Best Seafood in New York 2026

Maguy Le Coze and her brother Gilbert opened Le Bernardin in Paris in 1972 and moved the operation to West 51st Street in New York in 1986. Eric Ripert joined as chef in 1991, took the kitchen after Gilbert's death in 1994, and has held three Michelin stars and four New York Times stars almost continuously ever since — a kitchen-stability record without rival in fine-dining seafood. The menu organises by treatment: "almost raw," "barely touched," "lightly cooked." The white tuna with foie gras, the warm lobster carpaccio, and the seared langoustine over saffron-tomato are the signature dishes; the wine list runs to thirty thousand bottles. The room is wood-panelled, suit-and-tie expected at dinner, jacket required. Three months ahead for prime-time Resy.

Marea opened on Central Park South in 2009 and has been the most consistent Italian-seafood room in New York for the seventeen years since. Michael White built the menu around two pillars: crudo (the octopus carpaccio, the diver scallop with sea urchin, the marinated branzino) and pasta with seafood as the carrier (the fusilli with red-wine-braised octopus and bone marrow is the dish that built the reputation). The wine list leans heavily Italian — Friulano whites, Etna reds, Barolos in serious depth. The room is dark wood and brass against a Central Park-facing window, two hundred seats, suit-friendly. Resy three to six weeks ahead for prime time; lunch is easier.

Daisuke Nakazawa appears in the 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi as the apprentice who finally wins Jiro's approval for tamago after months of failures; he opened his own counter on Commerce Street in 2013 and the New York Times awarded the restaurant four stars within a year. The Commerce Street omakase is twenty pieces, ninety minutes, and the rice is meaningfully lighter and looser than the Tokyo masters — Nakazawa has adjusted for New York palates without losing the lineage discipline. The counter (ten seats) is the room you are paying for; the back dining-room is meaningfully different. Resy three weeks ahead for the counter.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten opened The Fulton in 2019 on the third floor of the rebuilt Pier 17 building at South Street Seaport. The view is the most-considered part of the experience — full-length windows facing the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River, sunset at the right time of year — and the kitchen is built around day-boat fish from the New England Atlantic with light French-Asian treatments (a turbot with miso and lime, a striped bass crudo with kaffir lime). The wine list is moderate by Jean-Georges-restaurant standards. The room is bright, busy, and the conversation easy. Resy two weeks ahead for the window seats.

Rebecca Charles opened Pearl Oyster Bar on Cornelia Street in 1997 with a thesis no one was executing in New York at the time: a New England oyster bar that took raw bar, fried clams, and a serious lobster roll seriously. The Maine-style lobster roll — toasted top-split bun, cold lobster meat, light mayo, celery, a squeeze of lemon — is the dish, and the recipe has not changed in twenty-eight years. The fried clam plate and the oyster pan roast are the alternative orders. The room is twenty-eight seats, the bar runs the length of the front room, and the timing is best at 12:30 PM on a weekday or 6:00 PM on a Tuesday. No reservations for the bar; reservations on Resy for tables.

The Grand Central Oyster Bar opened on the lower concourse of Grand Central Terminal in 1913 — the same year as the terminal itself — and the Guastavino-tiled ceiling and curved counter have not changed in the 113 years since. The daily oyster list runs to twenty to thirty varieties from East Coast, West Coast, and Canadian waters; the oyster pan roast (oysters poached in cream, paprika, sherry, butter, served in a stainless cup) is the lineage dish. The Manhattan clam chowder — tomato-based, the New York take — is the test order. Eat at the counter, not the back dining room; that is the room. Closed Sundays. Closes at 9:30 PM on weekdays.

Krystof Zizka and Joshua Boissy opened Maison Premiere on Bedford Avenue in 2011 with an unusual thesis: a New Orleans-style oyster house with an absinthe fountain on the marble bar and a Champagne list that takes itself seriously. The oysters — fifteen to twenty varieties on any given evening — are sourced direct from East and West Coast farms; the cocktail programme won the James Beard Outstanding Bar Program in 2016. The back garden is the Saturday-night room in summer; the front marble bar is the year-round seat. The lobster Wellington and the seafood plateau are the two main-course orders worth the extra spend. Reservations on Resy two to three weeks ahead for prime time.

Danny Abrams opened the original Mermaid Inn on Second Avenue in the East Village in 2003 — the bistro chalkboard, the daily oyster list, the lobster sandwich at lunch, and the post-meal chocolate-pudding dessert (free with the bill, the in-house signature) have been the consistent moves ever since. The Mermaid Group has since added Upper West Side and Chelsea branches but the East Village original is the room. The $1.50-oysters happy hour weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 PM is the way to start. The fried oyster sandwich is the lineage lunch order; the seafood pot pie is the cold-weather dinner. Resy a week ahead for prime time; walk-ins manageable at the bar.