Raw Bar Near Me in Prospect Heights: Zig Zag Oyster Bar Walk-Ins

Zig Zag Oyster Bar opened in the summer of 2026 at 406 Prospect Place, on the corner of Prospect Place and Grand Avenue in Prospect Heights, and it is a raw bar near me that you simply walk into. It is open every night from 5 to 11 pm, takes no regular reservations, and builds its Classic Tower of 12 oysters, shrimp cocktail, six clams, six mussels and potato chips for $90.

Resy reported that Zig Zag opened in late July 2026 in the corner space that used to be Bar Meridian, with former owner Sage Geyer keeping a partial stake. The new proprietors are Nick Perkins, Leah Campbell and Nialls Fallon, the team behind Cervo's, Hart's, Eel Bar and The Fly, so the restaurant arrived with a following on day one.

Their places share a style: short menus written around cold seafood, tinned fish and a few well-made cocktails, served in rooms that feel like a neighborhood bar rather than a destination restaurant. The Infatuation reviewed Zig Zag on August 5, 2026 and described it as walk-in only, which matches the restaurant's own about page. If you know Cervo's, think of this as its Brooklyn cousin with more shellfish on ice.

The only bookings the restaurant takes are Seafood Tower Party reservations for groups of eight to 15, indoors and year-round. Everyone else walks in, and the house says it mostly saves room for walk-ins at its tables and bar. The patio runs from April through October and is always first come, first served. Parties of eight or more get a 20 percent gratuity added to the bill, as printed on the menu.

Arrive close to 5 pm if you want the patio before the season ends at the close of October. The benches outside the front wall are there for people waiting, and a two-person wait at the bar usually moves faster than a table for four. If the list looks longer than 45 minutes, Strange Delight at 63 Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene is a solid oyster-counter fallback about a 20-minute walk northwest.

Oysters are shucked to order on the half shell at market price, and the daily list sits on the board. For two people, the $90 Classic Tower is the efficient order: twelve oysters, shrimp cocktail, six clams, six mussels and a pile of potato chips. The $160 Deluxe Tower adds crudités, snow crab, trout roe crème fraîche, lobster salad and pickled mackerel, and it is sized for a group of four or more.

Ordering à la carte works well too. Shrimp cocktail is $17, Bangs Island mussels are $14, Little Neck clams are $14, and the peel-and-eat shrimp are $21 a half pound, dusted with paprika. Instead of mignonette, the oysters come with a house hot sauce, a detail The Infatuation called out. Ask for lemon if you want it, but try the hot sauce first; it is the house signature.

The menu's cooked side is short and sturdy. Crab dip with crackers is $21, whitefish salad with marinated peppers and toast is $18, and a roasted chicken with pickles and hot sauce is $28 for the person at the table who does not eat raw seafood. Boiled potatoes with horseradish are $10 and go well with the mussels.

For dessert, pick the Zig Zag Lemon Torte at $14 over the Olive Oil Ice Cream with fernet at $11. The torte is the house name dish and the brighter finish after a tray of oysters, while the ice cream is better as a nightcap with an amaro. Before you leave, look at the Minnow tins on the shelf: sardines at $11 and smoked trout at $13 to take home.

Cocktails are classic and few. The Original Martini with gin, dry vermouth and orange bitters is $17, the Cosmopolitan and Bloody Mary are $16 each, and none of them needs a description longer than that. A martini and a half dozen oysters at the bar is the purest version of the Zig Zag experience.

Wine by the glass leans toward coastal whites built for shellfish. Bodegas Rezabal Txakolina from the Basque coast is $15 and pours with a little fizz, and Marc Pesnot's Muscadet from the Loire is $16, the textbook oyster wine. A bottle split between two people over a Classic Tower is the easiest way to spend a long evening here without looking at the clock.

The Infatuation noted that floor-to-ceiling windows make everywhere in the room feel like dining al fresco, and Resy pointed to lots of outdoor seating. The crowd is mostly neighbors from Prospect Heights and Crown Heights, couples on the benches outside waiting for two seats at the bar, and groups who planned ahead for a tower party in the back.

Weeknights are calmer than Fridays, and the first half hour after the 5 pm opening is your best shot at a corner window seat. On warm October evenings the patio fills quickly, so if you want to sit outside, show up when the doors open and order the tower first so the ice arrives while the light is still good.

Zig Zag is about a 490-meter walk from two subway stops: Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum on the 2 and 3 trains, and Park Place on the Franklin Avenue S shuttle. Grand Army Plaza on the 2 and 3 is a little farther. That puts the restaurant within easy reach of the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which makes a late-afternoon walk before a 5 pm opening a natural plan.

The garden has an entrance at 990 Washington Avenue, a short walk south from the corner of Prospect Place. Stroll the garden in the afternoon, wander back up through the brownstone blocks of Prospect Heights, and arrive at Zig Zag just as the shucking starts. On the way, Grand Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue are lined with stoops, cafés and corner shops worth a slow look.

Address: 406 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, NY 11238, on the corner of Grand Avenue. Hours: every night, 5 to 11 pm. Reservations: only Seafood Tower Party bookings for 8 to 15 people; everyone else walks in. Patio: April through October, walk-in only. A 20 percent gratuity is added for parties of eight or more.

Prices to plan around: Classic Tower $90, Deluxe Tower $160, shrimp cocktail $17, mussels or littlenecks $14, peel-and-eat shrimp $21 per half pound, crab dip $21, roasted chicken $28, martini $17, Muscadet $16 a glass. Oysters are listed at market price on the board. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for the quickest route from your hotel to Grand Avenue.