The best seafood restaurants in the USA

April Bloomfield’s mostly seafood restaurant is inventive, understated, and actually deserving of its hype. While the half-roasted chicken might be the biggest draw, you might find delights like smoked Arctic char, braised squid, and cod with beans on the ever-changing menu. Ask your server to tell you a little more about the under-described dishes, or just trust the process and order whatever you’d like to learn a little more about. Expect expert sauces, perfect preparations and seafood from a chef at the top of her game.

Fabio Trabocchi's award-winning seafood menu is inspired by Italy’s coastlines—so you’ll find crudos, seafood towers, handmade pasta, and more. The signature "Carrello del Pesce" will be presented at your table, a seafood cart with the day’s catch from Italy and other shores. Fiola Mare’s windows give out on views of the Potomac waterfront and marina. With a sophisticated wine list and ambiance, many of Washington, D.C.’s power players lunch here.

Enjoy Chef Michael Cimarusti’s award-winning modern American seafood cuisine here in the heart of Los Angeles, hosted by co-owner Donato Poto. Providence procures sustainably fished food from local coasts and mostly American waters, like farm-raised sustainable caviar and spot prawns (so named for the white spots on their tails) directly from the waters off Santa Barbara. With two Michelin stars, the restaurant is devoted to elegant and creative fare.

Christopher Tompkins's new-school seafood sack serves one of the best lobster rolls in Los Angeles, and it’s now available at Downtown’s Grand Central Market as well as at the open-air Malibu Village original. Get your gourmet sandwich warm and buttered or opt to do it Maine style (chilled and in a thin sheen of mayo). Broad Street’s signature luxury add-ons like uni and caviar add a touch of pizazz, while spicy soft-shell crab sandwiches, linguine in clams and even a delicious beachside burger provide more affordable extravagance the next time you’re in the mood to sample East Coast-style seafood without jumping on a plane to LAX.

One of L.A.’s most famous taco trucks, Mariscos Jalisco might be known citywide for its deep-fried shrimp tacos, but the longtime lonchera also serves fresh-to-death ceviches, tostadas and oysters on the half shell. Operating as a quartet of trucks (Boyle Heights, Downtown, Pomona, La Cienega), all four sling Jalisco-style seafood across the Southland, and many of their dishes surpass most of L.A.’s fancier seafood joints. Their signature tacos dorado de camaron live up to the hype with flavorful and fresh shrimp folded into corn tortillas, which are then fried to a golden brown and topped with thick slices of avocado and a vibrant and complex salsa roja. You’ll also want to save room for their legendary tostadas like the Poseidon topped with shrimp ceviche, octopus and a fiery red aguachile of shrimp.

There's good reason Aphotic earned a Michelin star before it even turned six months old: the seasonal, 11-course, all-seafood menu is mind-blowingly creative (and delicious). The restaurant also earned a Michelin Green Star for its commitment to sustainability, sourcing every ingredient from local fishermen and purveyors.  Each dish laid before you in this moody, dimly-lit dining room is artfully crafted, showcasing the very best of local seafood—from a crispy egg tartlet with summer peas and trout roe to a chamomile-cured halibut with fava beans and green strawberries. Even the dessert incorporates seafood—scallop crème brulée is on the menu now. Just trust us on this one.

Any seafood restaurant whose website homepage includes a quote from Ernest Hemingway enthusing about how his oyster and wine consumption improved his mood deserves our full attention. We love the Neptune Burger topped with Vermont cheddar, fried oysters, and a garlic mayo relish. Who needs avocado toast when you can have sea urchin toast (with Bottarga butter and Basque pepper)? The oyster bar pulls from two dozen local oyster farms, mostly in Massachusetts, while the “sea wines” at Neptune Oyster come from vineyards right up against the shore to benefit from that ocean-blessed wind and soil. This includes wines from Italy’s Bisson, which famously sinks its bottles into the ocean to become barnacled, the sediments inside agitated by Poseidon’s currents.

The sister restaurant to East Village-fave Claud, this shoulder-to-shoulder counter is serving up some of the city’s best seafood. At the raw bar, silky oysters are $3.50 a piece, and the “Ice Box” serves up oysters, countnecks, shrimp, mussels and scallop to the well-heeled crowd. It’s the perfect spot for an intimate date or to impress an out-of-town friend—order the caviar tin, choose a bottle of sparkling wine and enjoy a classic (and classy) New York night.

The line is often out the door for this venerable old seafood bar with the hyper-fresh fare. It’s small but mighty (counter seating only) and beloved by San Franciscans for everything from Sicilian sashimi to salmon lox and...of course...oysters! Accompany everything with a pint of local Anchor Steam beer and you can scratch the authentic SF seafood experience off your bucket list. Beware if you are craving clam chowder in the late afternoon; Swan’s closes for the day at 2:3pm. And make sure to have cash or you’ll stand in line only to be sad.

