Where To Find The Best Seafood In Orlando, Florida
Long gone are the days when Orlando's dining scene was synonymous with its theme parks. While travelers have lots of dining destinations at Universal Studios and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Orlando has become one of America's foremost foodie cities, home to Michelin-starred restaurants and James Beard nominees. And considering its location, it's no wonder that much of that culinary attraction is fresh seafood.
I've spent months in Orlando and I visit each year. It's a city that always draws me back and reels me in, and a big part of that draw is its abundance of fresh seafood and the sheer variety of restaurants putting singular stamps on everything from sushi and fish tacos to lobster bisque and crab cakes. Over my many visits to The City Beautiful, and my many meals throughout its neighborhoods, I've come to regard Orlando as one of America's best cities for seafood, and while this list could undoubtedly be twice as long, these restaurants stand out for their pristine freshness, originality, and seasonal flourishes. Some are casual market counters, and others are high-end omakases, while some draw inspiration from New England or Italy. What I've found from my own dining experiences, and from critical and community acclaim, is that quality unites them all. From fine dining to casual fish markets, here's where to find the best seafood in Orlando, Florida.
Kadence
Kadence, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it jewel box of a restaurant, tucked away in a nondescript space in the Audubon Park neighborhood, is a multi-course sushi restaurant that feels like dining in a chic home gallery. It's helmed by husband-and-wife team Mark Berdin and Jennifer Banagale, who opened the bygone Kappo Sushi at nearby East End Market. Kadence marked their first brick-and-mortar, making quite a splash with ever-changing, multi-course tasting menus paired with an esoteric sake selection.
Since its opening in 2017, the Michelin-starred restaurant has amassed considerable customer acclaim as well, including rave reviews touting the food as some of the best sushi in Orlando. Since its inception, the restaurant has been named Restaurant of the Year by the Orlando Sentinel, and one of the best restaurants in Orlando, by Condé Nast Traveler and Eater.
The appeal, especially for curious diners like me, is the dynamism of Kadence's omakase-style tasting menus, which constantly change to reflect the chef's whims and whatever fresh seafood is behind the counter. There are, in fact, no menus, leaving each course a surprise, be it octopus sashimi or Japanese wreckfish nigiri. On any given evening, that could include shirako, a custardy-soft cod roe, or umibudo, otherwise known as sea grapes or green caviar. No matter what's on the menu, rest assured you'll be in for a culinary adventure.
1809 Winter Park Rd, Orlando, FL 32803
The Venetian Chophouse
Located inside Caribe Royale Orlando, The Venetian Chophouse has perfected the art of surf and turf. On a recent trip to Orlando, my most memorable meal was at this seafaring steakhouse where seafood stands out just as boldly as its steaks, chops, and Italian dishes.
I started with the lobster bisque, a silken, sherry-spiked soup that comes with a dome of puff pastry as show-stopping as the nearby Epcot sphere. That first taste, buttery and rich, was one of the best spoonfuls I've had in memory, and the bisque is rightfully cited by many as a customer favorite.
Other standout seafood dishes, beloved by myself and others, offer innovative twists on chophouse classics, including seared fennel pollen sea scallops with salmon roe and pancetta crisp, jumbo lump crab cakes with Asian red pepper slaw and Old Bay aioli, Chilean sea bass puttanesca, and blackened king salmon with Okinawa purple potato puree.
(407) 238-8060
8101 World Center Dr, Orlando, FL 32821
Edoboy
Some of the best — and most unique — seafood in Orlando deserves a standing ovation. Edoboy has been heralded as the best sushi in Orlando by the Orlando Sentinel and is the latest pioneering venture from Sonny Nguyen, the owner of Domu and next-door Tori Tori. Edoboy, which opened in 2022, marks Orlando's first standing sushi bar.
Inspired by Nguyen's travels through Japan, it's named for Japan's Edo Period, when sushi was eaten while standing. The intimate, eight-person eatery positions guests around a central counter, offering fresh fish and seafood in a more casual setting. The sushi bar is a veritable performance stage for head chef Tyler Inthavongsa, who serves edible art like Japanese sea bream nigiri, torched red prawns with uni butter, and blue crab handrolls with truffle Kewpie mayo. Customers, who call the restaurant an absolute must and the sushi some of the best in the city, can also opt for multi-course seasonal omakases, or supplement their orders with caviar, miso soup made with fish bones, and matcha s'mores.
