Legal Sea Foods   

Legal Sea Foods has become synonymous with fresh fish in Boston. It's one of the few places that tops both mainstream tourist guidebooks and locals' lists of great places to go. A variety of fish on a constantly updated menu lets you choose among great Atlantic varieties like swordfish, halibut, salmon and bluefish, plus standards like cod and clam chowder. The decoration and mood of each of the locations varies, but the food is consistently good from the Park Plaza restaurant to one in Logan Airport. Anyone who eats fish goes to Legal Sea Foods, so there's just as likely to be a family as a first date, or a group of newcomers. Legal's crab cakes are among the best you can find in Boston -- tasting much more of crab than some of those thick breadcrumb patties served elsewhere. At the end of the day, there's no right answer to Boston's best chowder, but Legal's is always a force to reckon with. For everything else from the ocean, the chain lives up to its promise of fresh fish, great food and good value.