Perhaps Florida’s most famous restaurant is a South Beach attraction. Thankfully, they’ve ditched the no-reservation policy, although reserved tables are available in limited numbers. But even if you have to wait, people-watching in the old-school bar makes the hours (!!!) go by quickly. Scoring stone crabs (October through May) in the place that essentially invented the dish is ideal, but you’ll find a solid fallback with the burger and fried chicken.

Understandably, Bostonians draw parallels between Neptune Oyster and its longtime chef Michael Serpa’s debut venture in the Back Bay. But it’s also unnecessary. Neither a stark departure nor a virtual homage, Select Oyster Bar is all Serpa’s own. From the Faroe Islands salmon crudo (togarashi, pistachio oil, and lime) to the Maine mussels prepared with toasted cashews, coconut milk, ginger, and aji amarillo, and ending with the whole roasted sea bream, taverna style, with fennel and fingerling potatoes, this is a lovely gathering of the fruits of the sea.

The vast expanse east of LAX doesn’t exactly scream "seafood destination," but Coni'Seafood turned Inglewood into an oceanic dining hotspot—and from there, it was L.A. seafood domination, baby. Such is the power of this Nayarit-style fish specialist (with a second Westside location near Culver City) that offers a tight menu of smoked marlin tacos, more than a dozen shrimp dishes from raw to deep-fried, and more elaborate house specialties like pescado zarandeado: butterflied snook fish that’s marinated in soy sauce and grilled to savory perfection over charcoal. Chicharrones de pescado involves crispy, pan-fried tilapia chunks with tangy soy and lemon sauce, while another standout dish stars sweet langoustines—bathed in garlic, chilies and lemon juice—and, if you’re lucky, prized roe.

Despite the name, this isn’t your ordinary oyster spot. Led by FIG chef/owner Mike Lata, The Ordinary occupies two stories in the historic district of Charleston and serves up stunning seafood towers and modern, inventive takes on raw bar classics. Don’t miss the crispy oyster slider served on a freshly baked Hawaiian roll and the lump blue crab spaghetti (Calabrian chili, caper, preserved lemon). For an elevated experience, splurge for the caviar service paired with Jimmy Red Corn Hoe Cakes.

This Portland, Maine revamp of the traditional New England oyster bar also has a location near Fenway Park, but who could watch the game when this kind of fare needs your attentive and adoring gaze? Besides oysters from a dozen Maine farms (and two from “away”) and shellfish displayed on a huge block of Maine granite, you’ll find Eventide's house specialty Brown Butter Lobster Roll and fun offerings like the Scallop Waffle-yaki (tempura, kabayaki and umami mayo) and the Mez-Call Me Maybe cocktail made with mezcal, tequila, house tonic and Luxardo. Enjoy the low-key and authentic experience of sitting at a picnic table to devour your lobster; you’re on vacation!

A new addition to the Houston dining scene in 2023, Little's Oyster Bar is serving up some of the freshest seafood from the Gulf Coast—from icy, briny oysters on the half-shell to showstopping seafood towers to colorful crudos, the raw bar steals the show here. But don't miss the rest of the menu, where fresh-caught filets are presented simply with sauces like a radish beurre blanc or a caper brown butter. Pro-tip: Don't miss the crab croquettes, which are raved about by critics and come with an heirloom tomato gazpacho.

Downtown's seafood bistro serves an array of oysters, plus excellent fish and buttery Connecticut-style lobster rolls in a delightful, laid-back setting. Despite its otherwise casual digs, it's easy to indulge here, with dishes above the three-figure mark like Osetra caviar and the seafood towers, but you also could walk out in reasonably priced territory after pounding a dozen middle-neck clams, a bowl of chowder and some of the freshest catch anywhere done up however they're feeling that day.

This snug little magnet for Seattle’s lovers of marine cuisine is as packed with succulent sea creatures as it is with people. Chef-partner Renee Erickson has a taste for the briny, earthy and all-around funky that shows not only in signatures like the grilled sardines with walnut relish but also in the ever-changing specials: smoked-herring croquettes with malt-vinegar aioli one day, squid ink-spiked scallop aguachile another, potted crab still another. They’re supplemented by an exquisite array of vegetable-centric small plates, cheeses and, of course, market oysters on the half-shell. But wait, there’s more: The Walrus and the Carpenter’s carefully edited beverage list works like a charm—cheers to all those fun, food-friendly wine finds from France—and there’s a maple bread pudding in espresso sauce to sap the strength of the most resolute sugar-shunner.

