Sea Level Oyster Bar

We were a group of 4-​adults & 2-​kids… Everything we ordered was fab, even the kids fish sticks.
Fish Sticks — not too salty or greasy.
Steak Tips — are not really tips, more like mini filet mignon that were amazing. Great marinade and drizzle, awesome potatoes.
Clam Chowder — among top-​5 in my book.
Special was amazing and much more/​better than the description alluded to.
Salads are great size and properly balanced and low cost.
Nachos are W-​O-​W, you’d think we were in A great Mexican restaurant.
Of course, Raw Bar was top noch and good prices.
Also to note, everything is made in house, including mashed potatoes, fries, chips and nachos.

In a visit to Salem we found this seafood place. Great setting on the waterfront with great view. Our waitress, Lauren, was very helpful describing the food and making suggestions. She was also very friendly and attentive. The Lobster Roll had an ample supply of lobster on a perfectly buttered brioche roll. The burger topped with fried clams, yes fried clams, and their house sauce was cooked to my liking and tasted great. The fried pickle appetizer was good but nothing special.
Overall it was good food, good setting and a very good waitress. Highly recommend if you are in the area.

I have been coming to Salem for 9 years and somehow missed Sea Level every time! I really like this restaurant! The location is tops-​right on the water. Very open with plenty of seating. I actually ate here twice in one day! Anyway, the New England Clam Chowder is delicious-​one of the best. I also had a grilled cheese sandwich which was one like I never had before. The accompanying chips were very good. When I returned for dinner, I had Shrimp Linguine. OMG, so good. I WILL be returning next year when I come for my annual girls weekend in Salem.

Still killling it… so much so that in nice weather they fill up fast. Reserve early, and dont expect intimate dinner convo…

Three and a half stars. Excellent beer list, and great view through patio windows of the Friendship of Salem on Pickering Wharf and the rest of the harbor. Lucked out with a windowside table, though on the first floor. Oyster bar is on the small side here. Seasoned fries were as crispy as the tender clam strips on my signature burger, and while there wasn’t too much sauce to disintegrate the bun and the patty was cooked to my requested temp, the meat had an unappealingly mushy texture and minimal sear to hold it together. Service from Brad S was fairly attentive, given how busy they got. Future hit list: lobster roll, baked seafood pie.

The staff is friendly and the place commands a view of the harbor. We had some oysters and ordered two mains. The calamari pizza was good. Crispy goodness on a pizza! Also ordered the fish tacos. The salmon was cooked perfectly… so why not 5 stars?
Well, the salsa on top had seen better days. It was pickled and the cilantro was a dark/​brownish green. The pineapple was also a funky yellow color. It looked really off, but tasted okay. It comes with three tacos. One had a giant piece of salmon, the other two. had smaller bits. At least cut them equal size! The soft taco wasn’t grilled or warm either. The salsa and the taco ruined the fish.
Perhaps the chef was out today as others seem to love the fish tacos?

Enjoyed a great lunch with a gorgeous view of Salem Harbor. Our server was incredibly friendly and attentive. I highly recommend the Sea Level Burger (a burger with fried clams on top) and starting your meal with oysters.

I don’t know how I never came to Sea Level before this year! Don’t make that mistake! The restaurant is very sizable with two floors. Both time we ate here we were upstairs. The views of the water are beautiful and the restaurant itself is nice and cozy. I am a big fan. The first time I visited, I had the 3-​way pizza, my mom had a cup of chowder and grilled cheese and my aunt had the lobster roll. All of our meals were excellent. We returned for dinner and had some very tasty cocktails. My dinner was the lobster quesadilla and a side of fries. I really have no complaints and will be back many times again.

It took 45 mins to get our food. The servers hardly ever check back with you. The food was really good once it finally got to us. The club music bumping makes no sense considering there is no dance floor at all.
There are about 20 craft beers on tap, we had the party crasher stout which was amazing! This place is probably great on a night when it isn’t total madness but I was so hungry and a 45 min water for food is simply obscene.

Great space, great location. Sat upstairs at the bar. Bartender was very friendly and helpful. Got some raw stuff first. 2 different oysters and the little necks. All were good. Keep forgeting how good little necks are. Next got the Sea Level burger medium rare. It was veey good. The fries were way above average too. They have events this weekend with no cover charge too.

Nice deck with a great view of Salem Harbor.
Fried Calamari were crispy and tasty.
$ 1.50 Oysters 3 – 5 m Mon-​Thursday.
Great collection of Draught Beer.
Bloody Mary were good and service was very nice.
You can find free parking outside.
Great location, 10 minutes walk from Down town of Salem and Witch Museum.

Good place, good location right by the water. I had local oysters and a lobster roll paired with a few local beers. Ate at the upstairs bar on a nice sunny day .It was a pleasure. I also liked our waiter who was into beer. You need more places like this. My only complaint would be the irritating overly loud music in the background. Who needs it, in fact, who wants it?

