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GuideUpdated July 15, 2026

3 Best Places for Lobster Roll in New York

Where to find the best lobster roll in New York — each restaurant rated 4.0★ or higher. Top-rated at 9.4★. Spanning american and seafood kitchens. Curated by TastyPals.

The best places for lobster roll in New York are Kakes NYC, The Mermaid Inn Upper West Side, Jean's. Start with Kakes NYC if you want the strongest overall first pick.

By Priya Sharma•3 ranked picks•Published July 15, 2026•Updated July 15, 2026
Methodology•Editorial team
Kakes NYCThe Mermaid Inn Upper West SideJean's
3 Best Places for Lobster Roll in New York
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Top picks at a glance

#1Kakes NYCAmerican • Long Island City • moderate#2The Mermaid Inn Upper West SideSeafood • Upper West Side • moderate#3Jean'sAmerican • NoHo • moderate

Who this guide is for

This guide covers the highest-rated spots for lobster roll in New York. Whether you're a local hunting your next regular or visiting and want to eat well, these picks are sorted by quality and review depth.

Quick picks

Kakes NYC
American • Long Island City
Kakes NYC lands in Long Island City as a 21+ lounge and dining destination built around a specific premise: that dessert thinking should run through an entire meal, not just arrive at the end.
The Mermaid Inn Upper West Side
Seafood • Upper West Side
The Mermaid Inn's return to the Upper West Side — this iteration at 335 Columbus Ave — carries the particular weight of a neighborhood actually wanting something back.
Jean's
American • NoHo
Jean's arrived in NoHo without announcing itself, and that restraint appears to be entirely deliberate.
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Editorial details
Author: Priya Sharma
Published: July 15, 2026
Last updated: July 15, 2026

On this page

  1. 1. Kakes NYCView →
  2. 2. The Mermaid Inn Upper West SideView →
  3. 3. Jean'sView →

How the restaurants compare

Kakes NYC
Long Island City • American
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
moderate
Best for
waterfront
Mood
Long Island City
The Mermaid Inn Upper West Side
Upper West Side • Seafood
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
moderate
Best for
UWS dinner
Mood
Upper West Side
Editorial restaurant image stand-in for Jean's
Google
Jean's
NoHo • American
9.9/10
TastyPals Score
Price
moderate
Best for
stylish
Mood
NoHo

How we chose

We looked for restaurants that feel like a strong fit for the guide topic, not just the most obvious names in the city. The shortlist favors rooms with clear mood, dependable pacing, and enough distinction to help someone decide faster. Read our full methodology →

Room tone

Lighting, pace, and general energy all need to support the reason someone clicked this guide.

Food fit

We favored restaurants that feel best suited for the moment, not just restaurants with broad reputation.

Useful range

The final list tries to give readers enough variation in neighborhood, price, and style to compare real options.

