The Best Seafood in Los Angeles
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The best seafood in Los Angeles, according to the experts: Michelin Guide, The New York Times, and Los Angeles Times have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Found Oyster comes out on top.
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Little Fish and Little Fish Melrose Hill hold the next two places. AAA shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Michelin Guide next.
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Rank 1. Found Oyster
Seafood
No ocean in sight from this busy East Hollywood corner, but the seafood at Found Oyster doesn't seem to notice. It's a no-frills bar and seafood spot where the team applies a firm philosophy: impeccably sourced shellfish needs little beyond a squeeze of lemon to do its job. The oysters come from the general manager's family farm, which is either charming or unfair competition, depending on how you look at it. The New York Times and the LA Times have both taken notice.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times The New York Times: The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
- Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times: #78 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
- The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Los Angeles Right Now
- Los Angeles Times #78 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
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Rank 2. Little Fish
Seafood
A seafood-focused breakfast and lunch spot sharing space with a mini market in Echo Park, Little Fish earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand for food that punches well above its casual footprint. The signature fried fish sandwich, beer-battered Pacific striped bass with American cheese and kewpie mayo on a potato bun, is the kind of thing you'll think about on the drive home. Broccoli rabe skeptics and fish avoiders are looked after too.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Bib Gourmand
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Rank 2. Little Fish Melrose Hill
Californian Seafood
A seafood restaurant where the fried fish sandwich at lunch is reason enough to show up, with clean batter, juicy fish, and the kind of balance that makes most sandwich shops look sloppy. This Melrose Ave sit-down spot is the newer sibling of an Echo Park original, keeping the same focus on sustainably sourced fish and California produce. The room is bright, the wines lean natural, and the service knows what it's doing.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Bib Gourmand
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Rank 2. Mariscos Jalisco
Seafood Mexican
The signature fried shrimp taco has a shell that shatters like tempura, which tells you most of what you need to know about this Jalisco-style mariscos shop in Pomona. The menu is short: tostadas loaded with lime-forward ceviche and that taco, nothing more. Raul Ortega started with a truck in Boyle Heights and the city never really let go. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand. First-timers order one; everyone else orders a plate.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Bib Gourmand
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Rank 5. Duke's Huntington Beach
Hawaiian Seafood
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Rank 5. Kincaid's - Redondo
Seafood
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Rank 5. Matsuhisa
Japanese Seafood
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Rank 5. OPAH Restaurant & Bar
Seafood
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Rank 5. Roe Seafood
Seafood
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Rank 5. Shiro Restaurant
Japanese Seafood
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Rank 5. The Boathouse on the Bay
Seafood
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Rank 5. The Warehouse
Seafood
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Rank 5. Walt's Wharf
Seafood
The oak grill has been running at Walt's Wharf since before Seal Beach had a Yelp page, and the menu reads like someone actually cares where the fish came from. This is a sit-down seafood restaurant with a serious California sensibility: local catch, local vegetables, and wines from the founding family's own vineyard poured alongside. The room draws regulars who come for the grilled trout and stay for the oysters, and nobody's in a hurry to leave.
The awards
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Rank 16. Dear Jane's
Seafood
A glass wall full of marina boats sets the scene at this upscale Marina del Rey seafood restaurant, where the spirit is old-school Continental with a heavy hand on the flourishes. Caviar shows up regularly, the tableside shrimp Louie is sized for the table, and nobody seems to mind. The room leans into the celebration, and the cocktail menu asks you to pick your Jane, Jetson, Goodall, or Austen.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Restaurant
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Rank 16. Fishing with Dynamite
Seafood
A raw bar seafood spot a short walk from the actual ocean, which feels right. Inside it's sunny, a little loud, and decorated like someone who actually likes the beach rather than someone staging it. Half the menu is oysters, clams, and lobster, and the staff will talk you through it without making you feel slow. The cooking keeps things clean and confident, letting good fish be good fish.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Restaurant
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Rank 16. Newport Seafood
Chinese Seafood
The chewy, seafood-studded rice noodles are a reason to organize a group dinner in San Gabriel, which is exactly how this Southeast Asian seafood restaurant operates best. Chinese, Thai, Cambodian, and Vietnamese cooking styles all converge on one very long menu, and the servers genuinely steer you away from decision paralysis. Salt and pepper crab is the move, but the beef loc lac quietly earns its table space too. Selected by the Michelin Guide.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Restaurant
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Rank 16. The Lobster
American Seafood
The dining room hangs right over the Santa Monica Pier, close enough to the water that the views do most of the decorating. This is a proper sit-down seafood restaurant, Maine lobster at the center of the menu, crab cakes and the rest fanning out from there. Tables are close together and the pace moves, but the steamed lobster arrives in good enough shape to make the butter beside it feel optional.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Selected Restaurant
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Rank 20. Queen's Raw Bar & Grill
Seafood
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Rank 21. Hook & Anchor
Creative Seafood
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Rank 22. San Damián
Seafood
Enrique Olvera's Casamata group opened this seafood-forward Mexican restaurant in a space that has been an Olvera address before, which is either poetic or just convenient real estate. Chef Chuy Cervantes runs the kitchen, sending out mariscos that make a strong case for the coastal zip code: local rockfish ceviche, Dungeness crab tostada with furikake, oysters with turnip salsa. Wine, beer, and cocktails round it out.
The awards