The Best Seafood In New England, According To Yelp

Forbes

20-03-2025

I grew up dipping steamed clams in broth and butter. I turn my nose up at 'clam strips,' those rubbery abominations detached from the clam's juicy, rich belly. When I was little, my father took my mother out for lobster every year for her birthday, and she brought the crustacean's legs home for my sister and me to gnaw on.
This is all to say that, like most New Englanders, I know my way around our seafood standards. So Yelp's 2025 list of the Best Seafood in Every State released earlier this month, featuring luscious lobster rolls and fresh oyster bars, held few surprises for me, and opened a world of debate among my friends. But one restaurant caught my eye. In Maine, a state that is virtually synonymous with lobster, Yelp's number one spot is an unassuming restaurant in Portland, a city with an outrageous number of highly praised dining spots.
From classic lobster boils to paella, Yelpers praise New England's to spots.
I'd never heard of Paella Seafood, found in an oddly barn-like space outside downtown. But I was sure glad Yelp brought it to my attention – the paella, crafted by Casey Jabrawi, who owns the restaurant with his wife Dahlia, was delicious, with perfectly tender, fresh mussels, shrimp and calamari, on a bed of flavorful rice with just the right amount of socarrat, the crispy layer from the bottom of the paella pan.
Yelp crunches data to identify businesses with a large concentration of reviews mentioning 'seafood,' then ranks those spots using a number of factors, including geographic location and the total volume and ratings of reviews. And here is what they found.
Clams are still fresh-dug all along the New England coast.
New owners purchased the 35-year-old business in late 2023, but they still get seafood delivered fresh daily for fried platters. According to Yelp, the servings are piled in plastic baskets so generously that a half-combo order can feed two or three people.
This aptly named restaurant specializes in the Spanish dish.
The dining room is barely lit and rustic, but the food shines at this spot that opened in early 2024 after a fire closed the original location. Aromas of garlic waft into the parking lot, signaling the delicious signature paella, full of prawns, mussels, calamari that Yelpers call 'seafood heaven' and crunchy bits of rice — darkened pieces called 'socarrat' — that one Yelper said add a 'complex smoky, charred, savory flavor.' Other seafood specialties include grilled octopus and shrimp.
The Turner family has been a staple north of Boston for more than 100 years. This location, housed in the historic Salem Lyceum where Alexander Graham Bell made the first long-distance phone call, is always packed. Daily catches are processed at the family's Gloucester, Massachusetts, plant and delivered to the restaurant the same day. Favorites range from the 'rich and creamy' Lobster Bisque — which has its own fan club of more than 300 Yelp reviews — to the Seafood Medley Entree (haddock with wild shrimp and local sea scallops). I'm a fan of the old school dishes like Finnan Haddie, featuring house-smoked haddock baked in a pearl onion au gratin sauce.
Cioppino is a big draw at Yelp's favorite restaurant in New Hampshire.
Cioppino is the star at this decade-old spot — Yelp says it's 'loaded with seafood' in a broth that's 'perfect for bread dunking.' Other favorites include a New England Lobster Roll, Milltown Mussels (in a butter-and-wine sauce with toasted bread), and Ignited Fried Calamari with fried hot cherry peppers and marinara. Many regulars stop by for 'Buck a Shuck' oysters at Happy Hour (2–5 pm Mondays through Fridays), but if you want dinner, be sure to make reservations.
Slurp fresh oysters right on the water at Matituck Oyster Bar.
Owner Perry Raso has degrees in aquaculture and fishery technology — as well as an organic oyster farm — which ensures delicious, locally sourced ingredients at this restaurant. The oysters are clearly fresh, since you can actually see the oyster beds from the dining room, according to Yelp. Also popular are the Lobster Pizza, topped with mascarpone and white truffle, as well as Lobster-Butternut Bisque. Yelpers highly recommend getting reservations, especially in the busy summer months.
Yelp says the Vineyard Chowder is 'not to be missed' at this charming, historic spot just steps from Burlington's art deco Flynn Theater. It's full of shrimp, scallops, clams, crab, haddock, and potatoes in a coastal New England–style seafood broth, say reviewers, who also recommend the Warm Crab Dip and the Steamed Mussels served with white wine, garlic, parsley, grilled bread — as well as creative cocktails at the intimate bar. Fans recommend making a reservation on Yelp.