30 editor picks across United States.
30 seafood restaurants worth the trip across United States, editor-ranked. All cuisines in United States.
Neptune Oyster on Salem Street has run the city's defining raw bar in Boston since 2004. 42 seats, no reservations, Gulf of Maine lobster roll on a buttered.
OrderThe hot-buttered lobster roll, full-claw and tail.
TipPut your name on the iPad at 16:30, walk to a bar, and return when they text. The 20:00 wait can run 90 minutes.
Neptune Oyster on Salem Street runs the city's defining raw bar in Boston's North End since 2004. 42 seats, no reservations, hot-buttered lobster roll.
OrderHot-buttered lobster roll on a butter-toasted split-top bun.
TipPut your name on the iPad at 16:30. The wait at 18:30 runs 90 minutes; weekday lunch is the easy seat.
Eventide Oyster Co on Middle Street opened 2012 from Big Tree Hospitality, rebuilding the Maine oyster bar around a brown-butter lobster roll on a bao.
OrderThe brown butter lobster roll on a Bao bun, plus a dozen oysters from the granite bar.
TipWalk-up only for the bar; tables open online via Resy 30 days ahead.
Atelier Crenn in San Francisco is Dominique Crenn's three-Michelin-star Cow Hollow flagship, a poetry-of-cuisine vegetable-and-seafood tasting in 30 seats.
TipSit at the chef's counter in the back for a longer hand-off and more conversation with the line.
Automatic Seafood and Oysters in Lakeview earned Adam Evans the 2022 James Beard Best Chef South, with a Gulf-anchored menu in a renovated industrial space.
Easy Bistro & Bar serves hearth-roasted oysters, raw bar platters and house pasta in a former Coca-Cola bottling plant in Chattanooga's West Village.
OrderHearth-roasted oysters, then the whole fish for the table.
TipErik and Amanda Niel's flagship since 2005, Michelin Recommended in 2025. Book on Resy; happy hour runs 16:00 to 17:00 daily.
Easy Bistro & Bar is Chattanooga's special-occasion room, French-rooted seafood cooking in a 1900s Coca-Cola bottling hall, Michelin Recommended in 2025.
OrderThe raw bar tower, then hearth-roasted oysters.
TipReserve on Resy ahead of weekends; the marble bar takes walk-ins from 16:00 and the happy hour oysters are the value play.
Pier W on Lake Avenue in Lakewood, a 1965 cliff-edge seafood room cantilevered above Lake Erie, runs Cleveland's longest-standing white-tablecloth water view.
OrderWhatever fresh-fish preparation the kitchen is leading the dinner menu with, plus the Sunday brunch buffet.
TipReserve a window-side table on OpenTable for sunset; valet only, the cliff lot fills fast.
Little Pearl runs a four-course local-seafood tasting menu from a corner cottage on Olivia Street in Key West, with a deep cellar and three set seatings.
OrderThe four-course chef's tasting built on the local catch
TipSeatings run at 17:00, 19:00 and 21:00 six days a week; the wine pairing leans on the half-bottle cellar and is worth it.
Michael Cimarusti's Providence on Melrose has been LA's two-Michelin-star seafood room since 2005. The tasting menu builds around West Coast producers.
OrderThe full tasting menu; the spot prawn course in season is the one to remember.
TipBar seats serve a shorter four-course at half the price; book those a week ahead instead of a month.
Ben Sukle's downtown raw bar where 2025 James Beard winner Sky Haneul Kim cooked until October 2025; new menu under Sukle and John Robinson.
OrderAn oyster flight across the nine Rhode Island growing regions; the kitchen's seasonal raw bar plates.
TipReservations on Tock; the raw bar counter takes walk-ins on weeknights.
The Walrus and the Carpenter in Seattle's Ballard is Renee Erickson's 2010 oyster room, a wood and marble bar, a chalkboard of 14 oysters. Priced at $$$.
OrderA flight of Hood Canal and Samish Bay oysters with the steak tartare and rye toast.
TipWalk-ins from 17:00 on Tuesday to Thursday; Friday and Saturday line up by 16:45 or take Resy at 16:30.
Kimball House in Decatur, Atlanta opened 2013 inside a converted 19th-century train station, with the city's deepest oyster selection and a James Beard.
OrderTwo dozen oysters and the absinthe drip service.
TipReservations on Resy; the bar takes walk-ins until late. Sunday Happy Hour 17:00-18:30 is the under-the-radar bargain.
Thames Street Oyster House in Fells Point runs Baltimore's deepest raw bar, with chef Eric Houseknecht's Eastern Shore crab cake and a lobster roll.
OrderThe Eastern Shore crab cake, broiled with almost no filler, and a half-dozen from the raw bar.
