Seafood Restaurants in and near Washington, D. C., DC

As in any city near the ocean, Washington, DC, seafood restaurants make use of the local bounty to create versatile, inventive dishes fresh from the water. The much-loved BlackSalt Fish Market & Restaurant, for instance, even pairs its best-in-area dining room with a market up at the front of the house, where visitors can snag fresh crabs and fish to cook at home. And even chain restaurants in DC are nothing to balk at. The Oceanaire Seafood Room pairs seafood and steaks with a formidable wine list. Hank’s Oyster Bar chef-owner Jamie Leeds even helped develop a new breed of oyster—the Hayden Reef oyster—exclusively for her restaurant, according to Food & Wine magazine.