11 Best Seafood Restaurants in Boston
Wherever you are in the city, you’re never too far from that braise of salt in the air or the glisten of the Charles River. Boston and its nearby towns are steeped in a storied tradition of fishing and shell fishing that predates the founding of this city on a hill, and as a result, have some of the best seafood anywhere in America. Chefs and purveyors carry a fierce loyalty to the souls who brave the cold North Atlantic to bring the ocean’s crop to our plates, and these restaurants, varied in character and experience, highlight a different part of this legacy on the table.
Heath RobbinsrestaurantLegal Harborside
$$$This 20,000-square-foot flagship of the iconic 70-year-old Legal Seafood empire makes it its mission to be all things to all New England seafood-loving people. Opened in 2011 in the Seaport, on the site of a longtime Boston institution called Jimmy’s Harborside, the restaurant holds not just one dining destination but a trio of them, one on each of its three floors. At street level, you’ll find an all-day casual venue, with an oysters, fresh-fish, and a prepared-foods market. Above that, there’s a more formal setting for elevated dishes and celebratory meals. The top story rooftop lounge, meanwhile, offers sweeping views, small bites, cocktails, and retractable glass walls and ceiling that keep it comfortable all year long.
Zack BowenrestaurantEventide Fenway
$$If you want inventive riffs on the classic New England lobster shack, there’s no better place to go than Eventide, the offspring of the Portland, Maine stalwart of the same name that's mere steps from Fenway Park. The level of execution far surpasses the informality of the order-at-the-counter experience, and the cool-as-a-cucumber vibe is remarkably different from any other restaurant in the city. The star here is the signature warm lobster roll: rich, creamy lobster meat drenched in brown butter and a squeeze of lemon stuffed into a steamed Chinese bao.
restaurantRed's Best
$$The open secret of Boston’s seafood scene is that many of the best restaurants in the city pull their hauls from Red’s. Tucked into the back of Boston Public Market, it has a long counter with a handwritten menu that showcases the raw fish, grab-and-go salads, and sushi, as well as the New England classics fried up in the back. Here, a simple-is-better philosophy sets the bar high: the scallops in the Day Boat Sea Scallop Roll ($17), for example, are lightly tossed in flour, fried, and popped into a grilled, buttered bun with tartar sauce. On the first Sunday of every month, Red's offers buck-a-shuck oysters—go for those before digging into the rest of the menu. Industry folks love Red’s because it educates customers, highlighting lesser-known fish species that are big on flavor but low on name recognition.
Chris McIntoshrestaurantThe Barking Crab
$$The last vestige of the old Seaport—a once rough-around-the edges neighborhood that’s now filled with glass skyscrapers, corporate types, and Lululemon stores—this indoor-outdoor seafood institution fills with diners and happy hour revelers of all stripes, from construction workers to management consultants. The waterfront destination feels like a coastal summer clam shack with its tented roof and picnic tables, and, indeed, it got its start as a seasonal restaurant back in 1994. Now, it includes a more permanent wing with an old time-y tavern feel, but the seaside, atmosphere persists throughout. That vibe pairs perfectly with the menu of seafood platters; raw bar favorites; fried scallops, shrimp, and clams; fish sandwiches; entrees; and lobster in all forms, including boiled, grilled, roasted, and rolled.
- Islands & BeachesThe 14 Best Beach Towns on the East Coast
- Readers' Choice Awards2024 Readers' Choice Awards Survey
Courtesy O YarestaurantO Ya
$$$Given the larger-than-life reputation of this cult-classic sushi and omakase restaurant, you would expect it to have a more grandiose address than a 30-seat dining room off an anonymous side street in the Leather District. But that's the magic of O Ya—the food is enough to make it a must-try for any serious sushi enthusiast passing through Boston. Rolls, sashimi, and the like can be ordered à la carte, but any Bostonian worth their weight in salty soy sauce knows that it's omakase menu or bust here. Some dishes are deeply traditional, while others throw unexpected yet decadent flavors into the mix, like foie gras and truffle.
