FLORIDA KEYS
Island Grill
Islamorada, Florida
The food almost disqualified the Island Grill from our annual list. It tasted more like fare you’d get at a five-star establishment than at a bright green beach shack. Thankfully, the “divey” atmosphere—with life rings, tiki torches, and a ship’s anchor—saved it. Among the highfalutin offerings, the delectable tuna nachos feature sushi-grade ahi heaped on won ton crisps with sesame-flavor seaweed, drizzled with a wasabi mayonnaise. And that’s just for starters. 85501 Overseas Highway (U.S. 1, Mile Marker 85.5); 305/664-8400 or keysislandgrill.comSOUTH ATLANTIC
The Giggling Mackerel Seafood Grille
Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina
It’s everything you’d expect in a seafood dive—boisterous atmosphere and loads of menu choices featuring the ubiquitous fried-with-fries basket. For healthier fare, try a local fish, lightly seasoned and grilled, and substitute a baked potato. Don’t let a line intimidate you—prompt service means tables turn quickly. If there’s a wait list, you’ll be directed to the bar, where the menu includes concoctions with names anyone but a drunken fraternity boy would blush crimson to utter. 65 Causeway Drive (under the bridge); 910/575-0902 or gigglingmackerel.com
Mudcat Charlie’s
Brunswick, Georgia
Ask what’s fresh. On our visit, it was sweet, flavorful grilled shrimp. Perfect. Mudcat Charlie’s resides just south of Darien at the Two-Way Fish Camp marina, where the Altamaha River starts broadening into Altamaha Sound. An enclosed porch and a deck along the docks supply water views. 250 Ricefield Way; 912/261-0055
Schooner’s Seafood House
St. Augustine, Florida
Tomato-based Minorcan clam chowder (reflecting the area’s immigrant population from the Mediterranean island of Minorca) starts a meal splendidly. The lightly fried seafood—especially the flounder and the shrimp—keeps it going deliciously. Superfriendly service makes the experience well-nigh perfect. 3560 North Ponce De Leon Boulevard; 904/826-0233 or schooners-seafood.com
MID-ATLANTIC
Mickey’s Family Crabhouse
Bethany Beach, Delaware
You can enjoy a great meal on the picnic-style tables at Mickey’s without using the F-word (“fried”). Indulge in the oysters Chesapeake appetizer: baked oysters topped with applewood-smoked bacon and an extravagant mound of jumbo lump crabmeat. Order the plump crab cakes broiled instead of … well, you know. Tear into a pile of steamed crabs, crab legs, shrimp, clams, or oysters. 222 Jefferson Bridge Road; 302/539-5384 or mickeysfamilycrabhouse.com
Stoney’s Solomons Pier
Solomons, Maryland
Marylanders know their crab cakes. So this thriving dive, part of a four-restaurant chain, is clearly doing something right. The appeal? Softball-size cakes, light on filling, with meat so fresh it tastes like a whole new food group. You can also get crab on nachos, in sandwiches, in chowder, stuffed in fish, and even on a soft pretzel. Rockfish bites, another local specialty, come lightly fried and served with buffalo wing sauce and blue-cheese dip. Wow! If the fish had been available in Buffalo, nobody would have bothered with chicken wings. 14575 Solomons Island Road; 410/326-2424
The Great Machipongo Clam Shack
Nassawadox, Virginia
The name alone forces you to check it out. Fortunately, this seafood market and restaurant on Virginia’s Eastern Shore backs up its claim to greatness with seafood dishes, sandwiches, and soups—all “healthy” (meaning not fried). We especially like the crab soup, made with “Peggy’s best tomato base,” and the stuffed flounder sandwich (broiled flounder wrapped around your choice of spinach and cheddar cheese, broccoli and mozzarella cheese, or scallops and crabmeat). 6468 Lankford Highway (U.S. 13); 757/442-3800 or greatclams.com
