Best Seafood Restaurants in America

This open-air waterfront Florida Keys eatery with a laid-back vibe serves generous portions of fish-house standbys as well as an eclectic mix of crowd pleasers. Locals come for the hogfish sandwich, but the extensive menu also features tacos, ceviche, catfish sliders, a royal red shrimp roll, stuffed hogfish, and whole fried snapper.

On the north shore of Maui, this family-owned restaurant is so popular it is often booked as much as six months in advance. The rotating menu features locally caught fish bought directly from fishermen (whose names are proudly printed on the menu) and prepared with Polynesian flare. Starters include oysters with mango-lilikoi mignonette and macadamia nut crab cakes, while entrees include uku (blue-green snapper) baked with coconut, sweet potato, and charred pineapple.

Shaw’s Crab House works directly with farmers and fishermen to curate a menu that highlights fresh ingredients and lets their flavor shine. With a formal dining room and a 1940s-style diner section, guests can feast casually or fancifully on classics like oysters Rockefeller, Alaskan king crab, and parmesan-crusted haddock, or dine on a wide selection of maki rolls, sashimi, and poke bowls.

This James Beard award-winning restaurant in the Warehouse District specializes in open-fire cooking inspired by the cuisines of South America, Spain, and of course the Gulf Coast.

Guests love the steak tartare with oyster aïoli from the raw bar, and the baked drum with mushroom broth and calas (rice fritters). Groups can order a selection of small plates, like spicy ground shrimp with noodles and catfish with pickled greens and chili broth, then dig into a whole grilled fish.

A true New England-style oyster bar, Eventide offers a rotating selection of local Maine oysters, crab claws and clams on ice with all the fixings, and such fare as lobster stew, clam chowder, New England clam bake, and a famous brown-butter lobster roll. Some Asian-fusion items including steamed bao buns and tuna tartare with nuoc cham round out the menu.