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OT: My Top Seafood Restaurants in America

Jerademan74

Jerademan74

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Jun 29, 2011
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I am 62 years old and grew up in the Philly area. When I was a kid, the restaurants my parents took me to that I absolutely loved were:

1. Zaberer's - Atlantic City - best Shrimp with stuffed Crab I ever had!
2. Captain Starn's - Atlantic City - best Cherry Stone Clams on the half shell
3. Kelly's Seafood - Philadelphia
4. Woodbine Inn - NJ just over the Tacony Palmyra bridge - My first peel and eat jumbo shrimp!

As an adult and after travelling fairly extensively. my favorite seafood restaurants are / were:

1. The Union Oyster House - Boston
2. Anthony's Pier 4 - Boston
3. Allioto's - San Francisco
4. Joe's Stone Crabs - So. Miami Beach
5. Legal Seafood - Original in Cambridge, MA
6. Any seafood restaurant in New Orleans
7. The Clam Box - Stamford, CT? (Don't think it is there anymore) - The Belly Buster!!!

What are your favorites?
 
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I will echo your choice of Legal Seafood. In Pittsburgh, Monterey Bay Fish Grotto.
 
Joe's Stone Crabs in South Miami Beach is phenomenal. My wife and I enjoyed one of our best meals ever there and the service was outstanding and friendly too. Hope to get back there.

For casual dining, I'll recommend another Joe's which I believe also started in Miami and has become a chain: Joe's Crab Shack. The crab legs are phenomenal and the servers are terrific.

Oh, and one more: The best lobster, by far, that I ever had was at a place called The Lobster Pound in Ogunquit, Maine.

And just about anyplace on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for blue crabs. Yum!
 
I'd take a trip just to go to Jimmy Cantlers in Annapolis, sit outside and enjoy.
John Stevens in Fells Point (Baltimore) has the best steamed shrimp, which they do right on the bar.
Legal Seafood in Boston was good.
On the back of Duggies oyster boat outside of New Orleans, well you couldn't get fresher, he was the guy getting em!!
I'd take a dozen of oysters on the half shell right now if I was sitting in McGarvey's in Annapolis, let alone some Hot crab dip!!
 
sluggo72 said:
I'd take a trip just to go to Jimmy Cantlers in Annapolis, sit outside and enjoy.
John Stevens in Fells Point (Baltimore) has the best steamed shrimp, which they do right on the bar.
Legal Seafood in Boston was good.
On the back of Duggies oyster boat outside of New Orleans, well you couldn't get fresher, he was the guy getting em!!
I'd take a dozen of oysters on the half shell right now if I was sitting in McGarvey's in Annapolis, let alone some Hot crab dip!!
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Love Annapolis, but haven't been there. I'll check it out next time I'm there. Can I say a blessing before the meal if one of my family members has renounced Catholicism? JUST KIDDING!!!! PLEASE DON'T RESPOND TO THAT LAST PART!!!!;)
 
A couple that haven't been mentioned yet:

Chargrilled oysters at Drago's in New Orleans are my favorite, and too many other good ones in that city to count.

Mama's Fish House and fish tacos at Leilani's in Maui. I had the best meal of my life at Mama's.

Masraff's in Houston. Their calamari is served almost as a small calamari steak in a delicious white wine sauce.
 
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Howie'81 said:
Love Annapolis, but haven't been there. I'll check it out next time I'm there. Can I say a blessing before the meal if one of my family members has renounced Catholicism? JUST KIDDING!!!! PLEASE DON'T RESPOND TO THAT LAST PART!!!!;)
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I will respond, as at Cantlers you can do about whatever you want!!! and IIRC most of those boys where Caholic (the Cantlers) !! It can be difficult to find, but worth the trip!

http://www.cantlers.com/
 
Best crab cake is found at G&M Restaurant in Linthicum MD. I was just there on Father's Day with my family. We then drove down to Annapolis to walk around and have some ice cream.
 
psengr82 said:
Best crab cake is found at G&M Restaurant in Linthicum MD. I was just there on Father's Day with my family. We then drove down to Annapolis to walk around and have some ice cream.
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10-1 where you got the ice cream, right near by is a guy selling lobster rolls which are off the hook!!! as they say!! As well as the chowder!! Not a sit down place, more of a carry out.
 
so, Jimmy Cantlers is very good and as pointed out, in a backwater.

For you folks that love Chesapeake style seafood, do yourself a favor, get to Crisfield's on Georgia avenue in DC. Chincoteague oysters on the half shell and several seafood Norfolk dishes ( steel pan loaded with seafood, butter and old bay ), fried perch, stuffed flounder which is flounder just smothered in lump crabmeat, hole in the wall paradise. sit at the counter, order a beer, enjoy the best seafood on the planet of its type.

And yes, I am very familiar with great seafood in Maine, Boston, DC, Baltimore, Philly, New Orleans ( my first wife is a Cajun from Bayou St John, legit ) as well as Hawaii. Great seafood everywhere, its great to be an American when it comes to seafood.

But the seafood Norfolk, crab stuffed butterflied shrimp, fried perch, at Crisfield's is pretty special.
 
