Ryer’s Lobsters

Yummy lobster but poor service. Place wasn’t busy when I came in. Took a while for someone to talk to me. Lady at the counter had a slight attitude and made me feel like I was in the wrong place. I told her it was my first time eating here and she was very unhelpful and just stared at me. Then I asked if she recommended anything and she said «No! I don’t recommend anything». So I asked her to show me the different lobster sizes which she did but seemed like I was a bother. There was no line and only 6 people sitting outside eating. I felt very unwelcome. Regardless I stayed and ordered a lobster. The lobster was delicious and very well cooked. I do recommend eating here if you are looking for a tasty lobster. The place is simple. You can sit outside overlooking the ocean or the road. The lobster will come in a plastic container and you will be given a bib, paper plate and some utensils.

Yeah, it is as good as it gets. No frills but fine tasting lobster

I loved this place. If it weren’t for the weather, I was going to drive there to eat more lobsters before leaving Halifax.
Don’t expect a fancy, sit-​down service: This place is rustic which I love.
Their lobsters and oysters are so much better than other places.

The lobsters here and better than every place in Nova Scotia, hands down. We actually ended up coming here twice (on the last day, we drove 2.5 hours out of our way just to come back here) –that’s how good it was. We got 2 pound lobsters (cooked and dined in at $ 30 each) and god a dozen oysters each time (6 for $ 10). The «2 pound» lobsters were closer to 2.5 pounds, and they gave us basically an extra lobster both times because «there wasnt enough meat in the claws»!!! Incredibly generous family and super delicious seafood!
Admittedly, the woman that works the place is a bit rude. She gives you quite an attitude if arent sure of what to get. We ordered twice –one for the lobsters, and then decided to get oysters afterwards but had already paid for the lobsters, and she snarked «could you just decide all of it now so we dont have to do this over and over again?». But for the price of the lobster, and the popularity of the place, especially after travelling all across nova scotia and realizing nothing else compared, I couldn’t justify anything lower than ⁵⁄₅.

This place is no frills and no joke — last call for cooked orders is 4:15pm, on the dot. We didn’t know about this sharp last call and was turned away when we arrived at 4:17pm, but luckily the super kind gentleman (1 of 2 owners, the other being his wife) took seafood pity on us and let us put in our order of two 1.5lb lobsters. Thank you, Lobster gods!
Ryers isn’t the place you want to be to be wined and dined — in fact, you won’t find anything here except the open-​front shop front, portapotty, a sink with soap dispenser plus a roll of paper towel, and a few scant picnic tables all scattered across the gravelly parking lot. If your focus is purely on fresh seafood at a low cost though, this is totally perfect.
When I say fresh, I mean ~supa fresh~. We actually saw some fisherman bringing in their lobster haul in large plastic bins, poured straight into the lobster tanks which are pumped with salt water from the small ocean pool behind the shop. The meat in the lobsters are full and plump, perhaps because the owners know exactly when to pull them out from the boiler before dunking them into the cool water tanks from where they lived before they were deliciously sacrificed.
Served with a little pill-​cup of melted butter, plastic bib, red plastic lobster pick, fork, knife, large paper plate and a roll of paper towels, nab a spot by the back (to the right of the shop) on the small deck overlooking the water if you can.
We enjoyed our first meal here so much that we came back again and K got a 2-​pounder lobster, a pound of mussels (so cheap, like $ 2.50?), and 18 raw oysters.
Some of the mussels had gone off or never opened, so it wasn’t my favourite dish here but for the price I think it’s fair not to expect too much preparation for it. The oyster shucking was a bit rough and left some of the pieces a bit smushed, but no broken shell pieces at all.
I’ve been told that Ryers’ prices have skyrocketed even in comparison to last year, but they’re still a considerably better price and much fresher than what we get over in Toronto (I paid $ 21-​ish for 1.5lbs). I would recommend Ryers for any seafood lover making an east coast trek.

Very disappointed with their new way of pricing. It almost smelled like greed to me (or maybe it’s just a good business sense?). It used to be just 2 prices, cooked or live. Now, besides the «cooked» or «live», they’ve got a new set of prices for those who wish to dine in. These are set prices, not by the pound, which means if you want to stay and eat on their deck, use a paper plate, a tiny cup of butter, a plastic bib, fork and lobster poke, well, that’s $ 5-​$ 7 more! A 1.5lb lobster is $ 20 now! Wow. I suppose many tourists will still gladly pay that price. However, I’ve been frequenting this humble little retail place for the past year and half, I’m now on the hunt for another humble little lobster place to replace it. Wish me luck.

This was one of my highlights in my trip to the Atlantic with the family. Delicious fresh lobster at very reasonable prices.
This was a last minute addition to our trip to peggy’s cove but it would have been a worthwhile destination in itself.
Highly recommended.

Stopped by here after visiting Peggy’s Cove. Buy a fresh lobster and they’ll cook it in front of you, crack the shell, and serve it to you with melted butter. The most delicious lobster I’ve ever had.
Price wise, for lobster it isn’t horrible, but it is still a bit pricy.

