Best Seafood in NYC
Ten NYC seafood spots checked against current hours, reviews, and Michelin status, from a three-star dining room to Astoria's no-menu fish houses.
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- 1Midtown West · $$ · 7 Av (B D E) · 155 W 51st St
Also No. 1 on Best of Midtown →
Eric Ripert's temple of French seafood cookery, a tasting-menu restaurant built entirely around fish.
Because it has held three Michelin stars continuously since 2005, one of the longest active streaks of any restaurant in the country.
Order The seven-course chef's tasting menu, or the tuna-foie gras layers if ordering a la carte.
Reserve several weeks out through the restaurant's own site, and ask about the bar or lounge menu for a lower-cost way in without the full tasting-menu commitment.
@lebernardinny ↗Le Bernardin
From @lebernardinny on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 2Midtown East · $$ · Grand Central-42 St (4 5 6 7 S) · 89 E 42nd St, Lower Level
Also No. 2 on Best of Midtown →
Historic 1913 oyster bar and seafood hall inside Grand Central Terminal's vaulted, Guastavino-tiled lower level.
Because it has served oysters in the same vaulted, tiled hall since Grand Central Terminal itself opened in 1913.
Order The oyster pan roast, a warm, bisque-style dish that has been on the menu for decades.
Sit at the counter instead of a table and ask what came in that morning, the oyster list changes daily and the counter seats faster than the dining room.
@nyoysterbar ↗Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant
From @nyoysterbar on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 3Williamsburg · $$ · Bedford Av (L) · 298 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Also No. 7 on Best of Williamsburg →
Absinthe-and-oyster den with an extensive raw bar and seafood towers.
Because Time Out currently lists it among NYC's best seafood restaurants and identifies it as a James Beard Award winning oyster bar.
Order A dozen oysters off the daily list with the absinthe frappe.
Go for weekday happy hour for discounted oysters, and ask for the back garden in warm weather rather than the front bar.
@maisonpremiere ↗Maison Premiere
From @maisonpremiere on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 4Central Park South · $$ · 59 St-Columbus Circle (1 A B C D) · 240 Central Park South
Michael White's coastal Italian seafood room, known for crudo, branzino, and seafood pasta.
Because it won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2010 and has kept its crudo bar running for more than 15 years since.
Order The fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow, the dish the kitchen is best known for.
Book lunch instead of dinner for a quieter room and easier reservations, and order the crudo tasting even if you came in for pasta.
From @marearestaurants on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 5Midtown West · $$ · 57 St (M) · 125 W 55th St
Costas Spiliadis's Greek seafood institution built around a whole-fish ice display.
Because it has been serving whole fish by the pound off an ice display in Midtown since 1997, almost three decades now.
Order The whole grilled fish, picked by weight from the ice display and priced per pound.
Go for the fixed-price lunch menu, it runs a fraction of dinner prices for the same whole-fish quality, and pick your fish by weight tableside.
@estiatoriomilos ↗Estiatorio Milos (Midtown)
From @estiatoriomilos on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 6Sheepshead Bay · $$ · Sheepshead Bay (B Q) · 2017 Emmons Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11235
Also No. 7 on Best Old-School Restaurants in Brooklyn →
Family-run Italian clam bar and seafood restaurant on the Sheepshead Bay waterfront since 1963.
Because the New York Times named it to its Top 100 NYC restaurants list in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Order A dozen littleneck clams on the half shell straight off the raw bar.
No reservations, so go on a weeknight or early, weekend waits regularly run past an hour.
@randazzos_clambar ↗Randazzo's Clam Bar
From @randazzos_clambar on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 7
Sailor▲ buzzing
Fort Greene · $$ · Clinton-Washington Avs (G) · 228 DeKalb Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205Also No. 3 on Best Date Night Restaurants in Brooklyn →
April Bloomfield's mostly-seafood Brooklyn tavern, opened September 2023.
Because the New York Times named it one of its 12 Best New Restaurants of 2023, the same year it opened.
Order The whole roasted fish for the table.
Reservations open on a rolling basis and go fast, book the moment a slot appears rather than waiting for a specific date, walk-ins are bar seating only.
From @sailor_nyc on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 8NoHo · $$ · Bleecker St (6 B D F M) · 55 Bond St
Seafood-focused contemporary Thai restaurant known for crab fried rice and coconut crab curry.
Because Pete Wells gave it two stars in the New York Times, an unusually high rating for a Thai restaurant built around seafood.
Order The crab fried rice, the dish most reviews single out.
Go before 7pm on weeknights, the small dining room fills up fast and there's no real waiting area.
@fishcheeksnyc ↗Fish Cheeks
From @fishcheeksnyc on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 9Ditmars-Steinway · $$ · Astoria-Ditmars Blvd (N W) · 36-01 Ditmars Blvd, Astoria, Queens, NY 11105
Also No. 1 on Best Greek in Astoria → · No. 2 on Best of Astoria →
No-reservations Greek seafood taverna famous for whole grilled fish and octopus.
Because it has drawn multi-hour weekend waits at this no-reservations Astoria taverna since the 1990s.
Order The whole grilled fish or grilled octopus, priced by the pound and cooked over charcoal.
No reservations taken, put your name in and expect to wait, weekend nights can run past an hour.
@tavernakyclades ↗Taverna Kyclades
From @tavernakyclades on Instagram, shown through Instagram's own embed player.
- 10Astoria · $$ · Astoria Blvd (N W) · 24-02 31st St, Astoria, Queens, NY 11102
Also No. 4 on Best Greek in Astoria →
No-menu Greek fish house where the day's catch is chosen tableside.
Because it has run as a no-menu, point-at-the-case Greek fish house in Astoria since the 1980s.
Order Whatever whole fish is freshest that day, there's no menu, so ask what just came in.
Bring cash, there's no printed menu, so go ready to point at what looks best in the display case, and go early before the best of the day's catch sells out.
Good to know
- What is the best seafood restaurant in NYC?
- Le Bernardin is our top pick, Eric Ripert's tasting-menu temple built entirely around fish. It has held three Michelin stars continuously since 2005.
- How can I try a top NYC seafood restaurant without paying full dinner prices?
- At Estiatorio Milos in Midtown, go for the fixed-price lunch menu instead of dinner. It runs a fraction of dinner prices for the same whole-fish quality, and you pick your fish by weight tableside.
- Where can I get old-school NYC oysters?
- Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant, in the terminal's vaulted 1913 lower level, is the pick. Sit at the counter and ask what came in that morning, since the oyster list changes daily.
- Where can I get whole fish with no menu, just point at the case?
- Elias Corner in Astoria has run as a no-menu, point-at-the-case Greek fish house since the 1980s. Bring cash and go early, since the best of the day's catch sells out.