In Maryland, seafood tastes even better when boats are cruising past your table and the sun is dropping over the water.
Across the state, waterfront restaurants serve everything from steamed blue crabs and crab cakes to oysters, fresh fish, burgers, and ice-cold cocktails with some seriously impressive scenery on the side.
You can eat beside busy harbors, watch massive ships glide through narrow waterways, or grab an outdoor table overlooking miles of open water.
Whether you want to crack crabs with a wooden mallet or settle in for a relaxed dinner with a cocktail, these eight Maryland waterfront restaurants give you plenty to look at between bites.
1. The Lighthouse Restaurant & Dock Bar, Solomons
The Lighthouse Restaurant & Dock Bar sits on Solomons Island along Back Creek, giving you waterfront views filled with sailboats, fishing boats, and colorful sunsets right from your table.
Seafood is the big draw here, with Maryland favorites like crab cakes, fried shrimp, fresh fish, and oysters, sharing the menu with burgers and sandwiches.
Grab a seat on the outdoor deck to eat beside the marina, or head to the Dock Bar for cocktails, cold beer, live music on select dates, and an up-close look at boats cruising through the harbor.
Its location also puts you close to the Calvert Marine Museum and the Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge, making it an easy waterfront stop while exploring southern Calvert County.
2. The Bayard House Restaurant, Chesapeake City
For a waterfront meal with a serious dose of local history, head to The Bayard House Restaurant in Chesapeake City, right beside the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.
The building dates to the 1780s and is considered one of Chesapeake City’s oldest homes, so you can dig into crab cakes, seafood, and steaks, inside a centuries-old landmark.
Ask for a table overlooking the canal, where huge cargo ships, tugboats, and pleasure boats cruise surprisingly close as they travel the 14-mile waterway connecting the Chesapeake Bay with the Delaware River.
After dinner, walk around Chesapeake City’s compact historic district or follow the waterfront to Pell Gardens, a small canal-side park just a few blocks away with benches, boat views, and plenty of photo opportunities.
3. Waterman’s Crab House, Rock Hall
Over in Rock Hall, Waterman’s Crab House will surprise you with its classic Chesapeake Bay crab feasts overlooking Rock Hall Harbor.
Blue crabs are the star here, and you can crack into steamed Maryland crabs dusted with seasoning, order crab cakes, or dig into shrimp, oysters, fish, and other seafood favorites.
The large waterfront deck puts you close to the working harbor, where fishing boats and recreational boats come and go while you eat, and summer sunsets add plenty of color across the water.
Rock Hall has long been tied to Chesapeake Bay fishing and crabbing, making Waterman’s a fitting place to get messy with a wooden mallet, pick crabs by hand, and enjoy one of Maryland’s best-known food traditions beside the water.
4. Nick’s Fish House, Baltimore
The next stop brings big crab-house energy to Baltimore at Nick’s Fish House, located along the Patapsco River.
The menu goes all-in on Maryland seafood, with steamed blue crabs, jumbo lump crab cakes, oysters, shrimp, and fresh fish, plus crushes and cold beer when you want something icy with your meal.
Its spacious outdoor deck sits right beside the water, giving you views of boats, the river, and Baltimore’s industrial shoreline while live bands regularly turn meals into a waterfront party.
You’re also close to the Baltimore Peninsula and about a 10-minute drive from the Inner Harbor, but with picnic-style crab tables and mallets ready for cracking shells, Nick’s feels far removed from downtown dining.
5. Harrison’s Harbor Watch, Ocean City
Harrison’s Harbor Watch takes the scenery straight to the Atlantic, perched at the southern end of Ocean City’s famous Boardwalk near the inlet.
Large dining-room windows look across the Ocean City Inlet toward Assateague Island, so you can watch fishing boats head offshore and sometimes spot wild ponies across the water while you eat.
Seafood leads the menu, with Maryland crab cakes, fresh fish, clams, shrimp, and oysters, plus an on-site raw bar where oysters are shucked right in front of you.
Come around sunset for changing colors across the water, then step outside to explore the Boardwalk or watch boats pass through the inlet, a narrow channel created by the powerful 1933 hurricane.
6. Firewater Kitchen & Bar, Oakland
Located in Oakland, Firewater Kitchen & Bar shows off the picturesque mountain scenery of Deep Creek Lake.
The restaurant sits directly on the lakefront, so you can watch pontoons and speedboats come and go while ordering steaks, burgers, seafood, sandwiches, and cocktails.
Its outdoor seating is especially fun in warmer months, putting you right beside Maryland’s largest inland lake, which covers about 3,900 acres and has roughly 65 miles of shoreline.
Deep Creek Lake is a four-season destination, so Firewater works just as well after a summer boating day as it does after skiing at nearby Wisp Resort, where the mountain rises to an elevation of more than 3,100 feet.
7. Bridges Restaurant on Kent Narrows, Grasonville
Bridges Restaurant brings the view back to the Chesapeake Bay region, located in Grasonville, right on busy Kent Narrows.
Massive windows and a large outdoor deck face the water, where you can watch sailboats, fishing boats, and yachts pass through the narrow channel connecting the Chester River with Eastern Bay.
The menu mixes Chesapeake favorites like crab cakes, oysters, and fresh fish with steaks, pasta, sandwiches, and cocktails, giving you plenty to choose from while the boats provide the entertainment.
Time dinner for sunset and the west-facing waterfront really delivers, with the sky changing colors across Kent Narrows as boat traffic cruises past your table just a few feet from the docks.
8. Libbey’s Coastal Kitchen + Cocktails, Stevensville
On Kent Island, Libbey’s Coastal Kitchen + Cocktails in Stevensville puts the Chesapeake Bay Bridge front and center, with sweeping water views from its shoreline location.
The two spans stretch more than 4 miles across the bay toward Annapolis, creating a huge backdrop while you order Maryland crab cakes, rockfish, oysters, burgers, and colorful house cocktails.
Grab an outdoor table when the weather cooperates, and you can watch sailboats and cargo ships cross the Chesapeake while cars stream across the bridge high above the water.
Sunset is the big show here, with west-facing views turning dinner into prime photo time, and Libbey’s location near the eastern end of the Bay Bridge makes this one of Kent Island’s most memorable spots for dinner beside the Chesapeake.
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