TipReserve the upstairs dining room for quiet; the downstairs bar takes walk-ins and pours through a deep oyster list.
Faidley's Seafood at Lexington Market has sold its jumbo lump crab cake since 1886, a stand-up counter where you eat the city's benchmark cake off paper.
OrderThe jumbo lump crab cake, broiled, almost all crab and no filler.
TipIt is a stand-up counter inside Lexington Market; order the lump grade and eat it at the rail.
Mike Lata's The Ordinary in Charleston turned a 1927 bank building on King Street into the city's most ambitious raw bar in 2013. Located in Upper King.
OrderThe crispy oyster sliders on Hawaiian rolls, plus the seafood tower for the table.
TipBook on Resy. Mezzanine bar takes walk-ins and serves the full menu.
Mike Lata's The Ordinary in Charleston converted a 1927 bank building on King Street into the city's most ambitious raw bar in 2013. Located in Upper King.
OrderCrispy oyster sliders, then the seafood tower for the table.
TipBook on Resy in advance. Bar seats are walk-in only and worth the wait.
Pier W on a Lake Erie cliff in Lakewood since 1965 is the Select Restaurants flagship cantilevered above the water with daily-flown seafood and Sunday brunch.
Michael Cimarusti's Providence on Melrose, Los Angeles holds two Michelin stars for a seafood tasting menu that builds around West Coast producers.
Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach is the 1913 South of Fifth seafood cathedral, serving chilled stone crab claws with mustard sauce from October 15 to May 1.
OrderJumbo or large stone crab claws with the mustard sauce and a side of creamed spinach.
TipNo reservations for dinner; arrive by 5pm or use the take-away counter next door for the same claws to-go.
Eric Ripert's three-Michelin-star seafood room on West 51st has held its stars since 2005 in New York City. Tasting menu mostly raw and barely-cooked fish.
Fet-Fisk on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield serves chef-driven Nordic seafood in Pittsburgh. A 2025 Bon Appetit best-new-restaurant and James Beard finalist.
OrderOysters and the open-faced smorrebrod, with a snaps or a low-intervention wine.
TipThursday to Monday, dinner from 17:00. Reserve on Resy; the bar runs later.
Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco is a Polk Street counter that has served cold-house Dungeness, oysters and clam chowder since 1912 in 18 stools.
OrderCrab Louie and a half-dozen Marin Miyagis on the half shell.
TipOpen 10:30-17:00 only; queue forms at 09:45 on a weekend, takes an hour at peak.
Crow's Nest is Anchorage fine dining: 20th floor of Hotel Captain Cook, sommelier-led wine programme and Chef Cameron Richardson driving Alaska seafood.
The Bull and Beggar at Wedge Studios in the River Arts District has run a French-American kitchen with raw bar since 2013. Tuesday burger night is the local.
OrderThe steak frites with bone-marrow butter, or the burger if you can land a Tuesday seat.
TipBook Tuesday burger night three weeks ahead on the operator site. Walk-in raw bar seats open at 17:00.
The Bull and Beggar at Wedge Studios in the River Arts District has run French-American fine dining with raw bar plateau since 2013. The Tuesday burger night.
OrderThe steak frites with bone-marrow butter, or the burger if you can land a Tuesday seat.
TipTuesday burger night books out 3 weeks ahead. Raw bar walk-ins open at 17:00.
Row 34 on Congress Street has run the Fort Point oyster room in Boston since 2013. Located in Seaport Fort Point. Priced at $$$. Kitchen leans seafood.
OrderA dozen mixed oysters and the crispy oysters with sriracha aioli.
TipThe bar runs the same menu without the reservation lead time, and Tuesday nights are the easy walk-in seat at the counter.
Row 34 on Congress Street has run the Fort Point oyster room in Boston since 2013. Named for row 34 in Duxbury Bay, 20 East Coast oyster varieties daily.
OrderA mixed dozen of East Coast oysters and the crispy oysters with sriracha aioli.
TipThe bar runs the same menu without the reservation lead time. Tuesday nights walk in easily.
Bowens Island Restaurant near Folly Beach has shovel-fed steamed Lowcountry oysters since 1946. James Beard America's Classics winner in 2006.
OrderA bushel of steamed oysters opened table-side and a bowl of Frogmore stew.
TipClosed Sunday and Monday. Cash and card; no reservations. Tide-line tables fill at sunset.
Voyager on Vester Street in Ferndale serves sustainable seafood and a raw bar across the city line from Detroit. Priced at $$$. At 600 Vester St.
OrderA half-dozen East and West Coast oysters and the daily crudo composition.
TipClosed Sunday and Monday. Bar runs through 22:00 on weekends.
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Sample Boston's most iconic seafood dishes on a guided walking tour. Enjoy fresh, local favorites and learn about local history during your adventure.
