Best Seafood in Houston's Chinatown: Crawfish, Oysters and Live Tanks

The best seafood in Houston's Chinatown comes in two styles, and both live on Bellaire Blvd. For Viet-Cajun crawfish and Gulf oysters, go to Crawfish & Noodles or Crawfish Cafe; for Cantonese seafood with lobster, live fish and dim sum, go to Crown Seafood, Confucius Seafood or Arco Seafood Restaurant. All eight places below were confirmed open on their own official websites in November 2026.

Here's the line worth passing on: on Bellaire Blvd you can pick your fish out of a tank at lunch and peel crawfish out of a bag at dinner without ever leaving the boulevard. Even better, two of the biggest names here sit side by side and share an owner: Crawfish Cafe and Ocean Palace, a two-story, 38,000-square-foot dim sum palace, are both run by Mamba Hospitality Group.

Where is Houston's Chinatown?

For this guide, Houston's Chinatown means Bellaire Blvd from Fondren Road west to Beltway 8, the side streets that feed it, and the blocks just west of the Beltway around Hong Kong City Mall. It's in southwest Houston, mostly in ZIP codes 77036 and 77072, and many locals now call it Asiatown. West of the Beltway, the street signs add a Vietnamese name for the boulevard, Đại Lộ Sàigòn, which tells you why Viet-Cajun crawfish is as much at home here as Cantonese lobster.

It is not the City of Bellaire, a separate small city farther east on the same boulevard, so the seafood restaurants there aren't on this list. Our Chinatown and Asiatown guide covers the whole district.

How we chose

Every pick had to be inside that boundary, serve seafood as a main event rather than a side note, and show a current address and hours or a live menu on its own official website in November 2026. We wanted range: Viet-Cajun boils, a Gulf oyster bar, and Cantonese dining rooms that steam live fish and bake lobster.

Hours change, especially at restaurants with separate dim sum and dinner service, so treat every time below as typical and check the official site before you go. Market-price items like lobster and live fish aren't priced here because they move with the catch.

The quick list

• For the original Viet-Cajun crawfish: Crawfish & Noodles.
• For a big group boil in a 214-seat room: Crawfish Cafe.
• For Gulf oysters and micheladas: 7 Seas Oyster Bar.
• For lobster and live fish, Cantonese style: Confucius Seafood or Crown Seafood.
• For dim sum first, seafood second: Ocean Palace or Arco Seafood Restaurant.
• For salt-and-pepper shrimp with a Vietnamese menu: Kim Son.

Viet-Cajun crawfish and oysters

Viet-Cajun crawfish is boiled, then tossed in garlic butter and Cajun spice, and Bellaire Blvd is one of the easiest places in Houston to find it. Live crawfish season typically runs from late January to early July; our Houston crawfish guide explains how to order by the pound and how hot is too hot.

1. Crawfish & Noodles

11360 Bellaire Blvd, Suite 990 · Viet-Cajun seafood · west of Beltway 8

Crawfish & Noodles in Houston's Chinatown bills itself as Houston's original Viet-Cajun crawfish, and the restaurant says Chef Trong Nguyen was cooking the style in Houston before it had a name. The restaurant says it serves live Louisiana crawfish from late January through early July, hand-sorted and purged, in a garlic-butter sauce whose recipe it says has never changed.

Order: live crawfish by the pound in season, crawfish fried rice, and Gulf oysters raw, chargrilled or cheesy.

Insider tip: the dine-in happy hour typically runs Monday to Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. with discounted oysters, cocktails and beer. Out of crawfish season, that happy hour is the reason to come. Its site lists Tuesdays as closed in the hours, so check before a midweek visit.

