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Nothing says it’s time to celebrate like a seafood tower, a classic extravagance that’s eternally popular, but is often reserved for holidays, birthdays, and other big events.
Much like martinis and anything sizzling, seafood towers are one of those menu items that, once spotted by diners, is hard to resist. If one catches your eye and you’re tempted to order, here’s what you can usually expect: Fresh and raw seafood, served chilled with garnishes that enhance the flavor of the fish and shellfish. Think fresh lobster, either pieces or a whole tail, crab, oysters, clams and shrimp.
Of course, there are a lot of variations on this theme, as you’ll see ahead. With the popularity of sushi and poke bowls, the demand for tuna has seen this fresh, raw cut added to towers, and some restaurants even serve cooked seafood on towers.
But which is the right spot for you to celebrate with a gleaming tower of shellfish and more? Ahead, find the 12 best restaurant chains serving the most amazing and impressive seafood towers. Please check your local restaurant menu before venturing out, as items can change based on seasonality, freshness, and availability.
BLT Steak
Few things are more indulgent than kicking off a steak dinner with a seafood tower, and BLT Steak delivers with two options for a smattering of cold seafood before the main course. The smaller ocean cocktail comes with oysters, clams, shrimp, and lobster cocktail. You can also upgrade to the seafood platter with oysters, littleneck clams, shrimp, and half a lobster, fresh from the sea.
The Capital Grille
This beloved steakhouse offers aged cuts of beef, Dirty Goose martinis, and double-cut lamb rib chops, but the restaurant also serves two different seafood towers, which depend on the size of your party (and stomach). The smaller cold shellfish platter, which serves two to four people, includes a chilled one-pound lobster, shrimp cocktail, and oysters on the half shell. Or, go all-out with the Grand Plateau, which serves four to six (or two, if this is all you’re going to eat, which is a baller move). The larger tower includes jumbo lump crab, North Atlantic lobster, shrimp cocktail, and oysters on the half shell. Both versions are incredibly fresh and won’t disappoint the discerning seafood lover.
Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse
With locations in Massachusetts, Virginia, Texas, and Georgia, this mini chain is growing quickly with a reputation for high quality steaks and seafood. Offering several options for torre di pesce, there’s a tower for everyone on the menu at Davio’s. First, select a small, medium, or large size, and then the options are an extravagant cold tower with Maine lobster, lump crab, prawns, oysters, clams, hamachi, and salmon. For colder nights, choose the hot tower, with lobster in tarragon butter, lump crab cakes, crispy calamari, oysters rockefeller, prawns in lemon butter, and crispy scallops. You can also add ostera or kaluga caviar for an additional price.
Eddie V’s Prime Seafood
An upscale seafood restaurant with 30 locations from California to Virginia, Eddie V’s is a favorite place to celebrate with coworkers and family. The restaurant offers a standard seafood tower, with Maine lobster, wild gulf shrimp, oysters, and a hefty serving of crab. Of course, there’s the Big Eddie, which is a larger version with king crab, Maine lobster, wild gulf shrimp, oysters, and tuna poke, if you want to really go for it.
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar
Founded in Newport Beach, Calif., in 1998, Fleming‘s ticks all the boxes for a big celebration, with prime steaks of every cut you crave, a strong wine list, and a colossal shellfish tower that’s sure to please. You can order this tower for a table for two, or get the larger size for four to six people. You’ll get North Atlantic lobster, giant shrimp, Alaskan golden king crab legs, and oysters.
Fogo de Chão
One of the most popular steakhouses in America, with annual sales upwards of $200 million, this Brazilian-influenced bastion of beef is a major crowd-pleaser. But what you might not expect, is the restaurant offers an excellent seafood tower as an addition to your meaty feast. The tower features split cold-water lobster tails, full lobster claws, jumbo shrimp, snow crab legs, and green-lipped mussels, which is a great start to a meal, or a hearty snack at the bar.
Legal Sea Foods
With seafood in its name, and a reputation as one of the best chains in the country to order fish, it’s not surprising that Legal Sea Foods made this list. With about 20 locations in the Northeast, it’s easy to try the restaurant’s seafood tower, which serves four people. The tower comes packed with fresh oysters, clams, shrimp cocktail, lobster tail, and tuna poke.
McCormick & Schmicks
Another top seafood restaurant that many turn to for a celebratory meal, McCormick & Schmick’s was founded in 1979 and headquartered in Houston, and operates in California, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, and many more states. The restaurant’s chilled seafood platter comes in two sizes: one for four people, and one for six, including shrimp cocktail, lobster, and oysters on the half shell. However, due to the restaurant’s commitment to sustainability, the menu can vary by location—it’s a good thing.
Morton’s the Steakhouse
With 65 locations around the United States, this 45-year-old steakhouse chain is a go-to for celebrations, and that often includes martinis and seafood towers. Morton’s over-the-top ocean platter is stuffed with a cold water lobster tail, jumbo shrimp cocktail, crab cocktail, oysters, and ahi tuna poke. It’s available in two sizes, grand and epic—both which pair well with the Mortini, the restaurant’s version of a dirty martini.
Ocean Prime
One of the most visually exciting towers on the list, Ocean Prime‘s Smoking Shellfish Tower is a guaranteed show stopper. This is what to order if you’re out with a fun crowd and it’s worth the splurge to experience fresh seafood presented on “smoking” dry ice that fills the room. With 20 locations around the country, including New York City, Denver, Kansas City, and Beverly Hills, Calif., this restaurant chain’s 30-year commitment to sourcing the best ingredients is what makes it truly stand out. Because of this, the tower’s contents vary, and you can build it with any raw seafood that’s on the menu that night.
The Palm
Celebrity hotspot The Palm is an excellent place to order a seafood tower. There’s the Piatto, which serves three to four people and includes oysters on the half shell, shrimp cocktail, fresh tuna, and seafood salad. Then there’s the larger Torre, which serves six to eight and includes everything on the Piatto plus jumbo lump crab and lobster. Chow down on some oysters while enjoying the restaurant’s famous caricature covered walls.
STK Steak
This chic, modern steakhouse chain has grown to about 20 locations worldwide, featuring high-end steaks, specialty cocktails, and fresh seafood. The restaurant’s indulgent shellfish tower is priced by the person, and has a minimum of two for a raw seafood feast that includes oysters, ceviche, clams, mussels, jalapeño pickled shrimp, Dungeness crab, and Maine lobster, served with mignonette and dijonaise.
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