May Bowen started an oyster roast shack on a tidal creek off Folly Road in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1946. The original cinderblock building on the marsh has no electricity. The oysters are roasted directly over wood fire in the Lowcountry tradition, shoveled onto tables covered with newspaper, and eaten by hand.
May’s grandson Robert Barber now runs Bowens Island Restaurant, maintaining the wood-fire preparation and the no-frills oyster-roast atmosphere his grandmother established. The walls and ceiling carry 80 years of accumulated graffiti from customers who have eaten there since 1946.
Saveur Magazine named Bowens Island one of America’s most iconic restaurants. It has been featured in the New York Times and has attracted visitors from across the country who come specifically for the experience of eating oysters in the most elemental way possible…