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The Fulton
Photograph: Courtesy of The Fulton

The 14 best seafood restaurants in NYC

Whether you’re fishing for ornate seafood towers, luxurious lobster or simply-grilled filets, these are NYC’s best seafood restaurants

Amber Sutherland-Namako
Written by
Amber Sutherland-Namako
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In New York City, from river to glittering river, waterside restaurants and bars serve sensational seafood towers, lobster rolls, whole fish and all manner of grilled, fried and raw crustaceans, bivalves and fine filets. Although all present food with a view, some are better than others, and you’ll catch plenty of top marine-treats on terra firma, too. Whether they’re right on the city shore or landlocked downtown, these are NYC’s best seafood restaurants. 

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best restaurants in NYC

Seafood restaurants in NYC

  • Restaurants
  • Seafood
  • Financial District

For fish with a vista closer to sea level than many of its competitors, The Fulton wins by a nautical mile. The Seaport restaurant has equally beautiful tableaus from its ground floor patio as its dining room upstairs. Its seafood-centric menu includes red snapper ceviche, grilled swordfish and black sea bass in surroundings that’ll tickle even longtime New Yorkers, especially with a glass of something sparkling. 

  • Restaurants
  • Seafood
  • Astoria
  • price 2 of 4

“No Menu. Just Fish.,” reads this beloved Astoria staple’s motto/instruction. It implies the quickly demonstrated freshness of what might be the familial setting’s salmon, swordfish or snapper from one day to the next. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Seafood
  • Cobble Hill

Saint Julivert Fisherie is a neighborhood charmer and multi-subway-transfer-worthy destination in a slim space in brownstone Brooklyn. Its everyday menu includes whipped mackerel, octopus and squid a la plancha, and it has a summer special where you can design your own three-course menu for $45 daily from 5 to 5:30pm. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Seafood
  • Long Island City

Long Island City’s Astoria Seafood has been serving up an immersive dining experience since before the category formally emerged. You’ll choose from its selection of raw scallops, shark, snapper and octopus, bag it up yourself and choose from preparations like grilled, fried, baked or broiled. And with its option to BYOB, this is as close as some of us will get to cooking at home. 

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  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Williamsburg
  • price 3 of 4

A restaurant so much itself that it inserts itself into every visit like plumes of smoke swirling from a cigarette holder, imbuing its possessor with mystery, danger and elusive appeal, Maison Premiere has character. It also has oysters, caviar and large plates to pair with its fantastic drinks. 

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • Boerum Hill
  • price 2 of 4
  • Recommended

Constant cocktail innovator and clever title generator Grand Army also serves some seafood as special as its maritime interior. Raw bar items are available individually or assembled into towers and crab or trout dip, deviled eggs with roe and lobster rolls are also on the menu. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Thai
  • Noho
  • price 2 of 4

A downtown favorite since 2016, Fish Cheeks’ bounty includes family-style seafood preparations in a bright, lively dining room. The slightly spicy grilled branzino might perk up your palate, and the crab fried rice will cool it down. Happy hour runs from noon to 6pm every day, with $6 beer, $10 wine, $11 cocktail and a half-dozen oysters for $9.

  • Restaurants
  • Seafood
  • The Bronx
  • price 1 of 4

Pack your pockets full of cash, stake out a spot on the deck out back and order your oysters, clams, fried shrimp, lobster tails and soft shell crab at Johnny’s cafeteria-style counter. The waterside spot’s Henny Colada cocktail is also one of the best frozen drinks in NYC

Find the best seafood restaurants in America

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