Best Seafood in Naples

A dozen or so picnic tables on the dock outside the fresh seafood market afford guests the best catches and views. Some of the tables at deck's edge have seating only on one side for the optimal overlook of the river and its working waterfront. There's also upstairs air-conditioned seating (no wheelchair access) with table service for breakfast. In season (November through mid-May), it's open for dinner, too. For lunch, you must place your order in the fish market. Order up generous servings of soft-shelled crab, cracked conch sandwich, soft shell crab sandwich, oyster po' boy, pulled pork sandwich (for landlubbers) or baskets of cracked conch, clam strips, frog legs or fried 'gator.

Seafood obviously rules here, but the menu offers something for every appetite. Order a selection from the day's oyster menu to get a sense of the shellfish's nuances. Wash them down with the house's take on Mai Tai and other signature classics, then move onto fresh sushi, caramelized octopus or she crab soup. For the main event, choose from the night's specials or the menu's diverse offerings: from black garlic salmon or shrimp scampi to Moroccan lamb shank or herb roasted chicken. What's for dessert? Lemon and thyme creme brulee tagine, sea salt and caramel tiramisu and other equally tempting transgressions.

If it has ever swum in the sea, Swan River Seafood carries it - fresh - for lunch (seasonally) and dinner. The team is proud of its crab cakes, and rightly so. Pure crab patties are lightly bound and served with a nice, homemade tartar sauce. Try it as an appetizer or platter. Sandwiches and seafood entrees come with a choice of house-made sides; the potato salad and creamed spinach have their own unique twists. Fish comes from New England, Florida, and beyond - prepared lightly dusted and fried, blackened, grilled or, on the day's specials, creatively paired with seasonal fruits and veggies. Landlubbers find plenty to please on the extensive menu, which includes such end-of-meal pleasures as well-loved carrot cake and key lime pie.

Who would believe that a restaurant can pull off submarine decor and do it tastefully? But that's not all that's tasteful about this small, strip-mall restaurant that has a faithful following. USS Nemo's seafood tastes fresh, and there's a freshness to the way it is prepared. The diver scallops come with orange-scented oxtail risotto and turmeric corn veloute, for instance. Prime tuna gets Eastern, Western and Indian treatments. Regulars rave about the signature miso sea bass. And the even better news is price. Away from the posh downtown neighborhoods and upscale shopping centers and resorts, its price point is also easy to swallow. Meat-lovers, don't worry. There's plenty for you to choose from, too.

Cleverly disguised as a casual beach club at a small resort, the Turtle Club exceeds all expectations to dwell in that vaunted culinary territory known as a local secret. To start with, there's the location, which deserves to be described in triplicate: location, location, location. Not because it's all about location, but because there are gorgeous gulf views from every table of the small, intimate dining room and sunny patio. You CAN order meat here, but the seafood rules. Choose from magnificently crafted temptations such as roasted Chilean sea bass with grilled pineapple, lightly blackened scallops with apricot horseradish glaze and roasted grouper with lump crab and citrus beurre blanc.

Part of a small, Texas-based chain of restaurants, it is anything but cookie-cutter. The dining room seems oversized at first, but its popularity fills the warm, welcoming space at the back of Inn on Fifth most nights. They come for their fix of king crab, stone crab (in season), plus lobster, caviar, grouper smothered with crawfish, miso-glazed sea bass, salmon bearnaise, and broiled swordfish steak, plus fine steaks and chops. It prides itself on its sustainably sourced seafood. The restaurant also features nightly live entertainment and is famous for its happy hour specials.

Overlooking serene Cocohatchee Bay, the Bay House is regarded as one of the city's most spectacular seafood restaurants. (Note: New owners took over in 2021, and locals are hoping it keeps its stellar reputation.) The waterside eatery serves fresh, Southern-inspired and bistro-style seafood dishes, as well as steak and chicken options. Most tables in the main dining room - decorated coast-y with wooden boats hanging from the ceiling - and patio offer views of the surrounding waterway, ensuring patrons a scenic setting on top of a sensational meal. The Claw Bar offers an alternative cozy setting of fireplace and dark wood. Live entertainment plays in the bar Wednesday through Saturday evenings, and private banquet rooms are available.

BALEEN gives a global twist to its breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. The setting couldn't scream Southwest Florida more succinctly with its Gulf of Mexico and white sand views. You can even dine with your toes planted in the sand should you desire. Sunday brunch brings an extensive menu of everything from deviled eggs and crab benedict with pimento cheese and fried green tomatoes to salads and sandwiches. The lobster wedge salad dazzles on the lunch menu. For dinner, start with the beef carpaccio "ravioli," then the truffled lobster risotto or blackened grouper. Whatever you do, leave room for the key lime pie, it's buttery and delicious and in a class all its own.

Chef Fabrizio Aielli comes from a stellar background that covers Italy, the Caribbean and two of his own highly hailed Washington, DC, restaurants. At Sea Salt, he conceived dining centered around the sea. To carry the concept, he stocks more than 100 different varieties of sea salts and infused flavored salts. Dinner at Sea Salt begins with a three-flight sampler of salt to season dishes to come. Convivial and inspired by chef's Venetian birthright, the setting transitions from the outdoor, pet-friendly patio to indoor casual elegance via a bar that circles outdoors to in. Salt candle holders light the indoors, which is decorated in colors from the beach and sea. The main menu intertwines cultures - charcuterie, sea urchin poached in duck fat, ravioli stuffed with braised veal, salt-encrusted branzino, akaushi beef and whole fresh fish from the showcase.

"Excellence" describes the new Sails Restaurant from start to finish. From start: Owners meticulously sourced decor items such as a Greek marble bar in the shape of a sail, dishware and the finest seafood and steaks to create a modern European coastal setting and cuisine. Guests select their own fresh seafood, its poundage and its preparation: wood-grilled, salt-baked or seared a la plancha. Artistically presented seafood towers, crudos and tartares launch a memorable experience. Courses of seafood salads, house-made pasta and global entrees ensue. Try the Peppered Tuna Rossini with seared foie gras, black truffle and charcoal-roasted onions; or prime tomahawk rib steak with garlic confit. An exacting wine list and decadent, modern dessert menu are the final excellence icing on this lovely cake.