The ultimate Nova Scotia experience. Get your hands dirty and enjoy the lobster — no frills required.

Went here one day in the summer before heading to Peggy’s Cove. The establishment is a small building by the main road. It was amazing.
We ordered two two pound lobsters for the table. The lobsters were huge, fresh, and came with clarified butter. Also, we got an order of oysters, which were truly the most amazing oysters I have ever had — ever. If I ever have the chance to return to Nova Scotia, I will definitely make my way back here.

Excellent! Best lobster of my entire life! I was visiting NS on a road trip with a couple girlfriends and I was even able to ship live lobsters back home to my family! They were super impressed. Best souvenir gift I’ve ever brought back home!

We had lobsters cooked to take back to our cabin. I have been cooking professionally for 30 years and this was the best lobster I have ever tasted. Dave and his wife were gracious host. Some little kids showed up and they took there time to show them their collection of specially colored lobster. Also a very large 13 pound lobster. All of which they saving to return back to the ocean.
Should be in everyone’s culinary bucket list.

Great service and great prices. Not a high dollar restaurant but exactly what it should be great food, great people and great pricing.

Love freshly caught, ocean to pot to table lobster at a very reasonable price (today was $ 7.95/lb cooked) while supporting the local economy? As previous reviewers have already told you, this place is the bees knees. Lobster is what they do and oh my word, do they do it well.
Walk in, tell them what you’re feeling like for lunch (i.e. how big of a lobstah you’d like) and they’ll take care of the rest. Reference the salty captain’s advice here and don’t go much above the 1 ½ lb mark — trust us.
Absolutely no frills lobster shack with impeccable customer service, great seaside patio to crack open those tasty crusteceans and plenty of butter to go around!

Fantastic place to get incredibly fresh lobster. Reasonably priced and very fresh food. Went there after spending a few hours at Peggy’s Cove and it was worth the short drive. It’s basically a lobster shack, but they had a few other items, like mussels and oysters. There’s nothing fancy about this place, but it was a great experience overall.

My daughter and I stopped by for late lunch, don’t let the look fool you the owner is very friendly and the lobster was amazing! Highly recommend it!
Thanks Dave!

If you are looking for a «out of the ordinary» place to have fresh lobster, then this might be the location for you. Located just a few kilometers up the coast from Peggy’s Cove is the Ryer Lobsters Ltd., which is a retail fresh lobster establishment. However they will boil a lobster for you while you wait and then you can enjoy at one of the outside picnic tables that overlook the bay.
The two people running this small operation are friendly and accommodating., You pick out the size of the lobster you desire and it is weighed and put in boiling water. After a few minutes the remove the meat. This is not a white short and silk dress type of dining. You will be given a plastic bib, a plastic meat remover and paper plate. The steaming hot lobster will e brought to your table in a plastic box container.
In our case we also sampled some fresh oysters on the half shell. Both the lobsters and oysters were great. The company also holds an export license for lobsters so you can get next day Fed X service to most any town in the United States. The oysters can be shipped by another company and the owner will give you that name. The establishment had lobsters for shipment year round. The prices fluctuate due to the market so one needs to call to get the current price. The day we were there the prices were about 40% to 50% of the prices we pay in Dallas.
This was a great lunch dining experience that every member of the family enjoyed. How long has it been since you went on a picnic and enjoyed freshly cooked lobster as your main course? The only side was drawn butter. They do sell soft drinks. Great food and just plain fun. They accept only Master Card or Visa. Parking on their lot.

One of the areas best kept secrets in my opinion. I always buy them live from Ryers but I have many friends that really enjoyed picking their lobster then eating it minutes later. The oysters and fresh mussels are a treat as well.
Call and order ahead if you want cooked lobster on a holiday, they can get pretty busy.

This is an absolute bare bones place, with only outdoor picnic tables for seating. A couple of them are sheltered, but most are not protected from inclement weather.
After living in New England and moving to the Mid-​Atlantic, we sorely missed our lobster experiences. The best way to enjoy this crustacean is the way Ryer’s does it. Fresh from the sea, they are boiled, pre-​cracked, and served in a bin with tiny cups of butter and a bib. Don’t expect any sides here… just seafood offerings including oysters and mussels.
The price was super reasonable @ about $
. Larger doesn’t mean better in the lobster world, so we stuck with ordering two ¹¹⁄₂ pounders. Even though you can find live lobster all over the country, it’s just not the same as getting them hours after they have been caught. The stress of travel and/​or living in a tank does affect the taste and texture of the meat.
We found a table with views of the bay, and just dug in. No words were spoken, just an occasional mumble of joy could be heard in between the dunks in the butter cup. The lobster was sweet, succulent, rich and tender. A perfect meal enjoyed in a beautiful place.

Out of our whole trip, this was by far the best lobster I’ve ever had. Cooked to perfection, and crazy affordable. If youre looking for lobster, mussels or oysters this is the place to stop!
We had 3 1.5lb lobsters, 1lb of mussels and 6 oysters on the half shell for only $ 60! :)