GULF OF MEXICO
New Pass Grill
Sarasota, Florida
Add fantastic fish-and-chips to the list of Sarasota attractions. The New Pass Grill serves the favorite “Old English style,” with three pieces of plump, battered cod over crisp fries. New Pass also offers award-winning burgers, shrimp baskets, beer, and wine. The 1929-vintage establishment on City Island, across the causeway from downtown, has a walk-up window and outdoor seating. 1505 Ken Thompson Parkway; 941/388-3050 or newpassgrill.com

Wintzell’s Oyster House
Mobile, Alabama
So rich and complex is the seafood gumbo, it’s like tasting this city’s entire 306-year history with each spoonful. Terrific, smoky grilled oysters follow, topped with seasoned mozzarella cheese. Finally comes a heavenly, cinnamony bread pudding. Pure bliss. Between courses, diners can peruse thousands of jokes covering the walls and reflecting the bygone-era humor of the restaurant’s late founder, Oliver Wintzell. Wintzell’s is now a five-outlet minichain, but purists prefer the downtown-Mobile original. 605 Dauphin Street (original location); 251/432-4605 or wintzellsoysterhouse.com

Bozo’s Seafood Market & Deli
Pascagoula, Mississippi
You give your order to a man at a back-corner table. He writes it on a white paper sack, which he plops on an adjacent counter. You help yourself to a soft drink from a cooler or the soda fountain and browse the seafood market in back or the shelves of spice mixes and locally made cane syrup. Then you pick up that same sack, now filled with superfresh fried seafood, or perhaps a po’boy, and eat at a paper-towels-equipped table against the opposite wall. It doesn’t get any more down-home. Or delicious. 2012 Ingalls Avenue; 228/762-3322

R & O Restaurant
New Orleans, Louisiana
Hurricane Katrina demolished many of the seafood restaurants in the Bucktown area on Lake Pontchartrain. Fortunately, R & O survives and thrives, serving great po’boys, fried seafood, gumbo, pizza, and other delectables in an ultracasual, ultrafriendly atmosphere. 216 Metairie Hammond Highway; 504/831-1248

Esther’s Cajun Seafood & Steaks
Port Arthur, Texas
Locals lunch here, which is always a good sign. The building arrived in the late 1980s by barge from Cameron, Louisiana. Now decorated with hunting trophies, it turns out solid, dependable seafood in a friendly atmosphere. 7237 Rainbow Lane (under the Rainbow Bridge); 409/962-6268 or estherscajunseafood.com

CARIBBEAN
Da Conch Shack and RumBar
Providenciales, Turks & Caicos
Ask a local for Provo’s best seafood joint and you’ll end up at this waterfront, open-air shack for fresh conch—cracked, stir-fried, sautéed, or curried. Wait on the beach with a glass of Alicia’s infamous rum punch in hand and your toes in the sand. If you’re not swaying by dessert, the strong “world famous rum cake” will surely set you in motion. Blue Hills Road; 649/946-8877 or conchshack.tc

GREAT LAKES
Calumet Fisheries
Chicago, Illinois
Smoked fish and seafood rule at this little shed on the Calumet River, though the fried offerings aren’t bad either. The bold flavor seems perfect for brawny Chicago. Calumet Fisheries takes cash only and provides no seating. The river isn’t exactly scenic, but the 95th Street drawbridge may seem familiar. It’s the one the Blues Brothers’ car jumped in the 1980 movie. 3259 East 95th Street; 773/933-9855

PACIFIC CANADA
Go Fish
Vancouver, British Columbia
At a blue, corrugated-steel shack at the public fish sales dock, something extraordinary is being served. Take a spot in the long line for crispy fish-and-chips, oyster po’boys, wild salmon burgers, and grilled albacore sandwiches—all using local-caught seafood and served on a no-frills waterfront patio. It’s worth the wait. 1505 West First Avenue; 604/730-5040

HAWAII
Kona Tacos
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
From this closet-size take-out hut in the Big Island’s Lanihau Shopping Center come great Mexican-accented fish tacos—eventually. The first bite of the fresh ono (grilled or fried, with lettuce, cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, and guacamole) banishes all memories of the sometimes scatterbrained service. 75-5595 Palani Road; 808/329-9049

Contributors: Larry Bleiberg, Jeff Book, Jacquelyne Froeber, Kay A. Fuston, Susan C. Kim, Steve Millburg, Julia Rutland, and James H. Schwartz

What’s your favorite dive? Write to Larry Bleiberg, Coastal Living, 2100 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham, AL 35209. Or e-mail larry_bleiberg@timeinc.com.