Best seafood shacks at the Shore

Summer down the Shore abounds with simple joys: biking to breakfast, catching drips of a melting cherry-dipped soft serve, sitting in a beach chair until long past the lifeguards leave, watching the sunset with an illicit High Noon in a red Solo cup. One of the greatest joys, though, is diving into an aluminum tin of fried clam strips or tipping down cold, briny oysters at a no-frills seafood shack. From Cape May to Point Pleasant, here are 13 of the best places to feast on fish — fried, grilled, steamed, or poached — down the Shore.

Somers Point

Smitty’s Clam Bar, as it’s best known, is not so much a restaurant as it is a revered Jersey Shore institution. This season will be the restaurant’s 50th — a milestone made that much sweeter after last summer, when Smitty’s fate was unknown. (The marina where the restaurant resides is up for sale, but a deal to keep it open was announced last September.) As usual, on weekends, be prepared to wait. It’s both a rite of passage and, with the right attitude, a social event. The reward is heaping platters of fried oysters and steamed littlenecks; white and red chowder; and specials, handwritten on a white board, that spotlight the fresh catch. It’s everything you want in a seafood shack. Also note: It’s BYOB and cash only.

📍910 Bay Ave., Somers Point 📞 609-927-8783, 🌐 facebook.com/The-Clam-Bar, 📷 @smittysclambar

Sea Isle City

Once you land in Sea Isle, look for the blue-wave-emblazoned arch welcoming you to Historic Fish Alley — there you’ll find Mike’s. For more than a century, the third-generation family-run restaurant has been serving fresh seafood from its prime spot by the bay. At waterside tables, dive into platters of steamed Jersey flounder topped with lump crabmeat, fried scallops, and grilled local swordfish. Don’t miss the fried crab balls, served with cocktail sauce. They also do a well-organized to-go business, with take-out dinners and party trays.

📍4222 Park Rd., Sea Isle City 📞 609-263-3458, 🌐 mikesseafood.com, 📷 @mikesseafood

Wildwood Crest

The dockside spot is home to both a restaurant and a more casual crab house — head to the latter for red plastic trays heaped with Old Bay-crusted crabs and baskets of fried shrimp and scallops. The drinks menu is as vast as its food counterpart, but pause at the selection of crushes. Made with fruit juice, vodka, triple sec, and soda, the cocktail originally hails from Ocean City, Md. Here it gets a fresh spin in flavors like mango or watermelon, alongside the original orange.

📍1 Fish Dock Rd., Wildwood Crest 📞 609-522-1341, 🌐 twomilelanding.com, 📷 @two_mile_landing

Point Pleasant

Situated on working docks, the seafood market and restaurant sells fresh-off-the-boat sea bass and scallops for summer grilling. For takeout or dine in, there’s a robust menu of classic seafood shack bites like fried clam strips, crab cakes, and blackened tuna, plus a raw bar with oysters, clams, and shrimp cocktail. The shop has two locations in Point Pleasant, and both are open year-round, making it a prime place for an off-season seafood dinner.

📍57 Channel Dr., Point Pleasant Beach 📞 609-899-0909, 🌐 shorefreshseafood.com, 📷 @shorefreshseafood_beach

Stone Harbor

The takeout-only spot is well worth the effort of finding a patio or patch of sand to enjoy the meal. Dive into aluminum trays of broiled jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab cake and buttery shrimp scampi. Each one comes with a choice of simple sides (baked potatoes, coleslaw, Old Bay-dusted fries). Call early in the day to reserve a pickup time slot.

📍8305 Third Ave., Stone Harbor 📞 609-368-2022, 🌐 backbayseafood.net, 📷 @backbay_seafood

Stone Harbor

Follow the red arrow through red doors to find the low-key and lively Quahog’s. From wooden tables under a covered patio, dive into dishes that include Shore classics, like local oysters and clam chowder, alongside beef and veggie-filled empanadas and flat iron steak that showcase owner Lucas Manteca’s Argentine heritage. Also on offer: a daily oyster happy hour from 5 to 6 p.m. (available sitting at the bar, “twelve bucks, twelve shucks”), a solid kids menu, and juicy tequila and mezcal cocktails on a full drinks menu.

