The 42nd St. Oyster Bar has a rich and colorful history spanning over seven decades.

In 1931, J.C. Watson took over a grocery store at the current location of the 42nd St. Oyster Bar (the corner of Jones and West Street). Dr. Louis West, affectionately known as "Tick" West, talked Watson into serving oysters to his customers. When prohibition ended in 1933, J.C. Watson's grocery store was the first business in Raleigh to sell draft beer in a frosted mug and his business became very popular.

About the same time that prohibition ended, a group of Raleigh doctors attended a medical convention in New York City. The unofficial leader of the group was none other than Dr. Tick West. The story goes that Dr. West and his colleagues spent quite a bit of time having fun and enjoying beer on 42nd Street. When they returned to Raleigh, they would call each other at the end of a hard day and say - I'll meet you after work at 42nd St. So after 1933, J.C. Watson's grocery store became known as the 42nd St. Oyster Bar.
In 1957, the 42nd Street Oyster Bar was taken over by Truman Rhodes and renamed the "Rhodes 42nd St. Oyster Bar."  Even though his name was on the sign, people knew and referred to the place simply as the 42nd St. Oyster Bar.

J.W. Watkins took over in 1960, operating the business as the 42nd St. Oyster Bar until November of 1974. David Berry, Cary Strickland, and Mitch Hazouri leased the property and operated it as the "42nd St. Tavern" in the spring of 1975. They sold their lease in 1977 to Jack Raynor and Bob Black who continued to operate the business as the 42nd St. Tavern until the lease expired in September of 1985.

The building then remained vacant until reopening in October of 1987 as the 42nd St. Oyster Bar by Thad Eure, Jr., Melvyn Simpson, and Brad Hurley. This opening fulfilled a long-time dream for Eure. In 1940, when he was in grammar school, he recalls that the first restaurant meal he ate away from home was at the 42nd St. Oyster Bar. Says Thad, "I can remember Daddy telling Mother he was going to the restroom but he would really go around the corner and up the steps to get a beer in the bar."   

All in all, the 42nd St. Oyster Bar is one of the truly famous eating establishments in North Carolina. In spite of all the stories and myths about the place, people could always come and have great steamed oysters and cold beer. The famous old place has developed the reputation of being one of the most enjoyable restaurants to frequent in the southern part of the United States.

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