Aloha! Mama's Fish House is typically booked four to six months in advance, so get on the horn if you want to include a visit during your visit. Family-owned since 1973, this restaurant’s backstory is incredible and involves a TWA flight and hacking through thick groves of Kiawe trees to reach deserted beaches. But the food! Try blue prawns from New Caledonia Island with Tahitian vanilla and coconut, or Tristan Island lobster tails from “off the coast of the most isolated island in the world,” reads the menu. For bragging rights, you’ll want to order the Antarctic toothfish, caught at 6,000 feet below frozen glaciers, steamed with Hana ginger and sizzling coconut oil—and end the meal with the beloved “Polynesian black pearl” of Manoa chocolate mousse shining from within a seashell-shaped cookie.

It’s fun to have a traditional New England-style Oyster Bar lodged in the South, in historic downtown Charleston. 167 Raw's seafood comes from as far north as New Brunswick, Canada, and as local as the waters of Charleston itself. Try the pastrami’d swordfish sandwich or the lobster tostada, and of course, graze the raw bar and indulge in the caviar service. For a hearty main, the bucatini with mussels and chorizo will make you feel all kinds of grateful. Now, chase it all down with brûléed homemade key lime pie and a 167 espresso martini.

Technically, the executive chef Gasón Acurio is a celebrity back in Peru, perhaps the country’s most famous cook. But the real mastermind running the day-to-day at La Mar in Miami is Diego Oka, who plates Insta-worthy dishes that taste just as good as they look. (A second location in San Francisco features water-side dining and a newly renovated bar.) The menu largely highlights local catch and seafood you’d find on a trip to Peru, best exemplified with bright ceviches that somehow are full of tangy citrus flavor and also preserve the delicate taste of the fish. It’s just a bonus that La Mar’s balcony has the kind of view you’d expect at a top-notch seafood spot, the waves from the bay lapping against the seawall below.

There’s nothing wrong with splurging on lobster or king crab and wanting to enjoy it in the formal dining room of Shaw’s Crab House. We just prefer the freedom of getting down and dirty in this institution’s Oyster Bar, where we can slurp fresh oysters, crack open crab claws and dunk our lobster tail in copious amounts of butter—all without earning a sideways glance from a stiff in a suit. Grab the tender fried calamari, Alaskan Red King Crab and more oysters than you think is necessary. The quality remains just as high as in the dining room (it’s all coming from the same kitchen), and there’s no pressure to spend big on wine, which is all the better because they have a good selection of beers for all your washing-down purposes.

Chefs Donald Link, Stephen Stryjewski and Ryan Prewitt designed Pêche to incorporate the flavors of South America, Spain, and the Gulf Coast, with sustainably and locally fished seafood. Along with fresh oysters and Gulf fish, you’ll find some menu items cooked on an open hearth. Chef Prewitt and the restaurant itself are James Beard winners. Seafood gumbo’s on the menu, of course, at this NOLA standout, along with catfish with pickled greens in a chili broth, and grilled tuna with kale, chili, peanuts and carrots. The raw bar has great options like the steak tartare with oyster aioli, while the wet bar has fun treats like Turn Right to Go Left (mezcal, cacao liqueur, dry vermouth, orange and lemon).

This smoke shack was born when the steel industry was thriving and the area was populated by hungry day laborers. Set at the base of the famous Blues Brothers bridge, this little white box brings in customers from all around for smoked shrimp, trout and sable, which are always on offer. You’ll see folks sitting in their cars eating their picks out of paper bags, a quintessential part of the experience.

All along our northeastern shores, summer in and summer out, debates over New England’s best seafood shack rage on as incessantly as those over the one true lobster roll (cold and mayo-daubed Maine-style, or hot and buttered Connecticut-style?). But only a few names crop up with the regularity of Bob’s Clam Hut—and that was the case well before Guy Fieri stopped by. In place since 1956, the Route 1 institution checks off every box with ease: quaint cottage digs and a slew of al fresco picnic tables; a constant, all-ages queue of locals and tourists alike at the order window; and, of course, textbook fried whole-belly clams (nix the strips, kids) that come as nature intended—in an overflowing basket alongside basic fries and slaw, plus lemon wedges if you’re doing it right. If you’re really doing it right, you’ll also get that cold lobster roll, piled high with picked meat.

Matunuck Oyster Bar was founded by an actual oysterman, Perry Raso, and besides dining here, you can take a one-hour tour of the oyster farm to learn about aquaculture and fisheries. Aside from oysters in every way, shape and splendid form, you’re bound by unwritten state law to order the fried calamari with cherry peppers, the clear clam chowder and at least a couple of stuffies (stuffed and baked quahogs)—Rhody classics all. After that, try the award-winning lobster roll with truffle fries as you gaze out onto the beautiful waterfront.