728 N Thornton Ave, Orlando, FL 32803
The Osprey
It's named after a seahawk, so it's no wonder that The Osprey serves some of the best seafood in Orlando. Located in Baldwin Park and open since 2015, the airy restaurant boasts an open kitchen and a central bar area, flanked by wood paneling and a blue-and-white color scheme that lends a nautical aesthetic. It's all set dressing for chef/partner Michael Cooper's array of oysters, shimmering seafood towers, and local fish.
It's a local favorite, with customers praising the service, value, and quality of its seafood. The Osprey has the feel of a lively neighborhood tavern, where regulars and newcomers alike can flock for blue crab hush puppies, blackened mahi sandwiches, whole branzino, and cioppino swimming with clams, mussels, shrimp, and whitefish. A personal favorite is its rainbow trout piccata, a perfectly cooked fillet of fish draped in brown butter and lemon and flecked with roasted red potatoes and capers for a balanced pop of flavor in each forkful.
(407) 960-7700
4899 New Broad St, Orlando, FL 32814
The Current Seafood Counter
Regularly tipped by locals as some of the best seafood in Orlando, The Current Seafood Counter doubles as a casual seafood counter and an homage to the Northeast. For its seafood-loving owner Mike Smith, who grew up in Maryland, New Jersey, and Maine, the sunny restaurant is a throwback to the flavors of his youth — and the freshest catch he can get his hands on.
By keeping his menu casual and ever-changing, Smith strives to make fresh seafood more of an accessible and regular occasion for customers, rather than a beachside indulgence. Since opening in Sanford in 2020, with a College Park location that followed a few years later, he's outfitted his menus with everyday classics and comfort foods, along with special additions that reflect seasonality. That means customers can expect fried grouper sandwiches and creamy New England clam chowder alongside blackened shrimp Caesar salads, fried scallops, and lobster rolls that offer a taste of Maine.
www.thecurrentseafoodcounter.com
Multiple locations
Lighthouse Seafood Market & Cafe
A lighthouse is a beacon, guiding travelers into harbor. In the case of Lighthouse Seafood Market & Cafe, a Lake Mary institution that functions as both a fish market and seafood café, that "harbor" is a menagerie of Orlando's freshest fish and seafood.
Lighthouse Seafood has been praised as having some of the best seafood in Orlando and even won Critic's Choice for Best Seafood in the 2026 Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards. It's a family-run operation rooted in generations of fishing and cooking. The market and café, which opened in 2003, works directly with fishermen to ensure the freshest catch and to provide top-tier seafood for customers to cook at home or — since expanding to a larger location next door — dine on-site.
Today, guests can stock up at the fish counter for everything from fresh North Sea salmon to local shrimp, or hit the café for smoked fish dip, conch fritters, seared ahi tuna, grouper cakes, shrimp ceviche, and much more.
(407) 330-2425
101 N Country Club Rd, Lake Mary, FL 32746
Bar Harbor Seafood
When it comes to seafood, it doesn't get any fresher than a restaurant that started out as a seafood distributor for Orlando's best restaurants, hotels, and theme parks. It's no surprise, then, that Bar Harbor Seafood — which still operates as a distributor, market, and casual café — is widely praised by Orlando residents as having the best seafood in the city.
The local legend has been in business since 1986 and also leans into New England-inspired specialties, supplying businesses and customers with upwards of 40,000 pounds of fresh lobster weekly. That lobster is the star of the lunch menu, available in Maine- and Connecticut-style lobster rolls, as well as whole lobsters, lobster bisque, and plump lobster meat. Other specialties include blackened salmon, fried clam strips, and fish and chips, with requisite sides like coleslaw and corn on the cob. Be sure to check its daily specials, which range from shrimp po'boys and grilled tilapia to yellowfin tuna wraps.
