Finding good seafood here can be like shooting fish in a barrel, but some restaurants rise above the rest. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or hankering for something deep-fried to a perfect golden brown, our list has just the place for you. (If a perfect lobster roll is what you’re searching for, you can find six of them at our sister list.)
The Daily Catch
Lobster fra diavolo at The Daily Catch. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe staff/File
This Sicilian seafood restaurant the size of a shoebox on Hanover Street is a quintessential North End experience, delighting everyone from tiny tots to famous chefs. Thus the lines at peak times, which move efficiently; The Daily Catch, in operation for more than 50 years, has this down to a science. Feast on fried calamari, squid ink linguine, lobster fra diavolo, and whatever else catches your fancy from the chalkboard menu as flames shoot toward the ceiling in the tiny kitchen a few feet away from your table. No matter your order, everything here is consistently tasty and fresh. There are also Brookline and waterfront locations.
Hook + Line
Fish and chips at Hook + Line Lane Turner/Globe staff
Too stylish to be called a fish shack, but with many of the seafood classics you’d find at one: Maine lobster rolls, Ipswich clams, scallops. Owner Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli opened this spacious Seaport spot in 2023 with a fish market next door and a seating area outdoors. The crisp, golden brown fish and chips is a winner.
Legal Sea Foods
Baked stuffed lobster from Legal Sea Foods Brian Samuels
This locally-born restaurant empire was sold by Roger Berkowitz in 2020, but his obsession with quality and consistency remains. The menu is a greatest-hits album of New England seafood – excellent clam chowder, Maine lobster, oysters, scallops, mussels, and on and on – and the experience is a crowd pleaser. The three-level Seaport restaurant is the crown jewel, with floor-to-ceiling windows on the first two levels and topped by a hopping 225-seat roof deck with sushi, cocktails, and sweeping views of the harbor.
Moëca
Fish crudo with squid ink chicharron at Moëca Carlin Stiehl for the Boston Globe
The sassier, seafood-centric sister of refined Italian restaurant Giulia up the street, Moëca channels the only-in-Cambridge verve of Chez Henri, once a landmark in this space: You’ll see tweedy professors, tentative couples, and parents treating their Harvard progeny to skewers of barbecued mussels lacquered with molasses and umami-scented semolina gnocchi, thick tomato sauce blackened at the edges, served on a scallop shell. The drinks are smooth and strong, and the elegant yet freewheeling bar scene is something to behold on a Saturday night.
Ostra
Broiled twin Maine lobster at Ostra Josh Reynolds for the Boston Globe
Every city worth its salt needs a few truly swank occasion restaurants, and in Boston there ought to be one focused on seafood. Ostra, from the Columbus Hospitality Group (Mistral, Sorellina, Mooo….), is just that. With white walls and soaring ceilings, the room is elegant and lively. Polished hospitality, caviar service, and a splurge-y wine list ensure the occasion is extra-special. But it’s the seafood that shines above all, displayed on beds of ice like treasure and showcased in classy dishes such as sea bass tartare, ricotta gnocchetti with lobster, and salt-crusted branzino for two.
The Pearl
The Pearl Dara Shakhanava
The vibes and cocktails alone make The Pearl a fun evening out, but the oysters? Yes, they have the traditional briny darlings – from Duxbury to Pink Moon to Wellfleet – but Malik’s Chargrilled Oysters are what keeps us coming back. NOLA does it best, but The Pearl’s grilled oysters blanketed in spinach, garlic butter, and Parmesan cheese make us sing.
Saltie Girl
Tinned seafood at Saltie Girl John Tlumacki/Globe staff/File
It starts with tinned seafood, those irresistible morsels of sardines, mussels, octopus, and more – pickled, smoked, steeped in rich, glossy olive oil. Restaurateur Kathy Sidell’s Saltie Girl is a showcase for these treasures, sent our way from Spain, Portugal, and beyond. From there, executive chef Kyle McClelland’s menu rockets us through seafood towers, fish dishes raw and smoked, chowder and fried clams, lobster rolls and lobster frites and fried lobster and waffles. It is a gorgeous feast that plays as well in Boston as in L.A., where Saltie Girl has a second location.
Select Oyster Bar
Select Oyster Bar Jonathan Ulman
Located inside a Back Bay townhouse, this seafood spot from chef Michael Serpa is intimate and focused. Come for seafood towers and beautiful raw compositions: Faroe Islands salmon slicked with pistachio oil and goosed with lime; hamachi with passionfruit and crisp bites of cucumber and radish; yellowfin with avocado, soy, and caviar. Serpa knows when and how to let seafood shine, as with whole blue prawns served with olive oil, lemon, garlic, and a bit of Espelette pepper; or whole roasted sea bream with fingerlings and fennel, drizzled in herb dressing.
Shaking Seafood
Shaking Seafood Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe staff
The great Louisiana crawfish boil is one of America’s best and most fun dining customs. But the tiny crustacean is a rare find up north. Shaking Seafood fills the void. For best results, invite some friends over. Set up a folding table. Cover it with newspapers. Order a spicy boil bag of your choice – any combination of crawfish, crab legs, lobster, mussels – with corn and other extras (always get the garlic noodles). Beeline it home. Dump the bag on the table. Descend on it like wolves. And revel in the communal dining experience. Don’t bother with a napkin. And whatever you do, don’t touch your eyes. (There are also Shaking Seafood restaurants in Dorchester and Newton.)
Boston Globe Best of the Best winners for 2024 were selected by Globe newsroom staff and correspondents, and limited to Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline. We want to hear from you: Did your favorites make the list?
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