Unearth The Voyage
New York City’s seafood scene goes way beyond the tourist spots you’ll find in every guidebook. Scattered across the boroughs are seafood havens that locals treasure like buried pirate gold. These under-the-radar spots serve everything from soul food-inspired crab legs to Thai-spiced shellfish that will make your taste buds dance. Ready to eat like a true New Yorker? Here are the seafood spots that locals would rather keep to themselves.
Seafood Kingz 2 — Soul Food Meets Ocean Treasures
Tucked away on City Island in the Bronx, this family-run gem blends soul food traditions with seafood excellence. The Lelie family has created something special here – a place where fried shrimp arrives perfectly crisp alongside macaroni pie that could make you weep with joy.
The menu stars Southern classics like catfish and whiting, but the steamed crab legs steal the spotlight. They come dripping with seasoned butter that locals will tell you is worth the trip alone.
What makes this spot magical isn’t just the food – it’s the warm, familial atmosphere. Regulars chat across tables while cracking crab shells, creating a community vibe that chain restaurants can only dream about.
Hav & Mar — Where Sweden Meets Ethiopia on Your Plate
Marcus Samuelsson’s Chelsea creation might be the most fascinating cultural fusion in New York’s seafood scene. “Swediopian” cuisine sounds like a culinary experiment, but here it translates to seafood dishes that dance between Nordic precision and Ethiopian boldness.
The restaurant’s interior feels like an art gallery – vibrant murals complement sleek Scandinavian lines. Servers describe each dish with storyteller enthusiasm, explaining how traditional Swedish pickling techniques enhance Ethiopian-spiced fish.
The seafood tower here isn’t your typical display of raw shellfish. Instead, expect surprises like doro wat-spiced shrimp and gravlax cured with berbere. Even with Samuelsson’s celebrity chef status, this place has managed to stay just under the mainstream radar.
Fish Cheeks — Thai Spices Meet Ocean Freshness
Behind an unassuming NoHo storefront hides a Thai seafood paradise that will recalibrate your spice tolerance. The modest entrance belies the flavor explosion waiting inside – coconut crab curry that balances sweetness with heat, whole fish that arrives fragrant with herbs you’ve never heard of.
Brothers Chat and Ohm Suansilphong created this spot as an homage to their childhood in Thailand, where seafood wasn’t fancy – just impossibly fresh and perfectly prepared. The restaurant’s name comes from the prized cheek meat of fish, considered the most tender part.
Orange walls and hanging plants create a lively atmosphere where conversation flows as freely as the Thai beer. Regulars know to order the crab-fried rice and to never, ever skip the nam prik sauce.
The Clam — Shellfish Heaven in Village Brownstone
Nestled in a West Village brownstone, The Clam celebrates bivalves in ways that make shellfish skeptics into devoted fans. Chef Mike Price crafted this intimate space as a love letter to mollusks – from steamers bathed in garlicky broth to clam fried rice that redefines comfort food.
The narrow dining room feels like a friend’s stylish apartment, with vintage nautical maps and soft lighting that makes everyone look like they’re glowing from within. Regulars claim counter seats to watch kitchen wizardry or huddle at corner tables for marathon catch-up sessions.
Their signature spaghetti with clams transcends the classic preparation with breadcrumbs that taste like they were toasted in heaven. Come winter, nothing beats their chowder – creamy yet light, with clams that taste like they were harvested that morning.
Flex Mussels — Pot After Pot of Briny Brilliance
Mussels might seem like a one-trick pony until you visit this shellfish specialist with locations in the West Village and Upper East Side. The concept is brilliantly simple: take perfect Prince Edward Island mussels and pair them with over 20 different sauce preparations.
From classic white wine and garlic to wild inventions like Thai coconut curry or spicy Mexican chorizo, each steaming pot arrives with a stack of crispy fries for essential sauce-sopping. The restaurant’s bright, airy interior features blue and white nautical touches without veering into tacky territory.
Beyond mussels, the raw bar offers some of the freshest oysters in Manhattan. Insiders know to save room for the made-to-order donuts – light, fluffy pillows that somehow make sense after all that briny goodness.
JP’s — Bronx Waterfront Gem With No Pretension
City Island feels like a New England fishing village somehow transported to the Bronx, and JP’s embodies this maritime charm perfectly. The weathered exterior and dock-side location hint at the no-frills seafood treasures waiting inside.
