Living near the beach is a gift that keeps on giving for us in Volusia and Flagler counties. Besides the occasional hurricane, the Atlantic Ocean provides gorgeous views and most importantly, an incredible selection of seafood. Whether you're craving fish or crustaceans you can find it all here in the Daytona area near "The World's Most Famous Beach."
Yes, almost every restaurant in Volusia and Flagler serves seafood, but which serves fresh locally caught seafood? Sadly, it's harder than I thought to find establishments that focus on fresh local catches. Luckily, though, it was not impossible. Here are the best restaurants for tasty, locally sourced seafood in the Daytona Beach area.
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Flagler Fish Company
180 S. Daytona Ave., Flagler Beach; 386-439-0000, flaglerfishandbeefcompany.com
Flagler Fish Company is the neighborhood restaurant you bring your out-of-town guests to experience Florida seafood. The charming restaurant is a market as well offering fresh produce caught near St. Augustine. I ordered the crab cakes that are light and delicious; lobster bisque that is well seasoned and creamy; seared to perfection tuna tacos; and grilled snapper with lemon caper butter, asiago potatoes and green beans. Everything tasted amazing. My only quibble was that they were out of fish dip and grouper, but that's also something that speaks to the freshness of the fish they do serve.
I'm a big fan of how part of the menu is set up to allow diners to design their dish. You pick your preferred seafood, how you want it cooked, and choice of sauce (such as lemon caper butter or roasted tomato puree) and sides. Flagler Fish Camp keeps it simple and delicious which landed them a spot on the 15 Best Seafood Restaurants in Florida list on Trips To Discover.
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Hull's Seafood Restaurant and Market
111 W. Granada Blvd., Ormond Beach; 386-673-8888, facebook.com/hullsseafood
Hull's Seafood Restaurant and Market in Ormond Beach uses its own fishing vessels and has the largest selection of fresh local catches on this list. The casual eatery has a great atmosphere and offers classic seafood dishes such as crab cakes, shrimp po' boys, fish tacos, steamed crustaceans, grouper sandwiches, raw oysters, and much much more. On my recent visit, I ordered grilled scallops and grouper as well as the shark bites special. Everything tasted fresh and lightly seasoned, which is really all you need on fresh fish.
Macker Seafood
600 Mason Ave. Suite 100, Daytona Beach; 386-253-9905, facebook.com/mackerseafood
Macker Seafood in Daytona Beach reminds me of one of my favorite seafood joints growing up. It's not glamorous by any means and you're immediately met by the scent of the fresh seafood. Macker is a market and small, casual restaurant that offers everything from crabs to shrimp, to an assortment of local fish. Ready to get my hands dirty, I ordered a steam pot of shrimp and stone crab.
Now, this was my first time having stone crab, which Macker serves at room temperature. I grew up eating blue crabs thinking it couldn't get much better than this. Yeah, I was wrong. Even though they both have a slight sweetness to their meat, the way they are prepared and served slightly differs. I enjoy blue crab in every dish it's put in (my favorite being seafood gumbo) and I also like crab boils, especially when I guilt my dad into peeling all of them for me. But stone crab is easier to work with, a little less flaky and I prefer it by itself since it doesn't need much seasoning. For the shrimp, though, I really appreciated Macker's well-balanced seasoning, just enough to complement the meat and give it a slight kick of spice and not overpower it.
Millie's North
330 S. Atlantic Ave., Ormond Beach; 386-238-9756, facebook.com/milliesnorth
After the O.G. Millie's Restaurant was featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners Drive-ins and Dives," it seems like perfect timing to open a second restaurant with the same ocean-to-table mindset. Millie's North, just like Millie's, is a scratch kitchen eatery that focuses on locally sourced ingredients. "It was swimming this morning" was the first thing the server said to me after explaining the specials. Of course, I had to get the grilled fish collars with chimichurri, and yes, they were as good as Fieri said they were.
Millie's North also serves casual seafood dishes such as snow crab legs, boiled shrimp and clams, and fried shrimp as well as upscale dishes like steak and shrimp fondue. Millie's in Daytona Beach Shores and the new Millie's North in Ormond Beach serve daily specials centered around locally caught that morning seafood. And after eating at both it's clear why these establishments are local favorites.
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Caroline Hebert is the restaurant and entertainment writer for The Daytona Beach News-Journal. A New Orleans native and food enthusiast, she can be contacted at chebert@news-jrnl.com. Follow her onInstagram,FacebookandTwitter.Support local journalism bysubscribing.
