While researching our recent guide to Portland’s best restaurants, Michael Russell revisited nearly 100 of his favorite places to eat. Here you’ll find his top picks for seafood, a list that includes some of Portland’s oldest and best restaurants.

When it comes to seafood, Portland has a branding problem. For starters, there’s the city’s name, famously cribbed from Maine after the flip of a penny and not a reflection of some robust, central seaport. Then there’s the location, on the West Coast, but more than an hour from the actual ocean. No one visits Davenport, Iowa, expecting fabulous shellfish.

Combine that with Portland’s reputation as a foodie destination, and you have a recipe for some seriously elevated expectations. And while you can find great seafood here, the old saying about steaks at steakhouses holds true: You’re usually better off going to a great restaurant for seafood than seeking out a seafood-specific restaurant.

That being said, there are places with a fish focus here, several of them are historic, and at least one of them has a spot on our guide to Portland’s 40 best restaurants. Below, find our guide to the city’s best seafood restaurants, plus a backup option or two for each. Still hungry? Check out our separate roundups for Portland’s best best sushi and fish and chips.

Portland’s 5 best seafood restaurants

Don Kamaron

East Portland has a cornucopia of Mexican seafood options, mariscos restaurants with names like El Malecon (the boardwalk), Mar y Tierra (“surf and turf,” essentially) and Tinto del Mar (literally “red from the sea,” a name that makes more sense once you order a cup of seasoned shrimp coctel swimming in salsa roja). Amid this sea of plenty, Don Kamaron has a real sense of drama, with its ceviche towers, platters of blackened shrimp zarandeados and michelada-style seafood cocktails where full bottles of hot sauce-splattered Modelo form part of the presentation.

Details: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, 16246 S.E. Stark St., 503-760-4018, donkamaron.com

Try this next: Why not go for a little mariscos crawl through the restaurants named above? Or if you’d rather go closer in, keep an eye out for Mariscos Con Onda, a seafood pop-up from chef Adán Fausto set to take over the kitchen at The Houston Blacklight (2100 S.E. Clinton St.) in June.

The Fishwife

North Portland might not be your first thought when it comes to seafood. But anyone hungry for clam chowder, simply fried fish or a hearty seafood stew could do a lot worse than this fixture of the University Park neighborhood, which has been filling bellies with well-cooked seafood for decades.

Details: 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 5328 N. Lombard St., 503-285-7150, fishwiferestaurant.com

Try this next: It flies under the foodie radar, but with its 15th birthday coming this year, the seafood-loving Cabezon (5200 N.E. Sacramento St.) has a chance to establish the same kind of local institution status.

Flying Fish Co.

More than any other Portland restaurant, Flying Fish feels like a proper coastal seafood shack, though one that’s more Local Ocean than Bell Buoy. There’s the bacon-spiked clam chowder with its dollop of creme fraiche, the fried rockfish and jojos and sandwiches galore. There’s even a burger. You can make a meal of it with a poke bowl or a Korean seafood stew, or you can sit back with a dozen oysters and a glass of bubbles and start planning your next meal with a visit to the sustainable seafood market.

Details: 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday-Monday, 3004 E. Burnside St., 971-806-6747, flyingfishpdx.com

Try this next: The only thing missing from Flying Fish? The view. Find that at Salty’s on the Columbia River (3839 N.E. Marine Dr.), the Portland outpost of a small seafood chain with — you guessed it — views of the Columbia River.

Jacqueline

Take away the $1 oysters. Take away the Dungeness crab toast. And you’d still be left with a pitch-perfect Portland seafood restaurant, a charming place that takes its bivalves and crustaceans seriously, but never itself. With Bill Murray’s iconic “Life Aquatic” character Steve Zissou gazing out from behind the bar, Jacqueline pairs raw hamachi with charred pickled pineapple and shrimp ceviche with ground cherries and mezcal. Even the noodles are tasty — of the many corn and chanterelle pastas I tried around town last year, the version with Jimmy Nardello peppers at Jacqueline was my favorite. And that’s before you get to the cedar plank trout, the lobster roll, grilled swordfish “al pastor” or other satisfying mains.

Read more: Jacqueline was featured in our guide to Portland’s 40 best restaurants.

Details: 5 to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 2039 S.E. Clinton St., 503-327-8637, jacquelinepdx.com

Try his next: It’s not a seafood restaurant per se, but Normandie (1005 S.E. Ankeny St.) has a similarly creative approach to its menu, and many if not most of its small plates feature fish or shellfish.

Jake’s Famous Crawfish

Yes, it’s owned by Houston-based behemoth Landry’s Inc. And yes, prices are starting to catch up with post-pandemic reality. But you can’t beat the ambiance at this 130-year-old institution, which still makes an effort with service, including handing out little stuffed crawfish for kids. There’s usually a special or two, including a recent shrimp-stuffed halibut for $53. But you might be better off sticking to the classics, the étouffée and crab cakes and cedar plank salmon and the like. Another option? Head to the bar for a cold beer and some fried calamari off the happy hour menu.

Details: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (later Friday-Saturday), 401 S.W. 12th Ave., 503-226-1419, jakesfamous.com

Try this next: Though it’s only 117 years old, Dan & Louis Oyster Bar (208 S.W. Ankeny St.) has ambiance of its own to spare, and remains under family ownership.

— Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com

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