Around the Salish Sea, when you tell folks you’re headed to Lilliwaup, they know what it means. With a population of just over 200 people, this tiny seaside village on Hood Canal is home to a pet food store, a combination general store/motel, and Hama Hama.
The 124-year-old Hama Hama Oyster Company supplies bivalves to big-name seafood houses in Seattle and restaurants across the state. From its rural oasis along Highway 101 (actually a few miles north of Lilliwaup proper), Hama Hama also serves anyone who pulls over to the Oyster Saloon. Although oyster farms abound in the Salish Sea’s feathery inlets and canals, few others sell prepared oysters on-site, and even fewer offer dine-in services.
Don’t expect white tablecloths, though. The Oyster Saloon is actually kind of the opposite of a saloon, in that it has no roof or walls — although it does have beer. The dining room is a series of A-frame plywood huts set on the beach among shipping trailers and oyster-harvesting equipment, flanked by low, white hills of spent oyster shells on one side and oyster beds on the other where farmers pluck your meal from the water. It’s all part of the extreme farm-to-table experience.
“It’s air, it’s the wood smoke,” head chef Dillon Pennell told Eater in 2025. “I don’t think we’d ever be very interested in sterilizing it to the point of shoehorning it into the bottom of a condo in Seattle. It would lose some of the spirit.”
The main building houses the restaurant kitchen and the adorable, flower-filled farm store, where you’ll find live mollusks by the pound, house-made mignonette, and grab-and-go prepared foods. Out back are the dining shelters, farm operations, and — weather permitting — the seasonal Stump Bar, which serves various prepared drinks like mulled wine, sangria, and micheladas. The Stump Shack food truck may also pop up, selling items like Buffalo fried oysters or Kiwi-style crumbed rockfish and chips.
The wooden shelters, which seat two to six people, are equipped with picnic tables, jam jars of flowers, and bottles of hot sauce. Hs make them cozy, but there’s still some direct exposure to the salt air. Lilliwaup is essentially cloaked by the Olympic rainforest on three sides, so off-summer guests should bring a coat. When it’s not pissing rain, find a seat by the nice big fire pit on the beach, where guests chat over beers before and after meals.
Partner content from Apple Card
Some restaurants are worth building a trip around. When you make the journey to destinations like these, paying with Apple Card using Apple Pay earns you 2% Daily Cash back on your meal. Daily Cash is real cash that is unlimited and available every day. Unlike traditional rewards, it never expires or loses its value. Use Apple Card today and get more back from the meals that make the trip worth it. Terms apply.
Oysters, naturally. A standard rate of $75 per table gets you a dozen raw oysters and a dozen roasted (although you can also ask the restaurant to switch that up). Alongside melony Kumamotos and mineral-forward native Olympias, the house Hama Hama and Blue Pool varietials are clean and cucumbery, with the former leaning creamy and vegetal and the latter leaning bright and briny. The menu also highlights seasonal seafood, and you can reliably find local Dungeness claw clusters, clam and shrimp chowder, and creamy smoked salmon brandade, served with a baguette for dippin’. A list of specials might include San Francisco-style Viet garlic noodles with a whole roasted Dungeness crab or maybe steamed Manila clams with chorizo, chickpeas, green chile, and roasted tomato. There are also grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids (and adults).
On your way out, buy yourself a Hama Hama rosewood shucking knife to continue the seafood feast at home, along with a branded flannel. Très grunge.
The half-sheltered oyster shanties do nothing to deter the crowds from Hama Hama’s pristinely fresh shellfish, so booking a table in advance is strongly recommended. Reservations open on Tock at 9 a.m. on Mondays. Walk-ins are sometimes available, if you want to press your luck. If you strike out, you can always get takeout from the general store. The saloon is closed Monday through Thursday.
Hama Hama is open all year. Washington state’s oysters are at peak flavor and plumpness in the winter. But if you want to visit seasonal attractions in other towns, the tourism season begins around May, when the rain starts to let up. Hama Hama also offers dig-your-own-shellfish Farm Days in the spring: Your prepaid ticket buys you admission for two adults, a 5-gallon bucket to carry your haul, and help from experts who can teach you how to properly harvest clams and oysters. No dogs allowed, but kids are welcome.
There are two main ways to Lilliwaup from Seattle: You can drive or take the ferry. Within those options, you can choose your own adventure among a number of branching routes.
