NYC Seafood Towers Worth The Splurge, Ranked By Height

Nothing transforms a meal into a celebration quite like a seafood tower. But just as a white-tie charity gala is not a kindergarten graduation, not every seafood tower is worth getting dressed up for. So whether you just won the Mega Millions jackpot or you’re simply hoping to inject your weeknight with a little dose of hedonism, use our guide to find the tiered combination of sea creatures that best suits your needs: from a nearly three-foot tall leviathan, to a plateau that's just three inches off the table. (Note: All heights approximate, as measured in restaurants where adult beverages are served.)

Balthazar

Le Balthazar Height: 30 inches. Price: $195, which includes 12 oysters, 12 clams, 16 mussels, 8 shrimp, 2 lobsters, and a mixed seafood ceviche.

Every New Yorker should receive a City Hall grant to experience Le Balthazar at least once (the smaller Le Grand is $145). This show-stopping triplex is a spectacle: A kid actually approached our table to ask if it was “real,” then returned for a photo. Overall, the seafood is good, particularly the sweet, abundant lobster and briny oysters (the clams are a little funky and the shrimp not quite 100% deveined, albeit in a way that feels louche and French)—and the service is even better, with someone appearing at precisely the right moment to remove each tier, and offer towels and lemons for your hands. The real source of pleasure though is how infinite Le Balthazar feels. Mussel after mussel, it's like this could last forever. If only.

Delmonico's

Seafood Plateau Height: 18 inches. Price: $59 per person; the plateau for two has 6 oysters, 2 crudo, 4 shrimp, 2 lobster claws, 1 split lobster tail.

This frosty, two-tier silver tower arrives at your table wreathed in dry ice smoke—and if you're taking video, your server will pour on more water to amp up the drama. Along with scraps of seaweed on the ice, it feels like watching surf create mist on a rocky beach, and the seafood tastes like it came right out of the ocean. It’s both restrained and lavish, with jumbo-sized shrimp that are almost as long as the lobster tail, and a great way to start a meal on a scalloped blue velvet banquette at this classic FiDi steakhouse. They’ll even let you split an order for one between two people. Pair with a Dirty Martini with blue cheese olives.

Pebble Bar

The Rock Height: 16 inches. Price: $195, which includes 1 whole lobster, 6 yuzu kosho oysters, 6 cocktail shrimp, scallop crudo, crab salad, orange-cured salmon and Petrossian caviar, and pain de mie toast.

It's love at first sight with The Rock. In a slightly surreal touch, the lobster arrives sitting up—like it's waving hello, and congratulating you on your excellent taste in seafood. The attention to detail on this two-tier tower is impressive: That lobster looks intact but is in fact perfectly broken down, every segment of shell ready to effortlessly unsheath like an anatomical magic trick. The bright, herby tarragon mayo is a treat, as is the cured salmon with a perfect sea-candy texture. The Rock is a splurge for sure, but one you’ll be thrilled to have made. Pair with the Dirty Deeds cocktail, an almost-sweet white Negroni riff with notes of fennel.

Jeffrey’s Grocery

Le Royale Height: 15.5 inches. Price: $115, which includes 12 oysters, 6 littleneck clams, 6 shrimp, smoked mussels and saltines, lobster salad, 1/4-pound king crab legs.

“Casual dinner” and “$115 seafood tower” are not necessarily two phrases that go together. But at Jeffrey’s Grocery, they do. The West Village spot feels somewhere between a dive bar and a tavern, but with a raw bar. And caviar. And lobster spaghetti. So yes, a casual two-tier seafood tower is something you can have here. The oysters are impeccably salty, the lobster salad might prompt you to come back for a lobster roll, and the king crab legs are cracked and ready for consumption. This is the mid-size tower option at Jeffrey's; you can also get Le Prince ($65), or Le Jeffrey ($150).

Grand Army

Highbrow Height: 14 inches. Price: $100, which includes 12 oysters, 6 littleneck clams, 6 shrimp with poblano aioli, ceviche with shrimp chips, and a lobster roll with potato chips.

