A Sister-Owned Raw Bar, Built From Grief and Grit

May 26

At OystHers in Bath, the oysters on your plate were likely harvested less than 24 hours earlier from Robinhood Cove by co-owner Sadia Crosby herself.

That level of freshness is rare. But for Sadia and her sister Lauren Crosby, the story behind the restaurant runs even deeper than the oysters.

The sisters grew up in Georgetown, Maine, daughters of a commercial lobsterman who left for work before sunrise and came home steaming up the river at the end of the day. They spent their childhood around bait bags, skiffs, clamming, and the realities of working on the Maine coast.

“Our dad was very adamant that we use our heads, not our backs,” Lauren said. All three daughters went to college. Lauren became an English teacher and eventually moved to Alaska, while Sadia studied entomology at the University of Maine and later began farming oysters in Robinhood Cove.

Then, in 2021, their father died unexpectedly.

“It rocked us,” Lauren said. “Our dad was our best friend.”

At the time, Sadia’s oyster farm was still growing, and Lauren was questioning whether she wanted to continue teaching after years in the profession and the strain of teaching through COVID. Back home in Maine, the sisters began talking about creating a place of their own.

The space they found in Bath was a rundown former tattoo parlor with ripped-out plumbing, holes in the wall, and shrubs overtaking the exterior. Neither sister had experience running a restaurant. They were denied by multiple banks before finally securing help through CEI’s Women’s Business Center.

“We didn’t even have barstools before opening,” Lauren said.

Still, they signed the lease.

Four seasons in, the sisters now employ roughly 25 people during the summer and run one of Bath’s busiest gathering spots along the river. The menu centers around Sadia’s oysters, along with lobster sliders, charcuterie boards, sparkling wine, local beer, and oyster flights featuring small Maine farms, many of them female-owned.

The boards themselves reflect places and memories from their own lives. One features smoked seafood from Maine makers along the coast. Another was inspired by family camping trips to Acadia.

“We really try to support small farms and female farmers,” Sadia said. “That’s important to us.”

The restaurant also mirrors the way the sisters think about hospitality. There are grower champagnes and caviar on the menu, but also Bush Light and red snappers for the shipyard workers who stop in after work.

“We wanted this place to feel celebratory, but not exclusive,” Lauren said.

Four seasons in, the raw bar has become something larger than the sisters originally imagined during those late-night conversations over wine. It is part oyster farm, part gathering place, and part tribute to the man who first taught them what it meant to work hard on the Maine coast.

Famous for:
Freshly harvested oysters from their own farm in Robinhood Cove, champagne and oyster flights by the river, and a raw bar built by two Georgetown sisters.

97 Commercial St, Bath, ME | oysthers.com