We’re built on tradition.
When we were kids, our families traveled to the beach every summer. Mornings, we’d head to the water, and in the afternoons we’d head to the backyard, gathering with friends and relatives to pop some oysters and throw a boil. The sun would be shining, there would be an ice chest full of beer, and epic games of horseshoes would last all afternoon. But the food — a low country boil with a Mid-Atlantic twist, fresh oysters, a pork roast — was always the star of the day. It was casual. It was never fussy. And everything about it was perfect.
We started Chesapeake Shuck & Boil to bring that same perfect experience to you in your backyard — or wherever you need a taste of the Bay.
We source the freshest ingredients, prepare everything in a time-honored way, and set it all up. All you have to do is find some family and friends to enjoy it with. And if our experience is any indication, that’s never hard to do.
The Chesapeake Shuck & Boil family
OYSTERS
Best hands in the business.
The Tippett family has roots in the Southern Maryland region that go way back and if you walk into any restaurant in St. Mary’s today you’ll likely meet a relative. In 1945, Joe’s father, Bernie started the family oyster business and quickly built a reputation as a gentleman shucker raconteur, delighting customers with entertaining tales that were almost as good as the oysters he served up.
Now, Joe Tippett, our master oyster shucker, and his team of the finest shuckers on the East Coast, carries on the family business. Collectively, the Tippets have shucked oysters for five Presidents, and Joe is the only living person to have given a sitting president a handshake while holding a knife in his other hand. Regarded as the best on the East Coast, Joe and his team have over 120 years experience combined, and have collectively shucked over 50 million oysters and counting.
BBQ
Creating a BBQ tradition for the Bay.
In the 1980s, the Tippetts and their friends decided to have a pig pick’n in their hometown of Alexandria, VA. They wanted this to be The Party, one they could throw annually in their neighborhood as a celebration of friends and BBQ. They did their research, had a wood cooker custom built in Wilson, NC, and created a special Virginia vinegar pick’n sauce for the event. The Party became a legendary event and lasted for decades—people are still talking about the food—while the cooker and pick’n sauce are what we use today.
Now, our BBQ has reached competition level. We’ve added a Lang smoker with offset heat and cook exclusively with aged local cherry wood. We source all our meat and produce from local farms and watermen and have cooked chickens, goats, turkeys, all cuts of beef, duck, venison, oysters, lobsters, crabs, shrimp, fish, and most veggies—if you can name it, we’ve most likely cooked it.
For our first season, our BBQ offerings will be limited to where it all began, with our pulled pork, but we’ll add to our menu as more choices are requested. Follow us on Instagram to see what we’re serving (WARNING: it might make you really hungry).
BOIL
Bring the Bay to your backyard.
A boil is the best foods of the Chesapeake watershed and beyond — corn, shrimp, potatoes, andouille sausage, onions — all put in a pot and cooked with our family recipe blend of spices. Everything is cooked to perfection and spread out for everyone to enjoy.
And that’s when a boil really comes into its own. Because you don’t have a boil, you have dinner. You throw a boil. Like you throw a party. Because a party is a happening. A party is something you talk about later with a smile on your face. And let’s face it, most of us have a hard time getting our family to sit down to dinner. But a boil? You’ll be looking for extra room around the table.