Plastic bibs are a fashion statement here, necessary armor against the gloriously messy seafood platters. Enormous trays arrive loaded with steamed crab legs, peel-and-eat shrimp, and buttery lobster tails – all meant to be attacked with your hands.
Families gather around paper-covered tables, cracking shells and sharing laughs. The wall of windows offers stunning water views, especially at sunset when the sky turns the same pink as perfectly cooked shrimp. Bronx locals have been keeping this place their secret for years, driving out for weekend feasts away from Manhattan crowds.
Seamore’s — Sustainable Catches in Hip Surroundings
Founded by Michael Chernow (of Meatball Shop fame), Seamore’s turned sustainable seafood into something genuinely cool. With several locations around the city, each space features the same bright, beachy aesthetic – white walls, blue accents, and giant chalkboards listing the day’s catches.
The genius of Seamore’s lies in its simplicity: pick your fish, pick your sauce, enjoy. The rotating selection depends entirely on what’s sustainable that day, introducing New Yorkers to delicious species beyond the usual salmon and tuna.
Their signature Reel Deal offers a perfectly cooked fish with your choice of sauce plus three seasonal sides. Don’t miss the Oh-Boy sandwich – their elevated take on a fish sandwich with homemade tartar sauce that inspires fierce loyalty. Locals appreciate the reasonable prices in a city where seafood often means emptying your wallet.
City Island Lobster House — Old-School Maritime Magic
Walking into City Island Lobster House feels like stepping back in time to when seafood restaurants celebrated their nautical connections without irony. Model ships, fishing nets, and weathered buoys adorn the wood-paneled walls, creating an atmosphere of maritime nostalgia.
Enormous lobsters are the stars here, kept in tanks until the moment they’re ordered. The menu hasn’t changed much in decades – classic preparations like lobster thermidor sit alongside perfectly executed clam chowder and shrimp cocktail.
Multi-generational families crowd the large tables on weekends, cracking into seafood towers while gazing through picture windows at Long Island Sound. The bartenders remember regular customers’ drinks, and the servers have been there long enough to remember when you brought your now-college-aged kids in for their first lobster experience.
Peter’s Clam Bar — Long Island’s Shellfish Sanctuary
Technically just outside city limits in Island Park, Peter’s Clam Bar earns its spot on this list by being worth every minute of the LIRR ride. This no-frills clam shack has been serving perfect littlenecks and cherrystones since 1939.
The interior hasn’t been updated in decades – think paper placemats, plastic chairs, and kitschy beach decorations. But nobody comes for the decor. They come for the clams on the half shell, delivered by the dozen on beds of ice with lemon wedges and cocktail sauce that packs a horseradish punch.
Summer weekends find the outdoor picnic tables packed with locals who bring their own bottles of wine (it’s BYOB) and order plate after plate of fried clam strips and steamers. The clam chowder debate – New England versus Manhattan – rages on, but insiders order the Rhode Island clear broth version.
Brooklyn Crab — Red Hook’s Multi-Level Seafood Playground
Perched on the edge of Red Hook with stunning harbor views, Brooklyn Crab feels more like a maritime adult playground than a restaurant. The three-story structure houses different dining experiences on each level – from casual picnic tables on the ground floor to more refined dining upstairs.
Maryland-style blue crabs arrive by the bucket, newspaper-lined and dusted with Old Bay seasoning. Between crab-cracking sessions, guests challenge each other to mini-golf or cornhole on the restaurant’s grounds.
The sunset view of the Statue of Liberty pairs perfectly with their killer Dark and Stormy cocktails. Summer evenings find the place packed with Brooklyn locals who make the trek to this somewhat isolated spot via the free water taxi or the neighborhood’s infrequent buses – a journey that keeps tourist numbers manageable.
Johnny’s Reef — Bronx Seafood Institution Since 1950
At the very tip of City Island sits Johnny’s Reef, a Bronx institution that exemplifies no-frills seafood perfection. The cafeteria-style ordering system might seem chaotic to newcomers – you line up, order at various stations, then carry your plastic tray to picnic tables overlooking Long Island Sound.
Enormous portions of fried seafood come with mandatory lemon wedges and small cups of tartar sauce. The move here is to order across the menu – crispy fried shrimp, tender fried scallops, and their legendary fried soft-shell crab sandwich.
The frozen daiquiris flow freely, especially during summer months when the massive outdoor seating area fills with Bronx families who’ve been coming for generations. The squawking seagulls overhead and salt air complete the seaside experience that feels impossibly far from Manhattan’s hustle.