If you prefer to drive, head south to Tacoma, whereupon you must make your decision: The first way is to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge ($4.50–$5.50 toll for most cars). On the other side, take a slight southwestern detour to rural Fox Island, where you can search the quiet beaches for “clay baby” formations, or check out the collection of folk art, Native American artifacts, and WWII memorabilia at the Fox Island Historical Society. If you’re not eating at Hama Hama the same day, head to the fabulous Zog’s Pub, hidden inside a Shell gas station, which offers pizza, burgers, deli sandwiches, and a marvelous beer garden. Then head north to Port Orchard, zag southwest to Union, and follow the western Hood Canal coastline to Lilliwaup. The drive takes about two hours from Seattle.
Alternatively, you can stay on I-5 through Tacoma and head southwest to Olympia, where you’ll connect to 101 and follow as it curves north along the Hood Canal coast to Lilliwaup. Just west of Olympia, the Capitol State Forest offers a delicious smorgasbord of hiking trails; McLane Creek Nature Pond Trail, a 4-mile loop, is especially great for kids, who can spot newts, beavers, birds, and migrating chum salmon. A Discover Pass is required for parking. This route takes about an hour and 45 minutes from Seattle.
How to get there by ferry
It’s worth baking in extra time to take a ferry to enjoy the ocean views and cut off some driving time. Fares vary depending on your vehicle’s length, weight, and number of passengers. Delays happen, but it should take about 45 minutes (via Southworth or Kingston) and two hours (via Bremerton).
The first option is to sail to Bremerton from the Colman Dock in Downtown Seattle. Until 2023, most ferry passengers disembarking here proceeded directly to the lovely Kitsap Peninsula, but then Restaurant Lola gave visitors a reason to linger. Chef/owner John Hall and partner Anna Bressi split the difference between Black soul food and Italian classics through luxurious dishes like short rib risotto, mushroom agnolotti made by hand, and shrimp and grits with tasso and andouille.
Alternatively, you can ferry to Southworth from the Fauntleroy Dock in West Seattle. Just north of the dock, Port Orchard offers surprisingly good antiquing on a nondescript waterfront, along with good options for caffeine like Coffee Oasis and Gingerbread House.
Finally, you could sail to Kingston from Edmonds. In the summertime, don’t skip Brinnon ShrimpFest (formerly FjordFest), which started in 1993; for two weeks in late June, the bash celebrates the harvest of the Alaskan spot prawn. All types of local seafood are on offer, including paella, clam strips, calamari, and oysters, alongside mountains of prawns served many ways.
South of Lilliwaup, just off Highway 101, the affordable Glen Resor in Hoodsport offers earthy ’70s vibes, access to forest trails, a hot tub, a private dock for harbor seal-spotting, and occasional live entertainment. Some rooms have water views, RV parking with hookups are available, and the Model T Pub across the street is open year-round. A little further south, the three-star hotel at the Little Creek Casino, operated by the Squaxin Island Tribe, offers some glitz with spa services, a pool, and on-site golf.
If you plan to book an Airbnb in the area overnight during the winter, it’s not a bad idea to bring some groceries along, since restaurants, supermarkets, and general stores can be a crapshoot in terms of hours.
What else to do, see, and eat around Hood Canal
The eastern coast of the peninsula is a great place to catch seafood. While you might want to practice salmon fishing in advance, all you need is a trap or a clam gun to load up on Dungeness crabs, clams, and geoduck. You can also seek out Washington’s native signal crawfish (in season May to October), which are elusive in restaurants but plentiful in western Washington’s waterways. Rent gear at local sporting goods stores, and check license fees and daily limits with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
For a bit of help getting started, sign up for a curated crabbing/kayaking tour with a company like marine biologist-owned Hood Canal Adventures, which supplies boats and crab pots. The outfit also does a mushroom foraging tour.
If you strike out with the fishing, the party’s always hoppin’ at the Geoduck Restaurant and Lounge in tiny Brinnon, where burgers and beers (not geoduck, ironically) are the order of the day. The lounge is a real dive, but the view is spectacular. Like many rural bars, the Geoduck doubles as Brinnon’s community center, and you’ll find live music some weekends, along with karaoke. Say hi to George the seagull, who regularly visits the balcony in search of fries.
Or head to Hoodsport, 12 miles south of Lilliwaup, for proper jojos. The Model T Pub does them old-school: dredging russet spears and pressure-frying (not deep-frying) them in a Broaster, in the same schmaltzy oil used for chicken. The result is a craggy jojo exoskeleton with a steamy baked-potato interior. Get a cold one from the dozen-odd taps, and stick around on game day.For something slightly finer in tone, try the Fjord Oyster Bank. Designed by (now-retired) local celebrity chef Xinh Dwelley, the menu features prawn curry, sweet-chile crab cakes loaded with ground pork, lemongrassy steamer clams, and classic oysters on the half, all harvested locally. On your way out, buy yourself one of Dwelley’s beautiful, self-published cookbooks.
