Every thing you have to learn about New England seafood

The Dish

Try chef and locals’ recommendations, and see the oldest, most established seafood spots around New England.

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Summer just may be my favorite season in Boston. As a Southerner, this is a new preference for me. For most of my life, summer meant car seats that burned your buttocks, ruining t-shirts with sweat stains, frizzy hair, and swatting mosquitoes. 

But I’m a new person in my new home, one who goes outside during July and doesn’t complain. I’ve found myself requiring a long-sleeve button-up or light jacket on the breezy waterfronts. I stroll to my heart’s desire. My hair is still slightly frizzy, but that just might be genetics. 

And the best thing about Boston during the summer is eating seafood. Sure, it’s available year-round at most places, but it’s more fun to slurp down oysters or splurge on lobster rolls when you’re no longer affected by seasonal affective disorder. 

We put out a seafood guide, just in time for your summer escapades, complete with stories, guides, and games. 

Old-school gems in and around Seaport

The other day I went to the Seaport and saw a menu of very basic cocktails that would cost me $25. Instead of going there, I decided to do this story. 

The Seaport used to be one big parking lot, with only a few restaurants, big warehouses, and seafood markets. But the neighborhood’s relatively recent transformation probably represents the biggest 180 in modern Boston history. 

I chatted with some restaurants in and near the Seaport who have been serving seafood for decades. How have they hung on all these years as high-rise condos and expensive hotels pop up around them? People’s love for no-frills seafood platters is that strong.

The Cape’s oldest clam shacks

When I hear that a restaurant has been in business for a handful of decades, I’m shocked. Their answer for how they’ve endured is always a mix of pure luck, hard work, staying consistent, and evolving.

I spoke to owners of clam shacks on the Cape — some of these restaurants are nearly eight decades old! — about their survival.

The cost of food, labor, and property is perpetually rising, but what isn’t changing is people’s association with summer Cape vacations and fried clams. 

Lobster roll recs from chefs and bartenders

Finding the right lobster roll matters (considering how expensive they are). Instead of searching for one alone, why not take the advice from select chefs and bartenders in Greater Boston?

I asked folks like Erin Miller from Urban Hearth, Oscar Simoza from The Wig Shop, and Rachel Miller from Nightshade Noodle Bar for their picks in and around Boston, as well as elsewhere in New England. 

While I haven’t had many lobster rolls in my short time in Boston, my go-to for a classic has to be James Hook & Co. And yes, the fried lobster roll at Saltie Girl really is as good as everyone says it is. 

More seafood options

As usual, our readers gave some great recommendations on where to go if you’re looking for a seafood shack — though I will argue not all of them are technically seafood shacks. But I included them anyway. 

Now you’ve got everything you need to have a seafood-full summer. Hopefully your wallets come out of the other side not completely barren. 

For your reading list

For your calendar

My favorite meal recently: 

I needed a break from seafood (seriously, I ate so many fried clams), so I grabbed a seat at the Season to Taste bar for a couple of small plates. A fun soup is hard for me to turn down, even when it’s hot outside. Luckily, the soup on their menu was a Vichyssoise, a chilled potato and leek soup with a crunch from crispy potatoes and a punch of flavor from garlic and chive oil. 

— Katelyn Umholtz