(407) 447-6455
2000 Premier Row, Orlando, FL 32809
Luke's Kitchen & Bar
I can practically still taste the shrimp remoulade I had at Luke's Kitchen & Bar. And I'm not alone in that fandom. It's frequently cited by locals as having impeccable seafood, and the seasonally inspired American restaurant has earned rave reviews for its Southern-leaning specialties, including a red fish dish that one diner called "the best piece of red fish [they'd] ever tasted." It's located in Maitland and its food somehow tastes even better on its palm-lined patio.
Luke's Kitchen & Bar feels like the quintessential neighborhood restaurant — the kind of community cornerstone populated by devout regulars and friendly servers. The fact that menus change frequently to reflect the seasonal bounty of local ingredients keeps customers coming back for what's new.
On any given evening, that could include a spicy medley of P.E.I. mussels with chorizo verde, cilantro mayo, and green chili, Thai coconut rock shrimp with Asian lime and shishito peppers, jewel-toned tuna tartare with citrus-soy vinaigrette, and a lightly breaded swordfish Milanese with tomato-radish salad. My favorites, though, are the seafood dishes that lean local and Southern, like fried green tomatoes topped with rock shrimp remoulade, and roasted Florida snapper with a ragú of white beans, roasted carrots, fennel, and Swiss chard.
(407) 674-2400
640 S Orlando Ave, Maitland, FL 32751
Prato
This Italian favorite in charming Winter Park is a Michelin-recognized restaurant featuring consummate crowd-pleasers, like meatballs, bruschetta, pastas, and pizzas cooked in wood-fired ovens imported from Italy. But by diving deeper into the vaster canon of regional Italian cookery and plumbing its coastal regions, diners are rewarded with some of the best seafood in Central Florida.
When I last dined here, the pizzas and saffron-scented arancini were fantastic, but it was the seafood dishes that stole the show. Grilled octopus with smoked potato puree was a harmonious blend of earthy flavor with charred salinity, and even something as familiar as calamari gets an inventive upgrade — brined in buttermilk and fried with a pretzel crust, it's at once tender, buttery, and impossibly crispy. Both dishes have earned customer acclaim, with some calling the calamari the best they've ever had.
And those are just the appetizers. Heartier plates are just as impressive, including risotto with lobster, clams, and shrimp and a stunning plate of Faroe Island salmon with shaved fennel, herb salad, and salsa verde.
(407) 262-0050
124 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789
Kaya
Seafood is a natural mainstay of the Philippines — an archipelago nation comprising thousands of islands. So naturally, Orlando's critically acclaimed Filipino fine dining restaurant, Kaya, would not only incorporate seafood into its tasting menus, but feature some of the freshest seafood in the metro. It's manned by co-owner and chef Lordfer Lalicon, formerly of Kadence.
The Michelin-recommended restaurant, housed in a cozy bungalow-style abode in the Mills 50 neighborhood, is frequently praised by locals for its top-notch seafood dishes — acclaim that's been echoed by the James Beard Foundation, which nominated Kaya for Best New Restaurant in 2024, as well as diners who hail the seafood as immaculate. The à la carte menu features an always-changing lineup of fresh Filipino flavors, highlighting the best and brightest in seasonality. That includes seafood dishes that bridge the gap between the Philippines and Orlando, like shrimp toast with yuzu koshō mayo, mussels in coconut cream, Cape Canaveral white shrimp with kalamansi verde, and scallop crudo with kalamansi leche de tigre, rhubarb, purple daikon, and orange.
(407) 627-9117
618 N Thornton Ave, Orlando, FL 32803
Otto's High Dive
With its lush plants, timber-clad ceilings, tropical food menu, and enough rum to satiate the pirates of the Caribbean, dining at Otto's High Dive — a rustic-chic rum bar in Orlando's Milk District — feels like dining in the hull of a ship. Undoubtedly, that means the menu reflects that atmosphere with a bounty of fresh seafood to match with its tiki-style cocktails.
The Michelin-recommended bar and restaurant, which highlights its seafood in particular, is just as revered by customers who praise it as one of Orlando's top seafood spots. I've had the pleasure of being one such customer, and while I expected the food at Otto's High Dive to play second fiddle to its rum drinks, I was pleasantly surprised by the quantity — and quality — of its seafood.
