Seafood Restaurants in West Palm Beach

Aromas of roasted garlic and basil waft from the warm ovens at Cafe Centro as chefs prepare a menu of Northern Italian seafood specialties. Beneath the dining area's rustic timber ceiling, servers deliver plates of fettuccine crowned with lobster and brandy cream sauce or fillets of grilled salmon, yellowtail snapper, and branzino. Other dishes include crusty calzones with soft, melting interiors and housemade desserts such as tiramisu. Wrought-iron chandeliers cast a warm glow over racks of bottles filled with fine wines and rolled parchment notes from the pirate who lives in the cellar.

Some chefs wake up to a steaming pot of coffee, but Glenn Cockburn’s morning fix is Maine lobster, which arrives at his fish house by 10:30 a.m. each day. Informed by his training at the Culinary Institute of America and more than 35 years in the restaurant business, Glenn steams the elegant crustacean whole to release its natural flavors. He unleashes his talents on other seaborne species as well, blackening yellowfin, grouper, and rainbow trout to form dinners as healthy as a jog through a field of wheatgrass. Non-seafood specialties, such as aged new york strip steak, pair nicely with staples from the wine list, including Don Gascon malbec and Beringer cabernet sauvignon. Guests flock to the outdoor patio on sunny days, where they can enjoy lunches of mahi-mahi tacos and desserts such as key-lime pie with raspberry coulis. Lined with ocean-blue accents and reef-themed tile mosaics, the interior summons daydreams about scuba-diving trips and sojourns at Poseidon’s lake house.

Since they first arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, Linda Bean's family members have only ever lived in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Bean, who is the granddaughter of the famous one—L.L., not the Chicago sculpture—has traveled to four continents but maintains enormous pride in her New England heritage. She names Maine as her favorite place on Earth, and when she started a business in her 60s, she sought to convey this state pride through its tastiest signature export: lobster.

Within just a few years of its inception, Linda Bean's Perfect Maine was in front of QVC cameras, on top of Walmart shelves, and filling a 26-foot "lobstermobile" purchased when Bruce Wayne was rebranding. Of her quintet of proprietary restaurants, only one is outside Maine, but all fill bellies with sea-fresh lunches and dinners. Linda's herbed lobster roll is the star—its two buttered buns hug a quarter pound of meat that's been sprinkled with an herb blend whose classified recipe she refuses to disclose.

There's an art to picking a steak. As the chefs at Prime will tell you, a steak should have just the right amount of marbling, which makes the meat retain tenderness and develop more robust flavors during cooking. That's why father-and-son duo Steven Pellegrino Sr. and Jr. insist that every steak be cut from USDA prime beef. They also insist upon fresh seafood, lining up catches such as sea bass and line-caught swordfish for their chefs to transform into flavorful entrees, as well as a roster of sushi and sashimi.

Outfitted with a supper-club atmosphere, Prime dazzles with its decor as much as its menu. A pianist lights up the ivories nightly, each scale undulating through a posh interior of chandeliers, marble floors, and a martini-centric bar. A dedicated butcher's area lets patrons take a hands-on approach to dining by picking out their own cuts of meat—a favorite feature of Zagat and other delighted reviewers. Premium spirits, cigars, and velvet feedbags can also be brought and stored in Prime's inscribed liquor cabinet for enjoyment throughout the evening.

Baba's far-reaching menu abounds with simple seafood-based fare, such as the fried shrimp and clam basket or thai chili sweet 'n' spicy rock shrimp ($9.99 each). Or choose from a series of spa platters for health-conscious diners, in which a choice of shrimp, salmon, tuna, dolphin, or snapper is served alongside broccoli and coconut couscous ($11 each). A variety of salads, steaks, and sandwiches round out the menu and please any landlubbers who snuck in with the crew.

Drawing from 35 years of industry experience, Jake Stone Crab's owner David Leschen captains a crew of chefs who whip up gourmet surf 'n' turf dishes that have enticed the taste buds of a Sun Sentinel reporter. The chefs roll out an array of seafood specialties and premium steaks as ovens turn out daily-baked breads and pastries. The crack of the restaurant's signature stone crab claws resounds throughout the place until the season's end on May 15, when lobster and king crab take their place as the restaurant's star entrees.

Seafood feasts are set in the elegant dining room, in which sunlight filters through billowing curtains onto white-clothed tables. Outside, tables stretch out across the expansive patio, shaded by awnings and cloth umbrellas. Cushy, upholstered patio furniture and an absence of sobbing families of crab make for comfortable al fresco dining.