event hosting for groups of 15 to 250 guests across six spaces (Private Dining Room, 3rd Avenue Platform, Bar Balcony, Bar Alcove, 40th Street Platform, Full Restaurant Buyout) with customized food and beverage packages for corporate events, celebrations, rehearsal dinners, and galas.
• Gift Cards Digital gift cards sold directly through the restaurant website in fixed denominations of $25, $50, $75, $100, $150, $200, $250, $500, and $1,000, redeemable for in-restaurant dining.
• Off-Site Catering Off-site catering services for events and gatherings with customizable menu options, complementing the on-site private dining program.

Quantifiable outcome

• Docks has served Midtown East for over 35 years, making it one of the most established seafood restaurants in the neighborhood.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Billionaire Oyster ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDocks Oyster Bar partners with the Billionaire Oyster Project, an organization dedicated to restoring oyster reefs and marine ecosystems. The partnership aligns with the restaurant's commitment to sustainable seafood sourcing and environmental stewardship, supporting reef restoration efforts tied to the restaurant's raw bar operations.
• Barnegat Oyster CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDocks Oyster Bar features oysters sourced from Barnegat Oyster Company, a supplier of premium East Coast oysters. This partnership ensures a supply of fresh, high-quality oysters for the restaurant's raw bar, reinforcing its positioning as a premier oyster destination in Midtown East Manhattan.
• Murray Hill NYCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDocks Oyster Bar is partnered with Murray Hill NYC, a local neighborhood association/marketing entity that promotes businesses in the Murray Hill area of Manhattan. This partnership helps drive local awareness and foot traffic from Murray Hill residents and workers.
• InfoURJAZZminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDocks Oyster Bar is partnered with InfoURJAZZ, a local jazz/event promotion organization, suggesting occasional jazz or live music events at the restaurant that enhance the dining atmosphere and attract event guests.
• Sarabeth's RestaurantsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDocks Oyster Bar cross-promotes with Sarabeth's Restaurants, another established New York dining brand. The partnership appears on the restaurant website's home page as a 'sister restaurants' link, suggesting a referral or mutual promotional relationship.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Lure Fishbar: SoHo-based seafood restaurant and oyster bar with a similar raw-bar-driven, sushi-inclusive menu and upscale-casual service model; competes for the same NYC seafood diner.
• Marea: High-end Italian seafood restaurant in Midtown Manhattan; comparable on premium seafood positioning, price point, and corporate/celebrity clientele, though differentiated by cuisine style.
• The Fulton: Jean-Georges seafood restaurant in Lower Manhattan with a similar premium seafood, oyster-bar, and waterfront-dining experience; comparable check averages and tourist/business diner mix.
• Cull & Pistol: Oyster bar and seafood restaurant in Chelsea Market; comparable raw-bar-led offering and seafood-emphasis menu targeting NYC diners and tourists.
• Pearl Oyster Bar: Long-standing NYC seafood restaurant specializing in oysters and fresh seafood; comparable on raw bar focus, neighborhood institution status, and casual-to-mid-tier price positioning.
• Mary's Fish Camp: West Village seafood restaurant known for oysters, lobster rolls, and fresh fish; comparable on neighborhood-institution positioning and raw-bar-driven experience.
• Ed's Lobster Bar: NYC seafood restaurant with raw bar and lobster-focused menu; comparable casual-to-mid-tier seafood positioning and Manhattan foot-traffic-dependent customer base.
• Grand Central Oyster Bar: Iconic Midtown Manhattan seafood and oyster bar located inside Grand Central Terminal — the single most direct geographic competitor to Docks Oyster Bar, competing for the same office worker, commuter, and tourist traffic.

Emerging players

• The Lobster Place: Seafood market and counter-service restaurant in Chelsea Market; adjacent comparison as a NYC seafood operator combining retail fish counter with on-premise dining, partially overlapping with Docks' sourcing and dining model.

Others

• Sarabeth's Restaurants: Established NYC dining brand cross-promoted on the Docks website as a 'sister restaurants' partner; comparable on long-standing NYC institution status, Midtown-adjacent locations, and target customer demographics, though differentiated by cuisine (American brunch/breakfast vs. seafood).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/docksoysterbar
• Facebookfacebook.com/docksoysterbar
• Instagraminstagram.com/docksoysterbar
• TikToktiktok.com/@docksoysterbar

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Docks Oyster Bar