Seafood towers come decked with oysters, lobster, ceviche, and shrimp cocktail, while caviar service includes plantain cornbread medallions. That same cornbread has been paired with miso-poached lobster escabeche and creamy corn puree, while other seafood specialties include lobster croquetas with black truffles and sofrito oil, mezcal-splashed tuna ceviche with watermelon and basil oil, crab salad with pineapple and plantain chips, and the catch of the day — Florida fish served whole with preserved sour orange beurre blanc.
(321) 231-7902
2304 E Robinson St, Orlando, FL 32803
Reyes Mezcaleria
Chef Wendy Lopez draws upon the seafaring sentiments of her youth, in the coastal Mexican state of Michoacán, at Reyes Mezcaleria. Much like the decor, an airy and plant-filled industrial-chic space outfitted with Mexican art, the inventive menus — which one customer praises as "not your typical taco and burrito menu" — feel just as breezy and coastal.
Fresh Mexican seafood features prominently throughout the menus, from hamachi tiradito with passion fruit and jicama, to citrus-cured snapper ceviche with heirloom tomatoes and pineapple, grilled octopus Veracruz with lemon-oregano vinaigrette, cerveza-battered snapper tacos, and seared rainbow trout with spicy escabeche and cilantro rice.
Don't skip the bluefin tuna tostadas, which have earned particular praise from customers, served with guacamole, cucumber, sesame salsa macha, and lime oil. For a more esoteric dive into coastal Mexican fare, Reyes Mezcaleria offers tastings with dishes like live sea scallops and grouper cheeks.
(407) 868-9007
821 N Orange Ave, Orlando, FL 32804
The Boathouse
In nearby Walt Disney World, The Boathouse has earned wide acclaim as one of the best restaurants in The Most Magical Place on Earth. Located in free-to-visit Disney Springs, outside the parks, the nautically inclined restaurant has been just as lauded by visitors who say it's one of their favorite places for seafood, lobster rolls, and more. As a Disney World annual passholder who frequents Disney Springs for dinner, I must agree.
It's my favorite restaurant in Disney Springs and it certainly lives up to its name, with an authentic nautical theme, replete with polished wood paneling, a literal boat in the dining room, and a back patio dock, where customers can slurp oysters on Lake Buena Vista. In fact, my favorite way to end a day at Disney is by syncing my oyster platters — served with London dry gin cocktail sauce and cucumber mignonette — with sunset, when I can watch the Amphicars "drive" through the lagoon.
The rest of the menu is vast, hitting all the seafood high notes with the likes of yellowfin tuna poke, hand-breaded coconut shrimp, grilled fish tacos, Maine-style lobster rolls, pan-seared Gulf grouper, and pan-roasted corvina.
(407) 939-2628
1620 E Buena Vista Dr, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Coral Reef Restaurant
One of the most unique seafood experiences in Orlando, or anywhere, can be found at Epcot's Coral Reef Restaurant, where guests dine under The Seas for a truly one-of-a-kind experience. It's a seafood restaurant specializing in local Florida ingredients. The star attraction is the living coral reef, viewable through floor-to-ceiling windows that transform the dining room into a veritable aquarium where sharks and sea turtles swim by as guests dine on sustainable seafood.
This is one of the most extraordinary dining experiences I've had in the parks. Coral Reef Restaurant has earned rave reviews for its enthralling environment and its seafood, with a menu of lobster bisque, seafood mac and cheese, grilled snapper with coconut-lime rice, and shrimp fettuccine with Chardonnay cream sauce. And it's a meal you can feel good about, knowing that Disney scientists and conservationists are working to preserve endangered species like those swimming right outside your window.
disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/dining/epcot/coral-reef-restaurant
(407) 939-5277
200 Epcot Center Dr, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Methodology
As a sizable city in oceanic Florida, Orlando is teeming with quality seafood. These restaurants, in particular, set themselves apart for their diligent local sourcing, regional inspirations, innovative techniques, and unique flavors. By tapping my own personal experiences, along with critical reviews, awards, and customer acclaim, I can vouch that these restaurants undoubtedly serve some of the best seafood in Orlando.