2. Crawfish Cafe

11209 Bellaire Blvd · Viet-Cajun seafood and pho · west of Beltway 8 · open daily

Crawfish Cafe, which opened in Houston in 2013, rebuilt its Chinatown location in 2026 as a 10,000-square-foot restaurant shared with its sister concept, Pho Prime. The room seats 214 people, which makes it the easiest place on the strip to feed a crowd, and it sits right next door to Ocean Palace. It's typically open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Order: a build-your-own boil with crawfish, snow crab, blue crab, shrimp or lobster tails, plus crawfish beignets or oyster nachos for the table. Ask about the citrus-forward Viet-Cajun sauce made with oranges, lemons, butter and garlic, introduced at this location.

Best for: birthdays, team dinners, and anyone who wants pho and crawfish at the same table.

3. 7 Seas Oyster Bar

9889 Bellaire Blvd, Suite D256 (Dun Huang Plaza) · oyster bar · evenings

7 Seas Oyster Bar in Dun Huang Plaza is Chinatown's oyster bar, and it opens late: its site showed 4 p.m. to midnight when we checked. The menu runs from Gulf oysters on the half shell and charbroiled oysters to seafood gumbo, salt-and-pepper jumbo crab fingers and a whole fish.

Order: a dozen Gulf oysters, or the michelada oysters if you want the house specialty, plus a michelada to drink. Adventurous? The menu lists lobster sashimi.

Best for: a late bite after karaoke or a night out; see our Chinatown bars guide.

For more half shells across the city, see the best oysters in Houston.

Cantonese seafood and live tanks

Cantonese seafood restaurants in Houston's Chinatown cook lobster, crab and whole fish to order, often from live tanks, and serve dim sum by day. These menus are built for sharing, so bring a group and order family-style.

4. Confucius Seafood

8880 Bellaire Blvd, Unit J · Cantonese seafood

Confucius Seafood, near the eastern end of Chinatown, has one of the most seafood-heavy menus on the boulevard. Its online menu lists lobster four ways (baked with ginger and green onion, with celery sauce, with black pepper and butter, or sautéed in XO sauce) and steamed live fish, with live tilapia, California sculpin and rock cod named on the menu. Lobster and live fish are marked seasonal, so ask what's in that day.

Order: steamed live fish, a lobster for the table, clams with mint leaves sauce, and crab meat soup with fish maw to start.

Best for: a classic Cantonese seafood dinner without banquet-hall scale.

5. Crown Seafood

10796 Bellaire Blvd, Suite C · Cantonese seafood and dim sum

Crown Seafood serves traditional Cantonese seafood and dim sum, and says striped bass, Dungeness crab and lobster are brought in daily. Dim sum is served all day on most items, lunch specials typically run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the dinner menu has more than 100 dishes, served à la carte or as set group meals.

Order: oysters with ginger and scallion, spicy salt toasted squid or shrimp, and deep-fried crab claws from the dim sum list. Ask your server about the day's crab and lobster.

Best for: a group that wants dim sum and a whole crab in one sitting.

6. Arco Seafood Restaurant

9896 Bellaire Blvd, Suite K · Cantonese seafood and dim sum · takes reservations

Arco Seafood Restaurant (東海海鮮酒家) is the pick when you want dim sum for lunch and a seafood dinner from the same kitchen. Its site says dim sum runs typically 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, and it takes reservations, which matters for a family table on a Sunday.

Order: dim sum at lunch; at dinner, go big on seafood and share family-style.

Heads-up: Arco's site shows two different sets of opening hours, so call before a late dinner.

7. Ocean Palace

11215 Bellaire Blvd (Hong Kong City Mall) · dim sum and Cantonese seafood · open daily

Ocean Palace opened in Hong Kong City Mall in 1999 and calls itself Houston's grand home for dim sum and seafood. It's a two-story, 38,000-square-foot restaurant with a banquet hall upstairs, and it describes itself as Houston's largest dim sum restaurant. Its site lists daily hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Order: a long dim sum brunch with plenty of shrimp and seafood plates, then walk next door to Crawfish Cafe if you still have room. Our dim sum guide has ordering tips.

Best for: weekend family brunch and first-timers who want the full spectacle.

