Oysters & Seafood for the Holidays!

It’s a Chesapeake Bay tradition to serve seafood during the holidays. To make your fresh, local holiday shopping easier, we’re curating this list of Maryland seafood retailers who are offering direct to consumer sales. Check back often as we will keep it updated as we hear from watermen and farmers. Be sure to recycle your shells after you’ve enjoyed feasting on the Bay’s bounty – view a list of public dropsites near you.

Since 1945, J.J. McDonnell’s has built a reputation as being the regions First Choice for Quality Seafood. They offer a large and diverse portfolio of restaurant-quality fresh and frozen seafood, much of which is locally-sourced.

J.J. McDonnell’s offers pick-up at their will call window for the public. Their Will Call menu is frequently updated, view it here.


True Chesapeake Oyster Co. an aquaculture farm located on St. Jerome Creek in southern Maryland, raises delicious oysters – and serves as important habitat for native species such as Rockfish, Oyster Toadfish, and Blue Crabs.

This holiday season, True Chesapeake is offering direct-to-consumer sales for pickup at MOMs Organic Market –  order here. Note, the last day to place Thanksgiving orders is November 21st for pickup on 11/22 and 23. After feasting, you can also return your shells to MOMs for recycling!

Orchard Point Oyster Company proudly raises sustainably farmed oysters in the Chester River and Eastern Bay. Grown in surface floats that gently tumble in the wind and waves, Orchard Point oysters have a deep, consistent shell cup with plump and satisfying meat, and a buttery minerality and gentle brine that reflects the sandy shorelines and rich aquatic grasses of  Upper Bay farm locations— a unique and unforgettable flavor! Order here.

Scotts Landing Shellfish grows their oysters in Brockatonorton Bay in Snow Hill, MD. Their fat and salty staple, called “Seaside Oysters,” are available to both retail and wholesale customers. Ocean City restaurants like Sunset Grill, Jimbo Farlow’s Full Moon Saloon and The Angler Restaurant serve Scotts’ Seaside Oysters exclusively on their raw bar menus! Want crabs, too? Two-stop-shop with Scotts Landing for live hard crabs, peelers, and softshells. Call 443-880-2325 to order yours today, or contact them for an online quote. Mention ORP for a *Thanksgiving Special* offer – buy a box of oysters, get a free Natty Light at pick-up (over 21 only)!