This Is the Must-Visit Seafood Restaurant in Your State and What You Should Order

Seafood in the United States is as diverse as the nation itself, with regional delicacies hidden in every corner of the country. Often rooted in the state’s geography and culinary history, seafood can be a divisive culinary topic, depending on where you reside. However, one thing is certain: the United States is dishing up iconic seafood from coast to coast and everywhere in between.

While some locations specialize in local catches like crawfish or catfish, others craft elaborate tasting menus around their favorite fish. That's why 24/7 Tempo checked out reviews and ratings from the Michelin Guide, regional publications, and local diners to find the single best seafood restaurant in each state.

The selections below represent fine dining and fan-favorite establishments alike, as well as the dishes you should most definitely try should you choose to visit. Sources used for this list include Michelin Guide, Yelp, OpenTable, Eater, and various local news and food blogs. Let's dig into these seafood restaurants in every state now!

This post was updated July 29th, 2025 to reflect additional information.

• Location: Orange Beach
• Dishes to try: Fried shrimp, crab (fried, grilled, or baked), hush puppies

• Location: Anchorage
• Dishes to try: fresh Alaskan seafood, including tanner crabs, halibut, Alaskan oysters, tiger prawns, salmon, and of course king crab legs

• Location: Scottsdale
• Dishes to try: halibut ceviche, shrimp toast, halibut cheeks, Baja shrimp

• Locations: Little Rock, North Little Rock, and five other Arkansas locations
• Dishes to try: fresh fried catfish, boiled crawfish, shrimp (blackened, boiled, or fried), and po'boys, with sides like fried okra and hush puppies

• Location: Los Angeles
• Dishes to try: Tasting menu which included uni egg with warm yolk and champagne beurre blanc and Norwegian king crab with sweet pea, sea urchin, and aged ham broth

• Location: Denver
• Dishes to try: Raw bar features a proprietary oyster – the buttery and low-salinity Emersum, tuna poke, crawfish gumbo, seared scallops

• Location: Rowayton (Norwalk)
• Dishes to try: salmon and tuna tartare, chowders and bisques, steamers, crab cakes, popcorn shrimp, smoked fish dips, steamed lobsters

• Location: Wilmington
• Dishes to try: fried and steamed platters, seafood pasta, lobster tails, lump meat crab cakes, and raw bar appetizers

• Location: Miami
• Dishes to try: stone crab claws and crab bisque, conch fritters, coconut shrimp, fried grouper

• Location: Atlanta
• Dishes to try: award-winning lobster bisque, raw oysters, stuffed grouper, fried catfish, grits, and po'boys, roasted and chargrilled oysters

• Location: Paia (Maui)
• Dishes to try: oysters with mango-lilikoi mignonette, macadamia nut crab cakes, uku (blue-green snapper) baked with coconut, sweet potato, and charred pineapple

• Location: Boise
• Dishes to try: halibut fish and chips, shrimp scampi, clam chowder, warm teriyaki shrimp salad, salmon BLTs, butter pecan trout, and crab muffins

• Locations: Chicago and Schaumburg
• Dishes to try: oysters Rockefeller, Alaskan king crab, parmesan-crusted haddock

• Location: Fort Wayne
• Dishes to try: almond-crusted walleye with jalapeño tartar sauce, blackened swordfish with horseradish, crispy shallots, and chive mashed potatoes

• Locations: West Des Moines and Ankeny
• Dishes to try: raw bar appetizers, fried baskets, pastas, po'boys, halibut royale, Maryland-style crab cakes

• Location: Kansas City (KS)
• Dishes to try: Fried catfish, basa, frog legs, red snapper

• Location: Louisville
• Dishes to try: blackened ahi tuna with tomato ginger chutney over a crispy parmesan grit cake, crispy grouper cheeks over crab and chive risotto with bok choy and smoked shrimp vinaigrette

• Location: New Orleans
• Dishes to try: steak tartare with oyster aïoli, baked drum with mushroom broth, and calas (rice fritters), spicy ground shrimp with noodles

• Location: Portland
• Dishes to try: Maine oysters, crab claws, and clams, lobster stew, clam chowder, New England clam bake, brown-butter lobster roll

• Location: Baltimore
• Dishes to try: East and West Coast oysters, Maine lobster cocktail and sturgeon caviar, crab cakes

• Location: Boston
• Dishes to try: spicy cioppino with shellfish saffron rice, whole mackerel with Basque pepper stew and fennel, sea scallops with fava beans, pancetta, and kelp butter