Jerademan74 said:
I am 62 years old and grew up in the Philly area. When I was a kid, the restaurants my parents took me to that I absolutely loved were:

1. Zaberer's - Atlantic City - best Shrimp with stuffed Crab I ever had!
2. Captain Starn's - Atlantic City - best Cherry Stone Clams on the half shell
3. Kelly's Seafood - Philadelphia
4. Woodbine Inn - NJ just over the Tacony Palmyra bridge - My first peel and eat jumbo shrimp!

As an adult and after travelling fairly extensively. my favorite seafood restaurants are / were:

1. The Union Oyster House - Boston
2. Anthony's Pier 4 - Boston
3. Allioto's - San Francisco
4. Joe's Stone Crabs - So. Miami Beach
5. Legal Seafood - Original in Cambridge, MA
6. Any seafood restaurant in New Orleans
7. The Clam Box - Stamford, CT? (Don't think it is there anymore) - The Belly Buster!!!

What are your favorites?
Click to expand...
I think the original Legals was on the water, then they moved downtown.

Years later they opened a second location in Cambridge.

I remember when you had to pay before you got your food.
 
2 places I recommend.

1 Big Fish grill in Rehoboth Beach DE. My son lives in Lewes and we always stop when we are visiting. If they are packed (which they usually are), we order take out and go back to his condo.Best crab cakes period.

2 The Crab Claw in St Michaels MD. It's dock is right on Chesapeake bay and as you sit there you watch the boats come right in and drop the crabs into a 55 gallon steamer then right to your table when done steaming.
 
McCormick & Kuleto's in San Fransisco...great fresh seafood and amazing views.

Legal in Boston is also very good.
 
Jerademan74 said:
I am 62 years old and grew up in the Philly area. When I was a kid, the restaurants my parents took me to that I absolutely loved were:

1. Zaberer's - Atlantic City - best Shrimp with stuffed Crab I ever had!
2. Captain Starn's - Atlantic City - best Cherry Stone Clams on the half shell
3. Kelly's Seafood - Philadelphia
4. Woodbine Inn - NJ just over the Tacony Palmyra bridge - My first peel and eat jumbo shrimp!

As an adult and after travelling fairly extensively. my favorite seafood restaurants are / were:

1. The Union Oyster House - Boston
2. Anthony's Pier 4 - Boston
3. Allioto's - San Francisco
4. Joe's Stone Crabs - So. Miami Beach
5. Legal Seafood - Original in Cambridge, MA
6. Any seafood restaurant in New Orleans
7. The Clam Box - Stamford, CT? (Don't think it is there anymore) - The Belly Buster!!!

What are your favorites?
Click to expand...
Up the Creek Raw bar in Appalachicola Fl and I also second Crisfields in DC and while it is no longer open as George Honda retired I would also add Honda Sushi in Los Angeles. George could do so much amazing stuff with fresh sea food much more than just typical sushi.....
 
sluggo72 said:
I'd take a trip just to go to Jimmy Cantlers in Annapolis, sit outside and enjoy.
John Stevens in Fells Point (Baltimore) has the best steamed shrimp, which they do right on the bar.
Legal Seafood in Boston was good.
On the back of Duggies oyster boat outside of New Orleans, well you couldn't get fresher, he was the guy getting em!!
I'd take a dozen of oysters on the half shell right now if I was sitting in McGarvey's in Annapolis, let alone some Hot crab dip!!
Click to expand...

The pier shacks in Bayou Le Batre in Alabama (yes, Bama, not Louisiana) where local mamas cook up the oysters, clams, crabs, and crayfish right off the fishing boats. Most pier restaurants are run by South Vietnamese families who moved from the Mekong Delta to Bayou Le Batre bringing their unique cuisine with them.
 
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fairgambit said:
I will echo your choice of Legal Seafood. In Pittsburgh, Monterey Bay Fish Grotto.
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I ate at Monterey Bay about six weeks ago shortly after they reopened. Quite the view from their perch up on Mt Washington. Food was A+ too.
 
Crustacean which I believe has an original SF location along with the Beverley Hills location I've been to many times.

Cracked Dungeness Crab from the secret kitchen
 
Woody's Crab House in Northeast MD... best crab bisque in the universe and the kind of place where you pick hardshells on brown butcher/kraft paper.
 
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KD666 said:
I think the original Legals was on the water, then they moved downtown.

Years later they opened a second location in Cambridge.

I remember when you had to pay before you got your food.
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The first Legal restaurant was on Inman Square, next to the original family fish store.
 
Nearly anyplace on the coast of Maine. Fresh seafood is taken seriously there, probably because of the small town environment where everyone knows someone to get it right off the boat.
 
I like Farnhams in Essex, MA for fried clams (not Woodmans--overpriced and now too touristy). But I'm descended from Essex families. Farnhams was on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives a number of years ago. But there's a lot of decent places on Cape Ann and vicinity.

And my dad used to take me to Kelly's on Mole St. in Philly when I was a kid--but it was not the same after they had to move.
 
kgilbert78 said:
I like Farnhams in Essex, MA for fried clams (not Woodmans--overpriced and now too touristy). But I'm descended from Essex families. Farnhams was on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives a number of years ago. But there's a lot of decent places on Cape Ann and vicinity.

