It’s not the first time Shuck Brothers has popped up in Denver. But now, with a new six-month residency at Avanti Denver, it’s the first time Jesse Migchelbrink, Riley Campbell and Garrick Abt have taken it to a stand-alone location. Aside from that, not much has changed for the team.
“A lot of the menu items are old standards of ours, like you know, obviously oysters on-the-half-shell, the crab cake, which became a mainstay, the lobster roll, and we have a lot of experience with cooked oysters,” said Campbell. “We’ve done those with the pop-up for years at this point, and then we added the salads to kind of round out the menu. And we added the biscuits.”
See Food On the Menu
The small and mighty menu features dishes such as Blue Crab Crab Cakes with a sweet scallion remoulade, salty apricot preserve, fresh arugula salad, and a pile of diced pickled apple. There’s an excellent cold lobster roll toeing the line between styles thanks to the garlic-butter toasted brioche, fresh lemon juice, butter, a dollop of mayo, and chives.
On the salad side, the tomato, watermelon, mint, cucumber, serrano pepper, feta, citrus, olive oil, and sweet basil combination proved fresh and spicy. Don’t skip the salt and vinegar potato chips either. Made by Denver Chip Co., it’s one of the few items Shuck Brothers isn’t making, but the local brand works perfectly with the aforementioned items.
Of course oysters too should be celebrated. The team gets East Coast and West Coast varieties, all at market price. Order them raw or as a hot preparation such as Rockefeller with spinach, bacon, asiago, garlic, and herbs; or the Green Herb Oysters drenched in butter. Wednesday through Friday, from 4 to 6 p.m., oysters make the happy hour menu at $2 each for the East Coast, and $4 for the fancier West Coast.
So Many Years, So Many Oysters
Being an oyster shucker, said Migchelbrink, feels both front- and back-of-house. “It’s just demanding, and that’s why I think that’s part of what makes the job so difficult,” he added. “Not only are you doing hard work and moving quickly, but you’re on display the whole time and interacting with guests.”
The three owners met at Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar in LoDo, where they worked at various times and sometimes simultaneously in the oyster department. For years the men have shucked together, and though they don’t share blood bonds, the friendship remains strong. Hence, the Shuck Brothers, with Migchelbrink as the oldest brother, Campbell as the youngest, and Abt coming in as the agreed upon middle child.
The guys started Shuck Brothers in 2018 as a side project, delivering bivalves to breweries, festivals, and markets. But as the popularity grew, the team decided to go full time with it. Each takes on a different role too. In 2022 Migchelbrink moved to California and opened a catering and mobile Shuck Brothers operation there. Campbell continues to run the mobile unit in Colorado, while Abt plans to take the reins of the Avanti location.
“This will be the office for the summer, which is exciting stuff,” said Abt, overlooking the long second floor spot, complete with wide-open windows, a full bar, and plenty of seating.
Aside from prepared foods, diners can order gourmet canned fish, caviar, T-shirts, chips, and other seafood-themed pantry items to go. The plan right now is to stay open until October, giving Denver the airy rooftop oyster bar we didn’t know we needed.
Shuck Brothers is now open at Avanti Denver on the second floor on Wednesday and Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m.; Fridays from 4 to 11 p.m.; Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 3200 N. Pecos St., Denver, avantifandb.com