• Locations: Detroit and Bloomfield Hills
• Dishes to try: deviled crab balls, lobster corn dogs, tiger shrimp with shaved garlic

• Location: Ridgeland
• Dishes to try: shrimp and grits with tasso, corn, and mushrooms, jumbo scallops with white truffle risotto, green tomato pico, and tomato parmesan broth

• Location: Clayton
• Dishes to try: Russian osetra and American hackleback caviar, seared tuna and scallops, lobster tail risotto

• Location: Bozeman
• Dishes to try: crab cakes, bison carpaccio, halibut with jasmine sticky rice, mango salsa, and coconut sauce

• Location: Omaha
• Dishes to try: oysters Rockefeller, crispy alligator, blackened catfish with dirty rice and creole beurre blanc, walleye puttanesca

• Location: Las Vegas
• Dishes to try: fresh langoustine, Hawaiian mahi mahi, Ligurian octopus, and Mediterranean pink rock lobsters

• Location: Portsmouth
• Dishes to try: scallops with lobster risotto and broccolini, haddock piccata, New England clam chowder chowder.

• Location: Newark
• Dishes to try: seafood paella, clams in garlic sauce, octopus salad, bacalhau à Brás (salt cod with matchstick potatoes, scrambled eggs, and black olives)

• Location: Albuquerque
• Dishes to try: whole fried mojarra, molcajetes (dishes served in a volcanic stone mortar), ceviche, caldo de siete mares (fish stew)

• Location: New York City
• Dishes to try: thin-sliced yellowfin tuna layered with foie gras, baked striped bass with baby leek mousseline, seafood-based tasting menus

• Location: Kernersville
• Dishes to try: flounder filets, popcorn shrimp, she-crab soup

• Location: Fargo
• Dishes to try: oysters, lobster rolls, bang bang shrimp

• Location: Columbus
• Dishes to try: fried platter, po'boy, gumbo, lobster bisque, salmon salad, clam chowder

• Location: Edmond
• Dishes to try: boudin, crawfish, shrimp etouffee, seafood jambalaya, gumbo, po'boy, breaded catfish filets

• Location: Portland
• Dishes to try: crawfish étouffée, parmesan-crusted steelhead, seafood fettuccine, crab-and-shrimp-stuffed salon

• Location: Philadelphia
• Dishes to try: mushroom-crusted fluke with morels, peas, and spring onion butter

• Location: South Kingstown
• Dishes to try: jambalaya, po'boys, passion fruit oysters with cucumber and salmon roe, lobster pizza on naan bread with mascarpone, arugula, and prosciutto

• Location: Charleston
• Dishes to try: lobster rolls, tuna burgers, and swordfish pastrami

• Location: Rapid City
• Dishes to try: crawfish étouffée, oysters served fried, roasted, on the half shell, or shooter-style in a shot glass with cocktail, lemon, and spices

• Location: Nashville
• Dishes to try: poached scallops with horseradish mousse, red shrimp with charred onions, wilted greens, boiled peanuts, and orange butter,smoked whitefish hand pies

• Location: Houston
• Dishes to try: ginger scallion lobster, soft-shell crab with butter, spotted prawns with tamarind sauce, razor clams with basil leaves

• Location: Salt Lake City
• Dishes to try: char-grilled sea bass with chili buttermilk whey, yu choy greens, and roast tomato, fish stew loaded, with scallops, prawns, mussels, and fish, accented with peanuts and serrano pistou in a coconut lemongrass broth

• Location: Wilmington
• Dishes to try: lobster rolls, chowder, fried clams, seared ahi tuna, crab and shrimp rangoon, baked stuffed haddock

• Location: Topping
• Dishes to try: locally raised oysters and Chesapeake Bay crabs

• Location: Seattle
• Dishes to try: fried oysters with cilantro aïoli, grilled sardines

• Location: Martinsburg (closed for the fall/winter 2024 season – will reopen Spring 2025)
• Dishes to try: fresh grouper, snapper, cod, salmon, soft shell crab, fried catfish, hushpuppies, grilled fish and shrimp tacos

• Location: Milwaukee
• Dishes to try: lobster rolls, Baja fish tacos, seafood sandwiches, fried and grilled fish, raw oyster platters, fried walleye

• Location: Afton
• Dishes to try: halibut tacos, salmon parmesan, clam chowder