8. Kim Son

10603 Bellaire Blvd (Saigon-Houston Plaza) · Vietnamese and Chinese · closed Tuesdays

Kim Son in Saigon-Houston Plaza serves Vietnamese and Chinese dishes side by side, with plenty of seafood and dim sum from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's typically closed Tuesdays and breaks between lunch and dinner on most weekdays, so check the hours on its site.

Order: salted pepper shrimp or squid, a whole tilapia with ginger and scallion, and bún riêu, a pork and crab noodle soup.

Best for: a mixed group where some people want crab soup and others want dumplings. More Vietnamese picks are in our Vietnamese restaurants guide.

Save this: a one-day Chinatown seafood route

This route keeps you on Bellaire Blvd from late morning to late night. Drive between stops; the plazas all have their own lots.

1. 10:30 a.m., dim sum: Ocean Palace in Hong Kong City Mall, for the full dim sum hall.
2. Afternoon break: walk the mall or grab a drink from our boba guide.
3. 3 p.m., happy hour (weekdays): Crawfish & Noodles for discounted oysters, and crawfish if it's in season.
4. 7 p.m., Cantonese dinner: Confucius Seafood or Crown Seafood for steamed live fish or lobster for the table.
5. 10 p.m., nightcap: 7 Seas Oyster Bar for one more dozen and a michelada.

Before you go: a quick checklist

• Check each restaurant's site the day you go. Kim Son closes Tuesdays, Crawfish & Noodles lists Tuesdays as closed, Ocean Palace closes in the late afternoon, and several Cantonese rooms split lunch and dinner service.
• Going for crawfish? Plan for late January to early July, when live crawfish are in season.
• Ask the price of lobster, crab and live fish before you order; they're sold at market price.
• Bring a group to the Cantonese restaurants. The menus are built for sharing, and big round tables are the point.
• Wear something washable for crawfish, and grab extra napkins.
• Weekend lunch is the busiest time on Bellaire Blvd. Arrive early or book where reservations are offered (Arco and Crawfish & Noodles take them).

More seafood and more Chinatown

For seafood across the whole city, see our best seafood restaurants in Houston; to cook at home, start with the best seafood markets in Houston. Staying in Chinatown for raw fish? Our Chinatown sushi guide has nine Japanese spots on the same boulevard.

Last verified: November 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the best seafood in Houston's Chinatown?

On Bellaire Blvd between Fondren Road and just west of Beltway 8. Crawfish & Noodles and Crawfish Cafe are the go-to spots for Viet-Cajun crawfish, 7 Seas Oyster Bar for oysters, and Confucius Seafood and Crown Seafood for Cantonese lobster and live fish.

Where did Viet-Cajun crawfish start?

Viet-Cajun crawfish is closely tied to Houston's Vietnamese-American restaurants along Bellaire Blvd. Crawfish & Noodles at 11360 Bellaire Blvd bills itself as Houston's original Viet-Cajun crawfish.

When is crawfish season in Houston's Chinatown?

Live crawfish are typically served from late January through early July. Crawfish & Noodles, for example, says it serves fresh Louisiana crawfish during that window.

Which Chinatown restaurants have live seafood?

Confucius Seafood lists steamed live fish, including tilapia, California sculpin and rock cod, plus seasonal lobster. Crown Seafood says striped bass, Dungeness crab and lobster are brought in daily.

Where can I get oysters in Houston's Chinatown?

7 Seas Oyster Bar in Dun Huang Plaza (9889 Bellaire Blvd) serves Gulf oysters raw, charbroiled and michelada-style, typically into the late evening. Crawfish & Noodles serves Gulf oysters and discounts them during its weekday happy hour.

Is Houston's Chinatown the same as the City of Bellaire?

No. Houston's Chinatown is in southwest Houston along Bellaire Blvd, roughly from Fondren Road to Beltway 8. The City of Bellaire is a separate small city farther east on the same boulevard.