And my dad used to take me to Kelly's on Mole St. in Philly when I was a kid--but it was not the same after they had to move.
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kgilbert: What was the name of the Seafood restaurant on Roosevelt Blvd. that around Rising Sun Ave. that had a big lobster on it's front sign? It was pretty good too as I remember (back about 40 years ago).
 
Jerademan74 said:
kgilbert: What was the name of the Seafood restaurant on Roosevelt Blvd. that around Rising Sun Ave. that had a big lobster on it's front sign? It was pretty good too as I remember (back about 40 years ago).
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Got me. I drove the blvd a lot as a teen (we went to Calvary Memorial Church for a few years when I was in HS), but I don't remember that.
 
Many of my favorites have been mentioned:
Monterray Bay/Off the hook - Pittsburgh
Drago's - Metairie, LA
Legal Sea Foods - Boston
Joe's Stone Crab - Miami

Some other ones I'll add:
Acme Oyster House - New Orleans
Kenner Seafood - Kenner, LA
Yankee Lobster Company - Boston
Flander's Seafood - East Lyme, CT
Warren's Lobster House - Kittery Maine
Crawdad Hole - Water Valley, MS

I'm surprised I couldn't remember any real standout Seafood meal from the West Coast.
 
Jerademan74 said:
I am 62 years old and grew up in the Philly area. When I was a kid, the restaurants my parents took me to that I absolutely loved were:

1. Zaberer's - Atlantic City - best Shrimp with stuffed Crab I ever had!
2. Captain Starn's - Atlantic City - best Cherry Stone Clams on the half shell
3. Kelly's Seafood - Philadelphia
4. Woodbine Inn - NJ just over the Tacony Palmyra bridge - My first peel and eat jumbo shrimp!

As an adult and after travelling fairly extensively. my favorite seafood restaurants are / were:

1. The Union Oyster House - Boston
2. Anthony's Pier 4 - Boston
3. Allioto's - San Francisco
4. Joe's Stone Crabs - So. Miami Beach
5. Legal Seafood - Original in Cambridge, MA
6. Any seafood restaurant in New Orleans
7. The Clam Box - Stamford, CT? (Don't think it is there anymore) - The Belly Buster!!!

What are your favorites?
Click to expand...
Pier 4 is closed.
 
1) Mary Mahonies in Biloxi
2) Half shell Oyster house in Gulfport
3) Any place in the french market in New Orleans.
 
Ok. For those of us attending the Maryland game, please list the best places for seafood near the Inner Harbor. Thanks in advance.
 
BOSCO2 said:
Ok. For those of us attending the Maryland game, please list the best places for seafood near the Inner Harbor. Thanks in advance.
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there where several good places in the Inner Harbor in the food pavilion. That said I wouldn't wait in line for Phillips, but back in the day, there was a little stand upstairs making crab cakes, which where wonderful!! it was carry out, but you could just grab one of their chairs and sit outside the pavilion.
You could take the water taxi over/back to Fells Point, check their schedule and the game schedule. As mentioned John Stevens, has great steamed scrimp, and Bertha's Muscles is there as well , 1001 different ways to have muscles!!!

Although I haven't been there in some time, the Rusty Scupper in the inner harbor always had a great view/atmosphere especially if you could sit outside. I don't remember anything about their food, but the view from their deck was assume.

I am sure others will chime in as the game gets close.
 
Jerademan74 said:
I am 62 years old and grew up in the Philly area. When I was a kid, the restaurants my parents took me to that I absolutely loved were:

1. Zaberer's - Atlantic City - best Shrimp with stuffed Crab I ever had!
2. Captain Starn's - Atlantic City - best Cherry Stone Clams on the half shell
3. Kelly's Seafood - Philadelphia
4. Woodbine Inn - NJ just over the Tacony Palmyra bridge - My first peel and eat jumbo shrimp!

As an adult and after travelling fairly extensively. my favorite seafood restaurants are / were:

1. The Union Oyster House - Boston
2. Anthony's Pier 4 - Boston
3. Allioto's - San Francisco
4. Joe's Stone Crabs - So. Miami Beach
5. Legal Seafood - Original in Cambridge, MA
6. Any seafood restaurant in New Orleans
7. The Clam Box - Stamford, CT? (Don't think it is there anymore) - The Belly Buster!!!

What are your favorites?
Click to expand...
Many years ago as young newly weds we visited Hynannis, hotel manager suggested we eat at the Hyannis Yacht Club, he made he reservation. Definitely the best lobster I have ever eaten and we have tried a few of the restaurants suggested. Don't even know if the Yacht Club is still there.
 
Crimson Lights said:
The pier shacks in Bayou Le Batre in Alabama (yes, Bama, not Louisiana) where local mamas cook up the oysters, clams, crabs, and crayfish right off the fishing boats. Most pier restaurants are run by South Vietnamese families who moved from the Mekong Delta to Bayou Le Batre bringing their unique cuisine with them.[/

Agree best seafood I have ever eaten.
Click to expand...
 
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