- restaurant
Select Oyster Bar
$$Michael Serpa, the longtime executive chef at the North End’s always-packed, no-reservations Neptune Oyster Bar opened his very own, seafood mecca in the Back Bay in 2015. That means you can now make a reservation to eat his top-shelf European-inflected dishes—salmon crudo, Spanish octopus, sautéed petit clams, whole roasted sea bream—without waiting outside in line for an hour plus. While Serpa emphasizes local fish, especially for seasonal specials, he sources some ingredients, like that octopus, from afar, when the quality is better. The restaurant has about 50 seats in its exposed brick and raw wood spaces, 16 of them at the pewter-topped bar, which might well be the best spot from which to sample the list Serpa has assembled of seafood-appropriate wines both old world and new. He puts a particular focus on Chablis, his favorite.
- Islands & BeachesThe 14 Best Beach Towns on the East Coast
- Readers' Choice Awards2024 Readers' Choice Awards Survey
Courtesy Saltie GirlrestaurantSaltie Girl
$$Saltie Girl’s charming space contrasts with the more generic options on Newbury Street. Its calling card is the tinned seafood list: more than 60 options, split by category, range from Portuguese tuna fillets preserved in spring water to cod liver from Iceland, to Spanish anchovies fried in olive oil with onion. Each selection arrives at your table in its original tin alongside artisanal bread, house-churned sea salt butter, three kinds of salt, and bright Spanish piquillo jam. Don’t overlook the raw bar and its ambitious seafood towers (in three sizes), which deliver on jumbo shrimp, East and West oysters, clams, and, in the larger sizes, poached lobster, crab claws, and tuna poke.
Brian SamuelsrestaurantB&G Oysters
$$$B&G Oysters is nestled on the garden level of a brownstone along picturesque Tremont Street in the historic South End. Celebrity chef Barbara Lynch brings her own interpretation to the high-end oyster bar. Served alongside Prosecco mignonette in varying tones of briny, sweet, silky, and mineral-rich, the bivalves at B&G Oysters never disappoint. From there, you can veer classic (clam chowder with bacon and spicy croutons or fried oysters served with tartar sauce for dipping) or seasonal (pan-roasted halibut prepared with english peas, corn, mint and drizzled in aïoli). Always—always!—order the unbeatable Maine Lobster Roll—served in a warm bun with pickles, coleslaw and fries on the side.
- Islands & BeachesThe 14 Best Beach Towns on the East Coast
- Readers' Choice Awards2024 Readers' Choice Awards Survey
Courtesy Cafe SushirestaurantCafe Sushi Shoten
$$If you’re curious why a takeout and delivery-only sushi shop belongs on a Best Restaurants list, trust us: it’s that good. Café Sushi had been a Cambridge mainstay since opening its modest sushi counter in 1984—it was one of those reliably excellent spots that locals could rely on for consistently excellent sushi. But in 2022, Café Sushi transitioned to Café Sushi Shoten (from the Japanese for “bookstore”), a takeout and delivery-only spot, enriched by a wide assortment of Japanese groceries and sundries like candied yuzu peels and sake. Shoten’s to-go platters still capture the freshness, attention to detail, and authenticity of these hallowed grounds’ prior iteration—and locals still rely on this spot as much as ever for great sushi.
© Ana M. ReyesrestaurantNeptune Oyster
$$$A tiny 34-seat bistro, Neptune Oyster Bar has served up one of Boston’s best lobster rolls (fashioned cold or hot) in grilled brioche since it opened in 2004. With seven ounces of sweet lobster claw and tail piled into a mouthwatering heap, they’re a tall order even for a hungry set. Jubilant diners can expect to wait outside for up to an hour for one of these coveted rolls, but that legendary line doesn’t keep Bostonians from coming here on special occasions. A word to the wise: don’t get “Neptuned,” a lighthearted term for zooming in on the lobster roll and missing out on all the other seafood splendors here.
- Islands & BeachesThe 14 Best Beach Towns on the East Coast
- Readers' Choice Awards2024 Readers' Choice Awards Survey
Michael Harlan TurkellrestaurantIsland Creek Oyster Bar
$$$This elegant mainstay strikes you as a family farm-to-table restaurant of a very different sort. Partner Skip Bennett manages an oyster farm under the same name on the South Shore of Massachusetts, and you can sometimes see him perched over a meal at the dining bar. Chef Jeremy Sewall’s cousin Mark catches the restaurant’s fresh lobsters a few hours north in Maine, and Sewall’s take on a cold lobster roll (tossed in mayo, créme fraîche, and a hint of dill pickle on a homemade rosemary roll) is named after his grandmother Ethel. Staff carries an encyclopedic knowledge of ingredients. Go for the stellar plates and stay for the impeccable service and dynamic wine list.
Recommended