So I did something completely crazy. I am a seafood fan who randomly ended up at Sea Level this past weekend, where oysters are a specialty, but I did not try any seafood. It had been a long day and I was starving. It was one of those moments when I needed a large, juicy burger to the face immediately in order to tame my Hangry-​ness. Mission accomplished.
I visited Salem with friends on our annual fall trip to enjoy the ghost tours and hunt for witches. We happened to park close to the wharf area and stumbled upon this restaurant completely by accident. I am giving Sea Level three and a half stars without having tried any seafood. My meal was good, but I have a feeling their seafood is even better. We had a great server named Anthony who was friendly and attentive. Our table was perfect as it had a beautiful view of the harbor at one angle, yet I could still catch the the Bruins game from the TVs above the bar. Sea Level has a casual yet classy and trendy type feel in an ideal location right on the water.
The fried pickles here are fantastic! Possibly the best I have ever had. We started our food fest with the pickles and an order of nachos. The nachos were decent and the burger I chose for my entrée was as well. Not one of the best burgers I have ever had, but it hit the spot. I did not have any alcoholic beverages, but the beer/​drink list seemed to be a little out of the ordinary in a good way. An oyster list was handed out along with the menu. Oysters can be purchased individually according to type. I have not had oysters in quite awhile, but believe this would be a good place to indulge as they seem highly knowledgeable in the oyster department.
I’m sure Sea Level is a real hot spot in the warmer weather with its outdoor seating and upper deck. Hopefully I will be in the Salem area again soon for the total experience — water views, oysters, and drinks.

Great oyster bar & seafood place! The cod sandwich = awesome! My friends got the lobster dinner & it was great & reasonably priced. VERY good service. Dan was awesome! We’d come back!!!

This Salem waterfront location has had lots of not so great occupants over the years but the current Sea Level Oyster Bar is finally worthy of the awesome location at Pickering Wharf. Beautiful bar upstairs with wide open windows with a super cool view of the wharf and The Friendship, a reproduction of an old East India Trade ship. Friendly service and cocktails on point. I have a Grey Goose dirty martini that was perfect. The oysters were fresh and tasty. Crispy Calamari was dope with its balsamic chili glaze. All the seafood dishes we ordered were delicious. We had the Cod dish and Shrimp Linguini. Even the burgers are fantastic!
Highly recommend a trip to this new spot at Pickering Wharf.

ANYTHING with outdoor (or even outdoor-​ish) seating automatically gets 4 – 5 stars unless you REALLY screw it up, which Sea Level did not.
Got fantastic drinks from the bartender Neil, and a surprisingly delicious margarita pizza. Food prices are a tad higher than I would have expected for pub fare, but worth it in flavor and quality. Love that the space is so big that there is plenty of seating right up at the bar.
Awesome for a late night spot, can’t wait to come back.

I only had 1 hour in Salem so I tried to make the best of it! The hubs looked up this restaurant the night before and we were determined to try a bunch of oysters. It was my first time and I was so anxious about putting these cold things in ma mouth. Verdict? It was great!
We sat at the oyster bar area and had 2 teenagers serve our dozen oysters to us in a stunning tray with quite a few condiments. The one boy even threw in 2 extra oysters for us since it was my first time :).
I love that you’re supposed to slurp the sea brine with the oyster itself to give it that burst of flavor. I liked the texture and the pickled mango salad thing they had went really well with these sea gems! I originally wanted to only try 2 but ended up trying 5 different types and half a dozen oysters, haha. I got over my first one pretty well ;). We also told them we were in a hurry so they were really good about the check speed and everything. It was quite an expensive lunch but so worth it! Love the staff here and loved the location, freshness of the oysters and beautiful view of the wharf!

First impression was great. I have only have been here once for dinner. They said it would be a 45 minute wait for a table outside, but it was definitely less than 25 minutes (score!). We were able to grab a beer at the bar before heading upstairs. The atmosphere is fun, lively and younger than Finz. Oysters and baja fish tacos were good. Beer selection was excellent.
Love that the upstairs has a bar too. There are good views from inside too. Great addition to Salem/​Pickering Wharf.

The second I stepped in I thought I would enjoy this place and I did!
The second I got home though, I ran to the toilet… oyster’s kind of gave me a stomachache the next day.
Aside from that unpleasant part, my server was super nice! Michael was his name I think.
Ordered the cucumber soup (super refreshing!!), salmon tacos, fish tacos, and my friend got the hot dog. Overall, it was all pretty delicious and I definitely would come back since this place has a really nice view off the balcony.

Was excited to hear about sea level opening in place of capts. Arrived around 3pm with my bf and two friends. No patio seating so we took a table inside.
We had some oysters, Cuban egg rolls and fried pickles to start. All were exactly as expected but didn’t blow anyone away.
Then the four of us had: the sea level burger, Mahi Mahi, and two lobster rolls with fries instead of chips.
Burger bun was super soggy, you could barely pick it up and the bun basically disintegrated. Fried oysters on top were unique and tasty. Mahi Mahi was good and loved the rice and mango salsa were a good addition. Lobster rolls were not impressive, especially for $ 20. Small amount of lobster meat and literally served with about 10 fries. They put the fries in a cute paper bag but only filled it halfway. Since I was paying extra for fries I expected more.
Drinks were the star of the show. The strawberry and basil shrub was dynamite, and others also really liked the Dixie mafia smash. Their gin and tonic was also a hit.
Service was so-​so. The server wrote his name on our table and I felt like I was at a chain restaurant. Also, after we paid he excitedly thanked us for our tip. We tipped 20% so I couldn’t tell if he was being facetious or actually grateful. Left me feeling a bit, eh.
I will absolutely be back for drinks but not sure I’d choose to dine here over Turners.