The 14 best seafood restaurants in NYC

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. 

“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. 

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. 

Anchored near the banks of the Gowanus Canal, this seafood spot feels like a nautical film set. Get method with fritto misto, mussels, and whole crispy fish, plus clam, crab and lobster rolls. 

This darling corner spot is a popular destination for brunch and dinner, inside and out. Though it isn’t exclusively a seafood restaurant, some recent favorites included the smoked steelhead trout roulette, charred lemon skillet mussels and whole fried fish. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.