20-05-2025
Fire hits Matunuck Oyster Bar; iconic Rhode Island restaurant could be a total loss
The Dish: Perry Raso on becoming an evangelist for aquaculture
The Matunuck Oyster Bar, a well-known Rhode Island seafood restaurant that has been called one of the best oyster bars in the world, was damaged in a fire early Tuesday morning.
The fire broke out shortly before 4 a.m. on Succotash Road in South Kingston, Rhode Island. The Union Fire District said the fire is now under control and clean-up is ongoing, but the building could be a total loss.
Union Fire District Chief Steve Pinch told WPRI-TV there was "a major fire" at the popular restaurant. He said windy conditions made it difficult to put out the flames at first.
"Everybody in town either works or knows somebody that works at the oyster bar, or comes here and enjoys the oyster bar," Pinch said. "We're just saddened for all the employees and the owner."
There was no immediate worse on what caused the fire.
Matunuck Oyster Bar
The Matunuck Oyster Bar was just named one of the best restaurants of 2025 by USA Today. The newspaper says it offers a "taste of Rhode Island" and recommends that diners watch the harvest oysters get cleaned on the deck or shucked at the raw bar.
Restaurant owner Perry Raso was profiled on CBS Saturday Morning's "The Dish" in 2022. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island, where he studied aquaculture, and started a small oyster farm in 2002.
Raso has been a proponent of sustainable shellfish farming to feed the world. Diners at the oyster bar could literally see where their food comes from.
"To be able to see where your food is coming from, to see the farmers coming in with the oysters, putting them right in the fridge and serving them right here, it's a unique thing," he said.
