Oyster Party Brings a Taste of the New England Coast to Woodstock

For more than a decade, Oyster Party has been bringing oysters, lobster rolls and local drinks to events across the Catskills, Hudson Valley and greater Tri-State Area.

The business began in Brooklyn in 2011 and spent years catering weddings, private and corporate events and hosting pop-ups, including at Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg market. Last November, Oyster Party opened its first permanent location on Route 28 in Woodstock, next to the Hotel Dylan.

Owner Kyle Needham grew up in Hampton, New Hampshire, a coastal community near Portsmouth. Seafood was a familiar part of life, although oysters weren’t necessarily a staple.

“I think seafood was always around there,” Needham says. “I didn’t, you know, it was just … more popular as any other food. It’s not like we ate a lot of oysters though growing up.”

Needham’s career in seafood began somewhat unexpectedly. After working in the prepared foods department at a Whole Foods in Boston, he moved to New York City and took a job in the seafood department at the Columbus Circle location. He later worked for Wild Edibles, a seafood wholesaler based in the Bronx.

By 2011, Needham was bartending in Williamsburg. He noticed that many people working in New York’s restaurant industry didn’t have much experience shucking oysters.

“I just asked all my regulars if they would come to an oyster and lobster roll party,” he says.

About 100 people came. Needham says they went through roughly 1,500 oysters and 10 pounds of lobster meat in about an hour and a half.

“It was crazy,” he recalls.

That party became Oyster Party.

Needham moved to the Hudson Valley after the birth of his first child in 2013, first settling in Accord and later moving to Kingston. Oyster Party continued operating as a catering and pop-up business for roughly another decade.

The idea of opening a restaurant wasn’t initially part of the plan. But Needham kept noticing the Route 28 space near Woodstock, which had previously been a cafe.

“I kept driving by and … it said, you know, for lease, for lease,” he says. Eventually, he called the number on the sign and came to look at the space.

The location’s size and position on a heavily traveled road appealed to him. “If we were going to open up anything, the size was what we were looking for,” Needham says.

Oyster Party opened in Woodstock in November 2025.

Today, the business sources its oysters from Righteous Foods in Brooklyn. Its beverage offerings include wine from Fjord Vineyards in Milton, cider from Rose Hill Farm in Red Hook and beer from West Kill Brewing in West Kill.

The Woodstock restaurant has about 12 indoor seats. Needham says the business took a deliberate approach to its first year, allowing time to learn the differences between running a restaurant and operating a catering and events business.

“We never wanted to rush it,” he says.

Oyster Party continues to cater weddings and private events and works with corporate clients in the Hudson Valley, Manhattan and elsewhere. It also hosts pop-ups at wineries, breweries, cideries and restaurants.

Looking ahead, Needham says he’d consider another location in the Catskills or Hudson Valley — ideally one somewhat larger than the Woodstock space.

“We really are enjoying where we are right now,” he says. “I think if we could have another location like this, slightly bigger, I think we want a little bit bigger.”

For now, Needham says the goal is to offer a relaxed destination for oysters, lobster rolls and drinks, including nonalcoholic options.

“It’s just a chill sort of unexpected, you know, gem,” he says. “That’s what we want to be like in the Hudson Valley.”

Image: Oyster Party Woodstock on NY-28. (Oyster Party)