Seafood Restaurants in Silver Spring

Mid Atlantic Seafood's kitchen staff assembles creations from an eclectic menu of fish samplers, wings, sandwiches, breakfast items, and Chinese-inspired dishes. Patrons can choose from almost 20 types of fish, such as haddock ($9.99–$18.99) and catfish ($9.49–$18.49), and order they be baked, grilled, stuffed, or nestled between layers of bread in a sandwich.

Some of Jeff Heineman's earliest memories involved scouring sandy beaches for clams that he and his grandfather "Freddy" would then bake together. These formative culinary experiences instilled in Jeff a deep love for New England–style seafood, inspiring him to become a chef and eventually open his Mid-Atlantic take on a northeastern lobster shack, which he named Freddy's Lobster & Clams in honor of his grandfather.

The menu's Maine lobster rolls, fried clam strips, and ocean-fresh steamer clams exemplify this passion and help create a pleasantly anomalous eatery that Bethesda Patch described as "a seafood shack you’d typically find in Bar Harbor or Nantucket." However, the menu doesn't stop at the shoreline. The cooks also grill half-pound sirloin and short-rib burgers, and they load plates with crispy chicken paillard, grilled asparagus, and rosemary roasted potatoes with sage gravy.

The laid-back, casual inspiration behind the menu also influences the restaurant's décor, which features simple wooden booths and picnic tables amid walls lined with nets and fishing bobbers. This cozy setting creates a neighborhood vibe where visitors can feel comfortable lingering long enough to enjoy one more beer—and there are plenty to choose from, as Freddy's offers more than 100 ranging from hoppy IPAs to dense stouts made with malted black holes.

Drawing on years of experience in the kitchens of Nobu, Nine Steak House, Nove Italiano, and Ampm Restaurant, Chef Tony assembles a host of fresh ingredients to craft his artisanal pizzas. He enhances the crispy prosciutto pizza with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh basil and layers provolone cheese and yukon potatoes over the marinated chicken pizza. Additionally, gourmet salads provide an opportunity to sample house-made dressings and roasted-garlic vinaigrettes without the awkwardness of ordering them “on the rocks.”

Bright murals of fish swim across the walls of Steamers Seafood House, where diners sit at tables with black-and-white-checkered tablecloths—or enjoy the scenery from a large, outdoor deck—and chomp crabs, steamed-spiced shrimp, salad, and burgers. An aquatically themed menu celebrates crab with snow-crab legs, crab-cake platters, all-you-can-eat Maryland blue crab feasts, and mysterious choruses of “Under the Sea” every time diners turn it over. When not slurping oysters and mussels from the shell, tearing into a crabmeat burger, or dining on ribs, patrons watch sports on HDTVs stationed throughout the restaurant.

The charm and simplicity of the Maine lobster shack is heaved ashore at Georgetown's Tackle Box, which popped onto Bon Appétit's radar as one of the Best Seafood Restaurants of 2008. Just inside the door on a pocked brick wall, a weathered Old Glory greets diners as they stand before the counter's chalkboard menu to check on the day's fresh catch and wonder if sailors wear their ties in a figure-eight knot. Since Tackle Box shoulders a steadfast commitment to sustainability, each meal can vary, as cooks fry or grill the bounty of fishermen's nets that may swell with haddock or catfish.

Diners can choose smoked trout to pair with hand-cut fries or mac 'n' cheese, all of which they can enjoy at a fire-red picnic table. For an extra kick, fingers may dip fare or put out a burning dynamite fuse in a classic tartar or spicy marinara sauce.