Seafood Lovers Run To This LA Fish Market For Giant Custom Platters

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If you're going to Southern California anytime soon, you'll want to check out any of the 12 best seafood restaurants in Los Angeles. And if you're looking for a no-frills world-famous seafood platter, serious variety, and waterfront views, San Pedro Fish Market delivers just that. Diners can order a customized seafood tray, complete with fresh vegetables, and tossed in sauces and seasonings. You can even buy fresh seafood to make at home, making sure to avoid these common mistakes with seafood boils, of course.

The menu at San Pedro Fish Market offers a range of preset platters that guests can customize as much as they please. Options include snow crab, lobster, fish, and sausage, among other choices. Each customer's selection is then boiled and finished on the griddle, doused in copious amounts of garlic, butter, and seasonings. Platters often come with garlic bread to soak up any leftover saucy goodness as well. You can check out its two locations in San Pedro and Long Beach.

The name of this iconic establishment may ring a bell for those who are fans of the docuseries Kings of Fi$h, released on Amazon Prime in 2024. This show follows the story of the San Pedro Fish Market, which has been family-owned for four generations. The restaurant's hard-fought efforts to stay afloat and longstanding history — spanning 70 years — are among the reasons it continues to thrive despite countless hardships. 

Originally opened as Vista Seafood in 1956, the humble business focused solely on selling fresh seafood for a small, local market before it grew into one of the largest restaurants in California. Beer sales at the restaurant were so high at one point that they outpaced those at Dodger Stadium. And while 'fresh' seafood may actually be frozen at some restaurants, that's not the case at San Pedro Fish Market.

Even after reaching an eye-popping $30 million in yearly sales, the restaurant was hit with an eviction notice and had to innovate yet again, convincing developers to let them run the restaurant out of semi-permanent structures in a parking lot after its building was razed. This unwillingness to throw in the towel allowed for new ways to continue serving customers. Due to the San Pedro Fish Market's dedicated following, hard-working family, and community efforts, the legendary seafood trays have remained.

The tenacity of the San Pedro Fish Market lives on, still able to bring in $11 million in sales while working with short-term equipment and entirely outdoor seating. The new, permanent San Pedro Fish Market location is set to open in 2026, as part of a development project known as West Harbor.