10 Essential Seafood Restaurants in Minneapolis and Saint Paul (2024)

The Restaurant Project

Where to find lobster rolls, oshizushi, and Parisian-style raw bars around Minneapolis and St. Paul

by Eater Staff Updated Oct 16, 2023, 11:19am CDT

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| The Restaurant Project

Chef Danny del Prado’s Linden Hills restaurant Martina fuses Argentinian and Italian influences — it also serves exceptional oysters, tuna tiradito, seared scallops, and mussels. The spaghetti fra diavolo with lobster is a highlight. Save room for caramel flan.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Kevin Kramer/Eater Twin Cities

Kyatchi works to keep its menu sustainable by partnering with local suppliers like The Fish Guys. This Kingfield spot serves sashimi, classic rolls, and platters, but is known for its oshizushi, or pressed sushi, made with layers of rice and fish like a cake. Try the battera oshizushi, with mackerel and clear kombu seaweed.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

The lobster rolls and crab cakes are more plentiful than ever now that this mainstay seafood option expanded its offerings with a tremendous expansion in the former United Noodles warehouse. The counter-service style offerings are a must-try including the blackened fish tacos, fried calamari, and smoked salmon Reuben.

• Open in Google Maps

The Oceanaire may be a chain throughout the country, but that doesn’t knock its superior raw bar, clam chowder, or happy hour — known here as Admiral’s Hour — with $5 bottles of beer and $9 fish and chips.

• Open in Google Maps

The Oceanaire

Omakase is the move at Minneapolis mainstay Kado no Mise. This restaurant is actually one-quarter of a collection of Japanese sushi restaurants at 33 N 1st Avenue. There are three tasting menus available at $65, $105, and $145; expect dishes including chawanmushi, nigiri, and Jikasei sorbet.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Kado no Mise

An Argentinian steakhouse might not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of seafood. But the cold bar menu here should indeed come to mind for Twin Cities’s diners. Bluefin tuna crudo, spicy scallop tartare, and, majestically, enormous seafood platters fit for any feast.

• Open in Google Maps

Smack Shack has a casual, shore-lunch vibe. It offers almost every possible preparation of lobster imaginable, like lobster-spiked guacamole, bisque, mac and cheese, poutine, and buttered lobster rolls. There’s a whole lobster dinner on the menu, too, for cracking and dunking the Old Bay-scented meat into drawn butter.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Justine Jones

The Anchor serves Irish classics in a warmly lit, wood-paneled space. The eponymous fish and chips — flaky Alaskan cod and thick-cut wedges of potato, fried until golden — is a must. Pair it with a Guinness or Smithwick’s Irish red ale.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Anchor Fish & Chips [Official]

This 31-year Dinkytown staple known for its top-notch Cantonese menu specializes in seafood dishes, like crab with ginger and scallions and baked lobster in a five-spice salt.The walleye, steamed with black bean sauce, is a favorite.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

The oysters at Meritage get all the buzz — try them raw or broiled with tarragon butter and breadcrumbs. But the raw bar offers all kinds of seafood platters, laden with Littleneck claims, Maine lobster, salmon rillettes, and other selections.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Chef Danny del Prado’s Linden Hills restaurant Martina fuses Argentinian and Italian influences — it also serves exceptional oysters, tuna tiradito, seared scallops, and mussels. The spaghetti fra diavolo with lobster is a highlight. Save room for caramel flan.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Kevin Kramer/Eater Twin Cities

Kyatchi works to keep its menu sustainable by partnering with local suppliers like The Fish Guys. This Kingfield spot serves sashimi, classic rolls, and platters, but is known for its oshizushi, or pressed sushi, made with layers of rice and fish like a cake. Try the battera oshizushi, with mackerel and clear kombu seaweed.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

The lobster rolls and crab cakes are more plentiful than ever now that this mainstay seafood option expanded its offerings with a tremendous expansion in the former United Noodles warehouse. The counter-service style offerings are a must-try including the blackened fish tacos, fried calamari, and smoked salmon Reuben.

• Open in Google Maps

The Oceanaire may be a chain throughout the country, but that doesn’t knock its superior raw bar, clam chowder, or happy hour — known here as Admiral’s Hour — with $5 bottles of beer and $9 fish and chips.

• Open in Google Maps

The Oceanaire

Omakase is the move at Minneapolis mainstay Kado no Mise. This restaurant is actually one-quarter of a collection of Japanese sushi restaurants at 33 N 1st Avenue. There are three tasting menus available at $65, $105, and $145; expect dishes including chawanmushi, nigiri, and Jikasei sorbet.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Kado no Mise

An Argentinian steakhouse might not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of seafood. But the cold bar menu here should indeed come to mind for Twin Cities’s diners. Bluefin tuna crudo, spicy scallop tartare, and, majestically, enormous seafood platters fit for any feast.

• Open in Google Maps

Smack Shack has a casual, shore-lunch vibe. It offers almost every possible preparation of lobster imaginable, like lobster-spiked guacamole, bisque, mac and cheese, poutine, and buttered lobster rolls. There’s a whole lobster dinner on the menu, too, for cracking and dunking the Old Bay-scented meat into drawn butter.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Justine Jones

The Anchor serves Irish classics in a warmly lit, wood-paneled space. The eponymous fish and chips — flaky Alaskan cod and thick-cut wedges of potato, fried until golden — is a must. Pair it with a Guinness or Smithwick’s Irish red ale.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

Anchor Fish & Chips [Official]

This 31-year Dinkytown staple known for its top-notch Cantonese menu specializes in seafood dishes, like crab with ginger and scallions and baked lobster in a five-spice salt.The walleye, steamed with black bean sauce, is a favorite.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

The oysters at Meritage get all the buzz — try them raw or broiled with tarragon butter and breadcrumbs. But the raw bar offers all kinds of seafood platters, laden with Littleneck claims, Maine lobster, salmon rillettes, and other selections.

• Open in Google Maps
• Foursquare

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