These 5 Chains Have The Best Fried Seafood, According To Reviews

Seafood can be incredibly flavorful and comforting, but not many chain restaurants get their seafood dishes right. When you're hunting for some fried seafood, you might be surprised to find that options are somewhat limited. Some restaurants serve seafood, yes, but perhaps it's not fried, and worse yet, maybe it's not good at all. We wanted to find the absolute best chains for fried seafood, which required extensive research into customer sentiment. To identify these eateries, we looked to customer reviews on various social media platforms, review sites, and even previous Tasting Table reviews. 

It wasn't enough for a chain to have one excellent fried seafood option; it needed at least two dishes (not necessarily two types of seafood) to justify why it's a good restaurant. Truthfully, most of these are seafood chains that know their stuff (there's one outlier, though) — but again, not all seafood chains made the list, because either the reviews were mixed or they were known for just one great fried seafood option. We'll share customer reviews on specific dishes so that you can go to each of these chain restaurants with at least a couple of options in mind.

Red Lobster is well known for its slew of seafood options, but we're drawing attention to a couple of fried varieties. Walt's Favorite Shrimp came up frequently as a top-liked item among customers. It's a no-fuss, hand-breaded shrimp option that's butterflied (meaning it's sliced down the length of the shrimp, opening it up toward the center). The fried shrimp comes with cocktail sauce, which people think pairs really well together thanks to the kick of horseradish. 

Folks like that the shrimp is crisp, well fried, and very tasty. It's consistently regarded as an excellent option from Red Lobster thanks to the moist shrimp interior. "No matter what I always order Walt," said one commenter on a Red Lobster Facebook post about the dish. "Walt's shrimp is the best around!!" another person wrote.

If you prefer something other than shrimp, Red Lobster's fish and chips ranked No. 1 in a Tasting Table ranking of various chain restaurant iterations of the dish. They are made with wild-caught cod and a crisp beer-battered coating. Our writer said the fish was wonderfully flaky, with a perfect balance of saltiness and richness. The crunch factor of the battered exterior works beautifully with the tender fish interior. Others think it's fantastic, too, and it's even better since it comes as a part of a filling, flavorful meal with coleslaw and seasoned fries.

Does Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. have good fried shrimp? The answer is a resounding, definitive "yes." Fried shrimp comes in dishes like the Run Across America Sampler, Mama Blue's Fried Shrimp (a customer favorite), and more. Luckily, various iterations of this fried crustacean come up frequently as the best things to get there. 

Shrimper's Heaven is a popular pick for various types of shrimp, including fried, and the chain also offers fries, cocktail sauce, Cajun marmalade, and tempura sauce with the meal. Customers say the platter is to die for and is worth buying. It's ideal for when you can't make up your mind and want a variety of shrimp options in one dish. It's been deemed the best seafood entree that you can get from the restaurant, and customers like it because it's quite filling.

Any fried shrimp option at Bubba Gump is tasty, though, and it's something that even picky eaters can enjoy. "The fried shrimp were perfectly crispy, well-seasoned, and impossible to stop eating," one food reviewer described on Instagram. Their picture showed off their Mama Blue's Fried Shrimp dish, which comes with shrimp, fries, coleslaw, and cocktail sauce. They also complimented the fried Captain's Fish & Chips. The praise for Bubba Gump's fried shrimp is so high from customers that it makes it a clear top place to visit when you're craving seafood.

Cracker Barrel is the only restaurant that made our list that isn't strictly a seafood spot. Instead, the chain has a vast menu of seafood, chicken, beef, sandwiches, and more. You could visit many times and barely touch the iceberg of the offerings. Perhaps it's that lengthiness that comes in its favor for fried seafood. 

The fried catfish is a top item to get when you want fried fish that goes beyond cod. People love this dish because it tastes fresh and is thoroughly scrumptious. It has a tantalizing cornmeal breading, which offers a unique texture that pairs well with the fish. The meal comes with hushpuppies, tartar sauce, and your choice of two or three sides for added textural variety. "Only restaurant I eat catfish at!!!!" one person commented on a Facebook post about the dish. Another fan mentioned that it's the only thing they order at Cracker Barrel, so it clearly has its fans.