3 ranked picks

Kakes NYC — Kakes NYC lands in Long Island City as a 21+ lounge and dining destination built around a specific premise: that dessert thinking should run through an entire meal, not just arrive at the end. Chef Karol spent two years perfecting her signature vanilla cake — and another two years engineering the rest of the menu around that same standard of patience — which gives you a sense of what the kitchen's priorities are. The retractable roof and climate-controlled indoor-outdoor space make this a place that operates seasonally on its own terms, trading the scrappy Queens-industrial aesthetic for something more deliberately festive. It draws a crowd looking for occasion energy without Manhattan prices, and the celebration-forward room — wall art, visual drama, the kind of decor that reads immediately as backdrop-worthy — makes clear this isn't a Tuesday-night-nothing spot. It's a destination with a point of view. The menu reflects Karol's pop-up origins: Kakes built its early following at NYC events during and after the pandemic, where the over-the-top desserts and specialty treats reportedly sold out consistently. That origin story shapes what diners gravitate toward now. Mama's Kakes Empanadas are cited across reviews as a must-order — a signature that bridges the savory and celebratory registers the kitchen occupies. The brunch menu features lobster rolls and French Toast, the latter praised by regulars for its presentation and richness. Wings also appear frequently in the conversation around what to eat. On the drinks side, the Beauty Beast mocktail has developed a reputation of its own — notable in a 21+ venue where the mocktail program is strong enough to compete with the liquor list. The move here is to book for brunch, request a seat with access to the indoor-outdoor section when the roof is open, and treat the empanadas and mocktail as your anchors before anything else arrives. Events fill this room fast — Kakes draws private celebrations and group bookings — so for a straightforward dinner-for-two night, mid-week reservations will give you the space to actually feel the room rather than compete with it. View restaurant →
The Mermaid Inn Upper West Side — The Mermaid Inn's return to the Upper West Side — this iteration at 335 Columbus Ave — carries the particular weight of a neighborhood actually wanting something back. This is Jimmy Bradley and Danny Abrams's third collaboration, and the formula they've refined holds: a seafood house that borrows its bones from New England maritime culture but refuses to feel like a tourist prop. The nautical charts of Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Newport aren't ironic decoration; they're the premise. The room is built on the idea that good fish and warm rooms go together, and the Upper West Side — residential, opinionated about its dining rooms, resistant to hype — is exactly the neighborhood to test that premise nightly. This is a place for people who want a proper lobster roll and a glass of something cold without being made to feel they're performing a restaurant experience. The menu centers on what the kitchen does without apology: the lobster roll is the anchor, year-round, and the reputation for it precedes every visit. The New England Clam Chowder with bacon and fingerling potatoes signals a kitchen committed to the canon — this is not a stripped-down bowl but a structured, ingredient-specific version of something easy to do badly. Fresh oysters are a house staple, and the happy hour oyster deal is the specific reason locals have woven this place into their weekly rhythms. The menu shows range beyond the classics — Tuna Crudo, Salmon Tartare, grilled fish — but diners consistently return for the three dishes that define the identity rather than testing the full card. The move regulars know is the happy hour, which the kitchen and ownership clearly treat as a genuine service rather than a loss-leader. Arrive when it opens, sit at or near the bar to take advantage of the oyster pricing, and keep the order focused on the classics. The lobster roll doesn't need an occasion to justify it at this price level. Book ahead for weekend evenings; the room is intimate enough that walk-in timing matters. View restaurant →
Jean's — Jean's arrived in NoHo without announcing itself, and that restraint appears to be entirely deliberate. By all accounts, this is a room that trusts its own intelligence — lighting kept low enough to mean it, tables reportedly spaced as though the people at them actually matter, the neighborhood's downtown cool inhabited rather than performed. It is not trying to be a party. It is trying to be a night worth remembering, which is a different and considerably more difficult thing. At a price point that keeps it accessible, the room is known for punching with an ambition that most comparably priced places in the neighborhood can't locate. Jean's draws the couple who wants to talk, the small group after a proper dinner, the solo diner who wants to feel attended to rather than merely accommodated. The menu is the kind that makes you wish you'd brought someone who orders differently than you do. The Tuna Crudo is consistently described as clean and precise — acid-forward, built to reset both palate and expectations. The Duck Lumpia represents what diners cite as one of the menu's more genuinely surprising moves: a French-Filipino collision that reportedly lands crunch and richness in proportions that feel considered rather than clever for their own sake. The Côte de Boeuf For Two functions as the room's anchor — a cut that asks the table to take it seriously, and by all reports the kitchen respects the weight of that ask. The Dry-Aged Duck Breast holds its own for those not splitting a centerpiece, and the Lobster Roll, on a menu this composed, reads less like a concession than an earnest commitment to the form. Book Thursday through Saturday at least four days out — the room fills without making noise about it. The back of the room is where you want to be if you're after the full feeling of the evening; the front suits those who want to watch NoHo move past the glass. Start with the Duck Lumpia, and don't rush the table before the room has had a chance to settle. View restaurant →

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Save these spots to your New York list

Save these spots to your New York list in the TastyPals app, then explore similar restaurants when you want a tighter shortlist for the night.

Personalized city picksCleaner shortlistsBuilt for iPhone and Android
TastyPalsTonight
Your taste. Our picks.
Smarter follow-through after the guide: better restaurant context, quicker narrowing, less second-guessing.
For tonight
Date night spots with warm rooms and polished service
Next step
Keep exploring in the app when you want a tighter shortlist