Miami’s Best Seafood Restaurants
From poke bowls to raw bar and fresh catches, fill up at the best seafood restaurants in Miami.
In case you didn’t notice, Miami is surrounded by a lot of water. Naturally, that means great seafood is constantly within reach, which is helpful because not a day goes by without visitors coming to town asking, “Where can we get good seafood in Miami?” While this city is chock-full of great sushi joints and an avalanche of Peruvian places, we wanted to find out what the best pure seafood spots were in South Florida. From old school cash-only haunts to great raw bars and seafood worthy of date night dressing up, here are the 12 best.
Sunset Harbor
Located in Sunset Harbor, this neighborhood spot has become a solid go-to for those on South Beach looking for a seafood fix. The menu is inspired by the Florida Keys and features all the greats—from conch fritters to smoked fish dip and blackened fish tacos. There’s also a number of raw bar offerings. Can’t make up your mind? Opt for the Stiltsville Tackle Box, a legit tackle box that’s brought to your table overflowing with raw oysters, royal red shrimp cocktail, lobster salad with avocado and local tuna ceviche.
How to book: Reservations available via OpenTable.
Little Havana
This seafood staple has been somewhat of a hidden gem since it opened in 1976. A haven for fried fish lovers, this no-frills joint doesn’t even take credit cards. There’s counter service and a few indoor and outdoor tables, where you’ll see locals and tourists digging into conch fritters, ceviche, fried shrimp, and, of course, the signature pan con minuta—a fried snapper sandwich served on a freshly baked soft Cuban roll.
How to book: First come, first serve seating only.
South Beach
The oldest restaurant in Miami and still one of the most popular after over 100 years, Joe's is full of white tablecloths, career servers, and the most well known stone crabs in the Magic City. Even if it’s not stone crab season, this spot is cooking up plenty of seafood bliss. Stuffed baked clams, jumbo crab cakes, sea scallops, mahi mahi, and more are all wins on this classic menu. Pro tip: skip the seated meal and pop over to the Joe’s Takeaway window to order from the same menu and make yourself a picnic on the beach or at nearby South Pointe Park.
How to book: After years of notoriously not accepting reservations, Joe’s Stone Crab is finally accepting reservations via Resy.
Coral Gables
Matheson Hammock Park has been home to Redfish Grill for many years, the beloved seafood restaurant was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017, and has since been revived by chef Adrianne Calvo. Redfish 2.0, as we like to call it, has waterfront cabanas, a rooftop observation deck, and a custom-built oyster bar, so you know they take their oyster selection pretty seriously. There’s also tons of raw bar options and seafood in the form of sandwiches, salads, and large entrees like the Cioppino Seafood Stew served with grilled Truccione bread and French Riviera butter.
How to book: Reservations are available via SevenRooms.
North Miami
This spot has been open for nearly two decades, though ownership has changed hands, it still remains one of the best places for insanely fresh seafood. Each day, the market’s private boat goes out and brings back fresh catches that you can either buy in the front, or enjoy inside the actual restaurant. The chef-driven menu is a lot more than just pieces of fish, though. The shrimp & grits might be the best in the city, and the non-seafood offerings, like chicken parm, are worth the trip by themselves.
How to book: Call for reservations 305-892-2812 or visit for first come, first serve seating.
Lummus Park
Of course, there will always be a debate as to whether Garcia’s is better than its next-door neighbors at Casablanca. The menu here is a little more upscale, with stuff like the signature crab-stuffed lobster, and an impressive raw bar full of ceviches and tiraditos. It also has a seafood market, so if you’re not down for dining in at one of Miami’s best boat-up restaurants, you can grab a filet to go and grill it on your boat.
How to book: Reservations available via OpenTable.
Lummus Park
Go ahead and call it the anti-Seaspice. Garcia’s, the family-run seafood market that’s been sitting on the Miami River since it was filled with cocaine and corpses, has been THE go-to spot to buy daily caught fish for decades. And now that the neighborhood is finally cleaning up, you can hit up the restaurant upstairs for a panoramic view of the river and Miami skyline while enjoying said seafood, and pay a fraction of what you would a few doors down.
How to book: Call for reservations (305) 375-0765 or visit for first come, first serve seating.
South Beach
Almost every Miamian gets a little jolt of schadenfreude when a restaurant that was “huge in New York” closes within six months. Thankfully, that was not the case at Lure, where, despite being a tourist-driven restaurant in the Loews hotel, it still serves up some of the best seafood dishes in the city. The NYC heavyweight has adapted its Miami menu, and plates a miso-glazed salmon and nori-crusted tuna that make a trip there worth the South Beach hassle. Add in a rotating selection of inventive cocktails and you might actually be sad if this place ever shuts down.
How to book: Reservations available via Resy.
Edgewater
Danny Serfer’s Edgewater outpost takes the same creative, high-quality approach that made Blue Collar a success and transposes it to the world of seafood. In addition to fresh oysters and a Sunny Isles-worthy caviar selection, Mignonette is serving up dishes like croissants with lobster butter, popcorn conch, and andouille-crusted redfish. But the fish here is so well-selected that you can get a simple grilled filet—or a seafood tower—and your meal will be just as delicious.
How to book: Reservations available via OpenTable.
South Miami
Though a trip down the Palmetto Expressway can seem like an interminable journey through the depths of hell, at least the end of it gives you a worthwhile reward. No, not the Golden Glades, the OTHER end of the Palmetto, where this longtime South Dade staple has been serving up fresh seafood to real locals since we called the place “Mia-muh.” Any kid who grew up on a street that started with “Southwest” has spent at least a few family meals here. And as grown-ups, they realize the seafood at this spot is still better than most of the fancy places in “new” Miami.
How to book: No reservations here. First come, first serve seating is available.
South Beach
When it comes to fresh fish selection, nobody is topping Milos. That’s because the fish here is literally caught in the Mediterranean within 24 hours, and the menu changes depending on what the boys back in Mykonos caught that day. You won’t find many of the traditional Miami staples like mahi or grouper here, but rather, a daily rotation of light, simply cooked seafood that actually justifies the eye-popping prices. It’s not a place anyone who’s not living at the Continuum is going to go every day. But for a next-level, European-style experience, it’s 100% worth hitting up for a special occasion.
How to book: Reservations are available via OpenTable.
Brickell
One of the few spots that made it through Brickell’s building revolution and it’s come out on top. River Oyster Bar is home to some of the best locally caught seafood in the area, but now it’s being served out of their fancy new digs just up the street from the original location. Fret not, its nightly oyster happy hour is still one of the best after-work events in the city.
How to book: Reservations are available via Resy.