The country fried shrimp also comes with plenty of happy customers. Plus, it was considered the absolute best shrimp basket meal from a chain in a past Tasting Table ranking, where the writer said it had an incredible breading that easily beat competitors. It makes a terrific partner to the quality shrimp. Additionally, the meal — which comes with fries, hushpuppies, and coleslaw — is pleasantly hearty. Fans say that you can't go wrong with the fried shrimp, and one even shared that they aren't typically a fan of Cracker Barrel, but the shrimp dish was a pleasant surprise. Kids also seem to like this crustacean dish, so most people will find a good fried seafood pick here.

Just about anything at Long John Silver's comes fried, so it's not a shock that the seafood chain has fried seafood. But it's still a pleasant surprise that it's one of the best fried food options out there. 

The two-piece battered cod meal, in particular, had great compliments and ranked second out of several Long John Silver's meals in a Tasting Table review. The filets have an unbeatable balance of textures that makes them so easy to devour. Our writer said that they had a wonderfully crispy batter and a flaky interior. It has the salty, oily element one might anticipate from fried food, but it gets an upgrade when you add tartar sauce, acidic lemon, or even malt vinegar. But any of the meal options with fried fish come recommended by patrons.

Some like a more surf-and-turf menu offering with chicken and fried fish, which is part of the Meals for 1 fish and chicken meal made with Alaska pollock. It's said to be quite moist and juicy. "Their fish and chicken are absolutely top-notch," said one Redditor. Plenty of people share that they like to order the clam strips with their food, which is a unique offering not found on many other restaurant menus. "ALWAYS GET A SIDE OF CLAMS... or 3," wrote one person on a Facebook post about what people like to order at Long John Silver's. Needless to say, there are a lot of excellent fried seafood options at this chain.

Legal Sea Foods offers many delicious options to select from, but it has multiple standout fried foods. One of the best things to get here is the fried fish and chips; it's so good that it's even considered to be better than the lobster roll. You can get the fried fish in two different styles: New England (which uses buttermilk and then a dry dredge before it's fried) or beer battered. The beer-battered fish employs gluten-free beer, but there's interest in applying the same gluten-free beer batter technique to shrimp and scallops. Some reviewers call it the best fish and chips meal they've ever eaten, while others say they like it because of its flakiness, good flavor, and generally good value. 

But if you want something more complex, the Fisherman's Platter pops up often in reviews. This option comes with shrimp, scallops, whitefish, calamari, and onion strings, which is ideal when you don't want just one type of seafood. "Nobody makes a seafood platter like Legal's!!!" exclaimed one customer on Facebook. People consider it an elevated option that works nicely because of the blend of textures from the different seafoods. "The fisherman's platter was soo good! The seafood was super fresh and fried perfectly," one person wrote on Instagram. 

As a bonus, all the fried options at the chain are gluten-free, making them available to a wider audience. The kids' menu is great for picky eaters, too, with fried popcorn shrimp and fried fish fingers on deck.

There are plenty of chain restaurants with great seafood dishes, including those with a random one-off seafood meal. However, for this article, we focused on eateries that excel at multiple fried seafood options or dishes. One great option was not enough to make the cut, making the criteria much more limited, which significantly narrowed the selection. Additionally, the fried element posed another limitation, as some chains have excellent non-fried seafood options, such as baked or grilled fish dishes and more. 

We looked for restaurants with many positive reviews on platforms like Facebook, Tripadvisor, Google Reviews, and other sites that praised their seafood dishes. We also referred to some Tasting Table articles in which a particular restaurant dish ranked highly. We focused on selecting a couple of the most popular and beloved seafood options at each spot. They are enjoyed by patrons for their wonderful flavor and enticing, balanced textures. While we tried to find a variety of fried options, again, we were limited by customer reviews — some other fried seafood dishes at the chain(s) weren't as highly recommended.