RHIANNON: At the time of Grand Central’s opening in the early 1900s, New Yorkers were obsessed with oysters. Stands and shacks were everywhere in the city. The 440-seat Grand Central Oyster Bar, opened just three weeks after Grand Central Terminal’s opening in 1913. The grand and elegant space, marked by distinct vaulted ceilings covered in terracotta tiles, was designed by prolific New York architect Raphael Guastavino. The dining room supplied meals to the long-distance trains leaving the station and the popular lunch counter offered commuters and locals a place to slurp oysters and pan roasts at lunch and before heading home. While much has changed in the Terminal, the Oyster bar continues its tradition. JANET: It's a landmark. We’re here over 107 years. Hi, I'm Janet Poccia and I'm the president of the Grand Central Oyster Bar. RHIANNON: And what does Janet recommend? JANET: Oysters. I like the East Coast oysters. They're briny. They're my favorites. Like eating, having ocean. It's…it's wonderful. JANET: The oyster bar's known just for the freshest fish. So what happens is, my chef goes to the market. He goes to the fish market every day at 3, 3:30 in the morning. And, he selects the freshest fish that's available. And then we have a truck that brings the food to us, the fish, and it goes to the butcher station and he butchers the fish. And that's how we create the menu. On a busy day, we could sell over 5,000 oysters a day. Could you imagine that? Um, at slower times 2000, 1500 oysters a day. It's a wonderful place. We have three different dining rooms, if you will. We have the counter, you could come in for a quick lunch, quick dinner, or you could sit in the dining room and sit for an hour and a half and, you know, have a beautiful bottle of wine. You could also have the wine at the counter, but it's a quicker service. RHIANNON: When Grand Central Terminal fell into disrepair in the early 70s, the Oyster Bar was going down with it. Famed restaurateur Jerome Brody took over in 1974, and brought it back to its full glory. The restaurant is now fully employee-owned. JANET: Mr. Brody sold us 49% in 1999. And then in 2004, Mrs. Brody sold us the remaining 51%. The employees feel like they own something and they work harder and it really does make a difference. Many of my staff members, they're here 30 years, 25 years. We had a bartender that just retired recently and he was here with us for like 45 years. So we have long-term employees cause we're like family. Yeah. It's a, it's a great place. It's a great energy. To me, the Oyster Bar is home.