USA TODAY 10Best
Legal Sea Foods Claws it Way to the Top
Best Seafood Restaurant (2013)
The votes are in and seafood-loving readers of 10Best and USA TODAY have chosen their favorite place to savor the flavors of the sea.
The winners of 10Best Readers' Choice for Best Seafood Restaurant are as follows:
Photo courtesy of Mama's Fish House
No. 10: Mama's Fish House, Maui
Claiming to be Maui’s first fresh fish house, Mama’s, in a coconut grove on the beach, is certainly the most popular, jammed since 1973, with fish so fresh they often have to reprint the menu during the day, stating what fishermen caught what and brought it in. In addition to Hawaiian specialties like yellow fin tuna, kampachi, opah and mahi mahi, Mama’s also sources as much as it can, from tomatoes to vanilla, from local farmers.
Photo courtesy of Elliott's Oyster House/Mike Urban
No. 9: Elliot's Oyster House, Seattle
Easy to overlook due to its touristy location on Pier 56 of Seattle’s waterfront, Elliot’s Oyster House should not be missed. It is perhaps the best place in the nation to enjoy the Pacific Northwest’s famed Dungeness Crab. It’s also one of the few that does the whole presentation, expertly cracked and reassembled, and offered three ways, cold, warm or spicy Asian. They also have a huge array of excellent Northwest seafood such as wild-caught King Salmon and even rare white salmon, along with the namesake selection of fresh oysters daily.
Photo courtesy of Red Fish Grill
No. 8: Red Fish Grill, New Orleans
New Orleans is a hotbed of seafood eateries, focused on everything from Gulf-caught redfish to catfish, plus plenty of shrimp and oysters. But while many restaurants here specialize, Redfish Grill does them all very well and very consistently. The standout is their signature buffalo-style oysters, simply one of the best seafood dishes anyplace.
No. 7: Union Oyster House, Boston
Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in the US, has served everyone from Daniel Webster to JFK, and while famous for its shucked-to-order ground floor raw bar, also offers the full slate of New England seafood classics: thick clam chowder, steamers, scrod, sole, fresh belly clams and every imaginable type of fried fish and shellfish.
Photo courtesy of jessiesgirl614
No. 6: Joe's Stone Crab, Miami
One of the most famous eateries in the world, Joe’s has been a South Beach institution since 1921 and serves 2,000 dinners on a busy night - and another 1,000 at lunch. Ian Fleming’s fictional - and gourmand - James Bond ate here and called it the single best meal of his life. It’s famous for its namesake Florida Stone Crab claws, but the huge menu also has every imaginable take on seafood, including excellent crab cakes and Alaskan King Crab claws
Photo courtesy of Uncle's Fish Market
No. 5: Uncle's Fish Market & Grill, Honolulu
Started by a fisherman, owned by a local fishing company (Fresh Island Fish) and located on an ocean pier - that pretty much says it all. Uncle’s Fish Market & Grill is all about the best seafood prepared in just slightly sophisticated ways, without losing sight of the underlying ingredients, and offers everything from Hawaii’s beloved poke to signature miso salmon.
Photo courtesy of Stockbyte/Thinkstock
No. 4: Bowens Island Restaurant, Charleston
This indoor/outdoor joint with amazing marsh views has long worked closely with local fishermen to assure the freshest catch, with a focus on shrimp and oysters. It’s a down-and-dirty hands-on affair, with a hole in the middle of each table for shells. The featured item is the unique roasted oysters, cooked with live fire, although many fans consider this the best place possible for fried shrimp. Bowens also serves crab cakes, fried fish, hushpuppies and the regional specialty, Frogmore Stew.
Photo courtesy of Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Conference & Visitors Bureau
No. 3: Cantler's, Annapolis
The Chesapeake Blue Crab is the official crustacean of Maryland, and Chesapeake Bay is home to a third of all blue crabs in the US. There is no place more popular with locals to eat them than dockside Cantler’s, where crab boats unload fresh catch right at the kitchen. The specialty is steamed crabs by the dozen served with mallets, seasoning and cold beer, but Cantler’s also makes an excellent crab cake. It's an Annapolis 'must-do.'
Photo courtesy of Mabel's Lobster Claw
No. 2: Mabel's Lobster Claw, Kennebunkport
There are dozens of lobster shacks and clam shacks up and down the Maine Coast, but what sets Mabel’s apart is that while it offers all these “shack” classics, steamed and boiled lobsters, fried clam rolls and more, it also has a broader seafood menu and a renowned take on baked stuffed lobster, jammed with huge sea scallops. It is also famous Kennebunkport resident George H. Bush’s favorite eatery.
Photo courtesy of Legal Sea Foods
No. 1: Legal Sea Foods, East Coast
“If it isn’t fresh, it isn’t Legal” is the slogan at this popular chain –stretching from Florida to Rhode Island - which has its own waterfront purity lab that inspects every delivery. Famed for its thick and bipartisan New England clam chowder, which has been served at the Presidential Inaugurations of all five presidents since Ronald Reagan in 1981, it also has a huge menu of every sorts of seafood dish.
Voters had four weeks to vote. The nominees were selected by USA TODAY food writer Larry Olmsted, whose weekly column Great American Bites is published on USA TODAY.
Congrats to all the winners! Now will someone hand us a bib?
About 10Best Readers' Choice Awards
Nominees are submitted by a panel of experts. 10Best editors narrow the field to select the final set of nominees for the Readers’ Choice Awards. Readers can vote once per category, per day. For any questions or comments, please read the FAQ or email USA TODAY 10Best.
The Experts
Larry Olmsted
Larry Olmsted is the weekly Great American Bites... Read More
Larry Olmsted is the weekly Great American Bites columnist for USA TODAY, covering regional cuisine and restaurants across the nation. He also writes frequently on culinary travel topics for his Forbes.com Great Life column. He is the Contributing Travel Editor for Cigar Aficionado magazine and has written extensively on food and travel topics for a wide variety of publications, including American Way, Celebrated Living, Rhapsody and Hemispheres. His New York Times bestselling book Real Food/Fake Food takes readers on an enlightening (and sometimes disturbing) journey deep into the food industry. Larry has traveled extensively all over the globe; attended cooking classes in Italy, England, Mexico and the United States; and is certified as competition barbecue judge by the Kansas City Barbecue Society.
Larry Olmsted
Larry Olmsted is the weekly Great American Bites columnist for USA TODAY, covering regional cuisine and restaurants across the nation. He also writes frequently on culinary travel topics for his Forbes.com Great Life column. He is the Contributing Travel Editor for Cigar Aficionado magazine and has written extensively on food and travel topics for a wide variety of publications, including American Way, Celebrated Living, Rhapsody and Hemispheres. His New York Times bestselling book Real Food/Fake Food takes readers on an enlightening (and sometimes disturbing) journey deep into the food industry. Larry has traveled extensively all over the globe; attended cooking classes in Italy, England, Mexico and the United States; and is certified as competition barbecue judge by the Kansas City Barbecue Society.