How2Day: The Best Seafood Restaurants

Top seafood restaurants serve creative and exclusive dishes to their patrons. Eriko Koga/Digital Vision/Getty Images
If you dream of dipping king crab legs in a vat of butter, or you always order the mussels in white wine at an Italian restaurant; if you always ask for the fish of the day, or the shrimp pasta, you are probably a big fan of seafood. Serious seafood lovers looking for the best seafood restaurants will find them in some of America's largest cities.

This French-style seafood restaurant is known for both its seafood and its elegant ambiance. The decor is refined without being excessive, featuring wood paneling and fresh flowers. Le Bernardin's impeccable service is as legendary as their food. A variety of menus are available, including a prix fixe three-course dinner, a tasting menu and a Harvest Menu for lunch, of which $5 of each order goes toward the food bank City Harvest (in 2010). A jacket is required for men. A few of their special menu items include fluke sashimi, lobster carpaccio and surf and turf.

Celebrated chef Michael Cimarusti is the key to Providence's reputation as one of the best seafood restaurants in Los Angeles. He is so passionate about serving only top-quality seafood that fisherman actually call him to let know when they make a particularly spectacular catch. Providence features seafood from both the East and West coasts in a sleek, modern ambiance. Chef Cimarusti emphasizes the flavors of the fish and other seafood, so seasonings are subtle. Favorite dishes at Providence include the clam "chowda," foie gras ravioli with truffles and Maine lobster. Ask for the special of the day as it will likely be something one-of-a-kind that the chef picked up from the market just that morning.

Since it opened in 2008, this modern seafood restaurant in the Lincoln Park area prides itself on serving sustainable seafood. L20 offers the eco-friendly Kindai blue fin tuna, which is served at only a few restaurants in the country. The chef, Laurent Gras, features flavors from around the world in his seafood dishes. Chef Laurent keeps a blog where he interacts with fans and ponders menu ideas. L20 offers a prix fixe menu and a tasting menu and a special Tatami Room, where guests will enjoy a Japan-inspired experience, in which they remove their shoes and dine while seated on grass-mat floors. Menu items include diver scallop, salted cod with caviar and Korean barbecue.

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