We are headed for our first trip to Seattle - always on the search for great oyster joints - what would you suggest??

You will be able to try a different oyster bar at every meal while in Seattle and probably not find a bad one. Upscale is Shuckers in the Four Seasons hotel at 411 University downtown $$$. Also downtown is McCormick and Schmicks at 1103 First in a classy, historic building.

Pike has a couple of oyster bars and the waterfront has many to choose. Go to Seattle City Guide and you'll find a minimum of a dozen.

We have oysters all over the place, but the closest thing to a "joint" might be The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak, & Oyster House located in a historic building at 1212 Second Avenue in downtown Seattle. They have an oyster bar and claim to have "the largest rotating selection of fresh oysters in Seattle."

I should have also mentoned that Elliott's Oyster House, located on the waterfront, also has an oyster bar of note: http://elliottsoysterhouse.com/

Thanks to all of you. Really appreciate your feedback.

Second htty's reco for the Brooklyn. They have an excellent happy hour, too. It's a great stop on the way to or from SAM and the symphony hall.

Cutters, Flying Fish, McCormicks...

By the way, there is no Four Seasons in Seattle as of now, and hasn't been for several years...the old Four Seasons is now the Fairmont Olympic...there is a new Four Seasons going in at 1st and Union next year.

Are some of the so-called Seattle-knowledgeable posters still living in Seattle? Or have they moved to Federal Way and working on memory?

While it's true the hotel changed ownership and is now the Fairmont Olympic, Shuckers is still right there same as always.

Sea Garden Chinese restaurant in the International District makes delicious oysters with ginger and green onions. There were twelve sweet oysters in the dish when I ordered it yesterday ($12.50).

You've got it backwards. Don't eat oysters in months without R. The point being that when the water is warm the oysters are not so tasty. Also, prior to refrigeration, eating oysters that had been shipped without benefit of reefers was risky. Times have changed. Nevertheless, summertime oysters are inferior to winter.

I grew up with that notion of not eating oysters in months with no R (May, June, July, August), but have since learned that is a total myth.

Here's what I copied from just one Google attempt. There are many more similar ones:

"Myth - Oysters and other shellfish should be eaten only in months with an “r” in them.
So far as the United States is concerned, this is not true. Under commercial raising and harvesting conditions, oysters and other shellfish are safe and good to eat any month of the year. Certain European oyster which brood their young in months without an “r” are less palatable at that time of year, but this rule doesn’t apply to U.S. oysters, which don’t brood their young."