The Best Raw Bars In NYC, Chicago, L.A., Miami And SF 2014

During the summer, nothing sounds better to us than a sky-high platter of chilled, freshly shucked oysters, clams and chilled lobster, served with mignonette as far as the eye can see.

Well, except for maybe 41 of those gleaming beauties. So we recently did a whole lot of oyster slurping to find our favorite raw bars across the country.

In Miami, we're suckers for fire-roasted briny guys, while in Chicago, we're into sipping a little sparkling with buck-a-shuck oysters.

Seafood salads topped with Louie dressing? Count us in, SF. Down south in L.A., we're digging clams from all over the world, including Baja and New Zealand. And you can't go wrong with classic French three-tiered towers of chilled shrimp, clams and, of course, snails in NYC.

Time for a little surf and slurp.