Most Manhattan seafood restaurants post dinner hours that look generous until you realize last seating is 9 p.m. and the kitchen sends out final orders twenty minutes later. If you finish work at seven, meet a friend at eight, or simply prefer eating after the early wave clears, that schedule leaves almost no margin. Five restaurants across Greenwich Village, Midtown East, Midtown West, and the East Village hold last seating until ten or later, and two stay open past midnight for orders. All five serve fish, shellfish, and crustaceans as the menu anchor, not as an afterthought next to steak.
The Karpo app shows which dining room still has tables after 9:30 p.m., which buffet last-seating clock matters tonight, and which happy-hour window closes before the kitchen opens.
San Sabino holds last seating until 10:30 p.m. in Greenwich Village
San Sabino at 113 Greenwich Avenue runs a seafood-forward menu with lunch service daily from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner nightly starting at 5 p.m. The bar opens at 4:30 p.m., and last seating is 10:30 p.m., which puts it an hour or more past the cutoff at many comparable Village restaurants. Reservations open thirty days in advance at 9 a.m., exclusively on OpenTable, so if you want a weekend table after 9 p.m., set a calendar reminder four weeks out.
Last seating at 10:30 p.m. means you can walk in at that hour and still order a full dinner, not just bar snacks or a compressed tasting menu. The kitchen stays open long enough to cook through courses, which makes San Sabino a practical late-night option when other seafood spots have already closed their books. The corner location on Greenwich Avenue gives the dining room a neighborhood storefront feel rather than a tucked-away basement or second-floor setup.
Crab House NYC runs a buffet format until last seating at 10 p.m. in Midtown East
Crab House NYC at 135 East 55th Street offers two all-you-can-eat buffets: a seafood buffet at ninety dollars per adult and a lobster buffet at one hundred twenty-five dollars, both before tax and gratuity. Hours are Monday through Friday 2 p.m. to midnight and Saturday through Sunday 12:30 p.m. to midnight, with last seating at 10 p.m. every day. Reservations are accepted only for parties of four or more, and larger groups require a deposit, so walk-ins work best for pairs and trios.
The venue stays open until midnight, but last seating is 10 p.m., which means arriving at 9:45 p.m. leaves you with limited dining time even though the doors remain unlocked. If you want the full buffet experience without feeling rushed, plan to sit by 9 p.m. The Midtown East location and banquet-style layout make this a high-volume choice for diners who want a broad seafood spread rather than a quiet corner table, and the buffet format removes the pressure of choosing between dishes when you cannot decide.
Aquarelle Seafood Mediterranean serves until midnight or 1 a.m. in the East Village
Aquarelle Seafood Mediterranean at 47 Avenue B runs brunch Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., then opens for dinner Monday through Thursday and Sunday from 5 p.m. to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. A daily happy hour runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., which is a useful early-evening window if you want to try the menu before committing to a full dinner reservation. The East Village location on Avenue B puts it outside the tourist-heavy restaurant corridors, so the crowd skews more neighborhood regular than bridge-and-tunnel visitor.
Happy hour gives you two hours to sample the menu at lower prices, and because dinner service runs until midnight or later, you can arrive at 10 p.m. and still order without the kitchen closing mid-meal. The late Friday and Saturday hours—service until 1 a.m.—make this one of the latest-running seafood options in the East Village, and the avenue storefront setting means you can walk past, check the crowd, and decide whether to stay or move on.
Big Blue Seafood and Grill opens for lunch and holds dinner until 10 p.m. in Midtown West
Big Blue Seafood and Grill at 55 West 44th Street runs Monday through Thursday from 11:45 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 11:45 a.m. to 10:15 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. or 10:15 p.m. The weekday lunch-to-dinner coverage makes it accessible for a late office lunch or an early dinner before a show, and the Midtown West location near Times Square means you can walk from Penn Station, Port Authority, or most Broadway theaters in under ten minutes. The compact urban restaurant layout gives the dining room a practical, no-fuss feel.