Grand Army feels like a classic neighborhood spot in Downtown Brooklyn—except you can’t get a three-tier seafood tower at just any old bar. And because this tower has a lobster roll and two different types of chips in the mix, splitting it with a date is as good as eating a full meal. (Plus, they let you know that the oyster shells are donated to Billion Oyster Project , so it also feels like a good deed.) It can be challenging to dip your bouncy shrimp into the aioili between the compacted tiers, but that's a pretty gluttonous challenge to have. Grand Army also does a "Lowbrow" tower for $65, but then you’ll miss out on that whole lobster roll. Pair with a gin-based Backwoods Barbie cocktail.

Nat's on Bank

Baller Shot Caller Tower Height: 12 inches. Price: $80, which comes with 6 oysters, 4 peel-and-eat shrimp, 3 stone crab claws, scallop aguachile, tuna tartare, and housemade mango habanero hot sauce.

This West Village restaurant is a party spot—there’s even a disco ball in the bathroom—and to stress the point, the "Baller" towers on their menu (small $80, large $130) are surrounded by exclamation points. Order the smaller one spontaneously for a seafood date in the brightly colored space, along with shots, of course. You'll get freshly shucked oysters, juicy shrimp covered in a finger-staining Old Bay-adjacent seasoning, and raw preparations of tuna and scallops plated in spent caviar tins. Add a glass or two of whatever orange wine they’re pouring that night, and try to not to let those sweet stone crab claws monopolize all your attention.

El Pingüino

Seafood Plateau Height: 11.5 inches. Price: $125, which includes 12 oysters, 4 shrimp, fluke ceviche with avocado, scallop aguachile, Jonah crab salad, saltines, ritz crackers.

The booths and barstools at this narrow Spanish spot in Greenpoint fill up quickly with small groups drinking cocktails, sharing little plates of boquerones and tinned scallops, and chatting loudly. No one will do more than take a furtive glance at your two-tiered Plateau when it arrives, somewhat unceremoniously. Zoom in on the highlights: plump, chewy oysters, and tangy black bass crudo. With flickering candlelight, a soundtrack that switches from easy listening to rock standards, and a Happy Hour that goes until 12am all week, this is a good spot to pair some splurgy seafood with a discounted drink, like the $12 martini, or a Midori Sour.

Maison Premiere

Le Maison Height: 10 inches. Price: $135, which includes 12 oysters, 4 shrimp, 3 littleneck clams, 3 topneck clams, half Jonah crab, half Dungeness crab, half lobster.

Against the slightly clandestine appeal of Maison Premiere—the discreet entrance, the well-spaced tables, the hidden, lush courtyard with its own bar out back—the two-tier no-frills seafood tower might look almost disappointingly straightforward. There are no surprises here. But dip that pre-cracked Dungeness crab (the Jonah crab is a distant second) in the garlicky butter sauce, bite into the meaty oysters and mixed clams, and add a few sips of any of the excellent cocktails, and $135 starts feeling like a justifiable indulgence. (The smaller La Petite Maison is $90.) Pair with an impeccably blended Jungle Bird cocktail, with two potent Caribbean black rums, or a tropical Margarita de Jamaica for an elegant night out.

Penny

Ice Box Height: 3 inches. Price: $39, which includes 2 oysters, 2 shrimp, 2 clams, 2 mussels, 1 scallop.

At about three inches tall, Penny’s Ice Box isn't technically a tower at all. Haven't you heard of quiet luxury? At this East Village seafood counter, each Ice Box comes with shellfish so carefully curated that—according to one chef—they spent months dialing in on their shrimp selection. That shrimp is red Argentinian, and particularly swoony with garlic aioli. There’s a $98 Ice Box Plus with fancier things like crab and periwinkles, but the seafood is high-quality enough that even the basic version turns a weeknight into something special. Pair with the sesame brioche and a glass of wine from their extensive cellar after a long day at work.