📍206 97th St., Stone Harbor 📞 609-368-6300, 🌐 quahogsshack.com, 📷 @quahogs

Long Beach Island

Housed in a 1920s beach cottage, this LBI mainstay has been welcoming summertime crowds since 1974. It’s BYOB, and you can bring aluminum tins of clam linguine and fried seasonal soft shells out back to picnic tables under twinkly lights. Alongside the traditional seafood shack favorites, there’s hot crab and artichoke dip, and a scallop melt with gooey Swiss and bacon. Also on property, the fish market sells fresh cuts of local yellowfin and flounder, live lobster, and Delaware Bay oysters for at-home seafood feasts.

📍7904 Long Beach Blvd., Harvey Cedars 📞 609-494-7112, 🌐 harveycedarsshellfishco.com, 📷 @harveycedarsshellfish

Brigantine

The no-frills shack a block from the beach is marked by neon signs and well-worn picnic tables. Fresh, never-frozen seafood comes on paper plates — broiled, baked, fried, and tucked into sandwiches. For a crowd, order one of the family meal options, like the feast with steamers, peel-and-eat shrimp, crab chowder. and snow crab legs. It’s also BYOB, so plan accordingly.

📍1112 W. Brigantine Ave., Brigantine 📞 609-266-3009, 🌐 crabshackbrigantine.com, 📷 @crabshackbrigantine

Newfield

Sweet Amalia isn’t technically at the Shore; it’s on the way down the Shore. But even if it weren’t — let’s say it was in Marlton, or Manhattan — it would still be worth the detour. Pull off the highway, order at the register; there’s a cornmeal-crusted fried oyster roll, a pepper and egg sandwich with Cooper sharp on a garlic-y roll, and icy platters of perfectly chilled oysters they harvest in the Delaware Bay on the Cape May Peninsula. The market also sells local specialties and canned wine. Enjoy your haul at the picnic tables outside before continuing on to the Shore.

📍994 Harding Hwy., Newfield 📞 609-839-2478, 🌐 sweetamalia.com/market-kitchen 📷 @sweetamaliamarket

Surf City, Long Beach Island

Part market, part restaurant, Boulevard Clams specializes in daily-harvested shellfish from New Jersey’s inland bays. Sure, you should order the clams in all the ways: fried, stuffed, steamed, casinoed, and raw, served on the half shell. But also add a lobster roll, crab cakes (which also come in a gluten-free option), or shrimp scampi served over a mound of pasta. Value buckets (and who doesn’t love value … or food in a bucket?) are also on offer.

📍2006 Long Beach Blvd., Surf City 📞 609-494-9494, 🌐 boulevardclams.net

Long Beach Island

After the success of their catering food truck, co-owners Kevin Ketchel and Steve Haggart opened Dock & Claw in LBI last summer, taking over Harvey Cedars Shellfish Co.’s former Centre Street clam bar. The vibe is old school-beach shack, but the menu feels decidedly fresh, featuring locally caught tuna poke nachos, blackened shrimp po’ boys, and rotating market specials, plus a classic raw bar. They sell kombucha and tea, or you can BYOB.

📍506 Centre St., Beach Haven 📞 609-332-6781, 🌐 dockandclaw.com 📷 @dockandclaw

Atlantic City

Sure, Chef Sheed’s BBQ Shack is neither a seafood restaurant nor an actual shack. But from his A.C.-based fire engine-red food truck, Rasheed Ransome makes some of the most delicious fish dishes down the Shore. Check Instagram for rotating specials, which include colossal crabmeat-stuffed shrimp, seafood fries heaped with crab and shrimp, and a spice-dusted seafood boil that was an integral part of “the most epic Eagles tailgate spread.”

📍501 Atlantic Ave., Atlantic City 📞 609-214-9298, 🌐 chefsheedsbbqshack.com 📷 @chefsheedsbbqshack

Regan Stephens is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, covering food, travel, business, and lifestyle topics for outlets like People, Food & Wine, and Fortune. Follow her on Instagram.