Saturday service starts at 3 p.m., which is later than the weekday schedule, so if you are planning a weekend meal, check the clock before heading over. The straightforward seafood-and-grill menu avoids the multi-page format of larger Midtown chains, and the midblock storefront setting keeps the restaurant quieter than the avenue-facing options one block west. The Karpo app shows real-time table availability if you want to skip the phone call and see whether a walk-in makes sense at your target hour.
The Mermaid Inn Upper West Side brings neighborhood seafood to Columbus Avenue
The Mermaid Inn Upper West Side at 335 Columbus Avenue is the uptown location of a small New York seafood group, and it sits in a residential stretch of the Upper West Side where most restaurants close by 10 p.m. The restaurant is confirmed open, which distinguishes it from older listings that still reference closed locations or outdated hours. The Columbus Avenue address puts it a short walk from Central Park, Lincoln Center, and the Museum of Natural History, so it works as a post-museum dinner or a neighborhood fallback when other plans collapse.
The Upper West Side location gives the restaurant a local feel rather than a destination-dining atmosphere, and the straightforward streetfront presence means you can spot it from the sidewalk without hunting for a hidden entrance. Because this is a residential neighborhood, walk-in availability tends to be better than in Midtown or the Village, especially on weeknights. The Mermaid Inn brand has a track record in New York seafood, so the menu skews toward oysters, clams, and grilled fish rather than fusion experiments or steak-and-lobster pairings.
How to choose
Pick the venue with the closest closing time to your meal window: if you are eating at 9:30 p.m., San Sabino and Aquarelle hold tables past that hour, while Big Blue and Crab House cut off earlier. Use the neighborhood that matches your trip—Greenwich Village for a destination meal where the walk matters as much as the food, Midtown for convenience when you are already in the office district or near a theater, East Village or the Upper West Side for a local feel that avoids the tourist crush. If you want the broadest seafood spread, choose the buffet format at Crab House, which removes menu indecision; if you want a quieter meal, choose the neighborhood dining room at San Sabino or The Mermaid Inn, where the pace slows and the crowd thins after nine.
One correction before you go
A common assumption is that the best seafood near me in New York City is always in the tourist-heavy waterfront districts—South Street Seaport, the piers, or the outer-borough fish markets. The correct version is that many of the strongest options are inland neighborhood restaurants in places like Greenwich Village, the East Village, Midtown, and the Upper West Side, where the focus is on cooking rather than location theater. These restaurants source fish from the same suppliers as the waterfront spots, but they hold later hours, offer easier reservations, and sit closer to subway lines and office buildings. If you filter your search by neighborhood and closing time rather than by proximity to water, you end up with more practical choices and fewer waits.
Practical notes
San Sabino is at 113 Greenwich Avenue; lunch daily 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., bar opens 4:30 p.m., dinner from 5 p.m., last seating 10:30 p.m.; reservations open thirty days in advance at 9 a.m. on OpenTable. Crab House NYC is at 135 East 55th Street; Monday to Friday 2 p.m. to midnight, Saturday and Sunday 12:30 p.m. to midnight, last seating 10 p.m.; reservations only for parties of four or more, deposit required for larger groups. Aquarelle Seafood Mediterranean is at 47 Avenue B; brunch Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., dinner Monday to Thursday and Sunday 5 p.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., daily happy hour 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Big Blue Seafood and Grill is at 55 West 44th Street; Monday to Thursday 11:45 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday 11:45 a.m. to 10:15 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m. to 10:15 p.m., Sunday 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Mermaid Inn Upper West Side is at 335 Columbus Avenue; hours not verified, call ahead or check the Karpo app for current service windows.
Tags: #SeafoodNearMe #LateNightSeafood #ManhattanSeafood #GreenwichVillage #MidtownEast #MidtownWest #EastVillage #UpperWestSide #SanSabino #CrabHouseNYC #AquarelleSeafood #BigBlueSeafood #TheMermaidInn #NYCDining #SeafoodRestaurants
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