By CAROLINE SHIN

Shouts for “Luis,” the gloved four-time champion, reverberated off the basketweave ceiling, as a hundred enthusiastic onlookers filled the subterranean Grand Central Oyster Bar.  As part of the annual Oyster Frenzy shucking competition, oyster-lovers craned their necks to watch the master shuckers and their bloodied fingers last Sunday while busy bartenders and waiters warned customers of a 45-minute wait for oysters.

Sandy Ingber, executive chef, delighted in the festivities. But he had more than the festival to be happy about. While most U.S. restaurants have suffered from the current recession — 68 percent of restaurants reported a yearly sales decline in August, according to a survey by the National Restaurant Association — the Grand Central Oyster Bar’s sales rose 3 percent over last year, he said.

On the supply end of the oyster chain, Robert Rheault, the president of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, which represents 1,000 shellfish farmers, said production in New England “has been increasing at double-digit rates for a decade.” (He included Long Island in the New England sector, the main oyster source for New York restaurants.)

Recent government grants have restored oyster cultivation in the Northeast, and unlike many fish, the oyster can better sustain environmental changes and has adapted well to the region’s turbid waters and polluted coastal estuaries. Oyster farmers can thus produce a steady supply at relatively stable prices for restaurants. Rheault, who manages his own boutique oyster farm, said “Speaking for myself, demand has been surprisingly strong through the downturn.”

Ingber made some changes in his menu to lessen the recession’s impact. “Through this bad economy and the crisis we just went through, we’ve tried to hold our prices down,” he said. “One of the great things about our menu is it’s a daily written menu.” As such, he is able to respond to the changing prices from his suppliers — an oyster farm in New England or a wholesaler at the Fulton Fish Market — and fills his menu with less expensive items if necessary. “My menu is a little more fairly priced throughout the economy. And it shows.” He said the restaurant sells approximately seven to nine thousand oysters weekly, a small increase from last year.

In the Flatiron District, Jay Shaffer has also seen “a small upward trend from last year” at Shaffer City Oyster Bar and Grill, which he has been operating for 12 years. “I think it’s more of a recession-proof item out there,” he said. Like Ingber, he saw customers buying less expensive oysters, and has introduced a more cost-friendly alternative for his diners, such as a happy hour at the bar from 4 to 8 p.m. from Monday to Saturday when $3 oysters are half price. The restaurant sells between  3,000 and 10,000 oysters per week, he said.

Oyster lovers have created a cult of loyalty that withstands economic troubles. Peter Slatin, associate publisher and editorial director of Real Time Analytics, said: “The recession has cut my salary by one-third. Nonetheless, I continue to eat oysters.” In the past year, he has had to close his business and take on a lower-paying job, yet he could not give up his oysters. “In fact, I believe I ate oysters three nights in the past week,” he said.

On a recent Saturday night, Lara Zibners, a pediatrician and oyster devotee, sat at the bar of Shaffer City with her husband, Gernot Lohr. “On the level of what we spend in our budget, oysters are a small blip on the numbers,” she said. “For us, oysters are such an enjoyable blip in that budget that we’ve never stopped.” She said she and her husband eat between two to eight oysters about two times a week at the average cost of $1.50 to $3 per oyster — a weekly range of $6 to $48.

Zibners praised the oyster’s health benefits. One oyster contains a gram of protein, six calories and the most concentrated dietary source of zinc, according to the National Institutes of Health. But the most salient point of the oyster for her is its “sexiness.” She was not referring to the oyster’s supposed aphrodisiac quality but rather its ability to stretch out the dinner date with her husband. “It’s not a quick fix. You choose it, enjoy it, talk about it.”

Shaffer also extolled the experience of eating an oyster. “They’re an escape from an everyday eating experience,” he said. “You don’t see it at home. People see it as a difficult thing to acquire on their own. And for people who love oysters, they see it as extra special. You have to keep eating them.”

Back at the Grand Central Oyster Bar, Luis Iglesias, who holds the record for opening 15 oysters in one minute, became a five-time shucking champion and picked up his check for $1,500 as the audience slurped away.