Merino’s in Westport Serves Seafood From Several Angles

At Merino’s Seafood Market & Cannery in Westport, a plate of lingcod and chips can share the day with a bag of chowder for the freezer, a few cans of local albacore, or a freshly cleaned catch headed home in vacuum-sealed packages. It is a working fishery with more than one way to stop in, and that variety gives the place its pleasantly busy character.

You can settle into the upstairs restaurant, order from a kiosk or server, pick up food at a street-level walk-up window, or browse the market storefront. The setup suits a quick lunch after time near the beach just as well as a slower seafood meal with a view.

Fish and chips sit near the center of the menu, but this is not a one-fish proposition. Lingcod, halibut, salmon and rockfish are among the choices, giving regular fish-and-chips orders a little more range than the usual single-option basket.

Lingcod gets particular attention, and it is an easy choice for someone wanting a classic, mild white-fish plate. Halibut and salmon offer two different directions: one familiar and flaky, the other richer. Fried salmon and halibut have been noted for their crisp coating, an important detail when the meal is built around the contrast between hot batter and tender fish.

Seafood baskets add another casual route through the menu. Dungeness crab also appears in standalone orders and in larger seafood meals, so a crab-minded table does not have to settle for a token garnish.

Merino’s clam chowder is a substantial Pacific Northwest-style bowl, thick with clams and notably different in character from a New England chowder. It makes sense alongside fried fish, but it is hearty enough to carry a lighter lunch on its own.

The chowder has a few second acts. It turns up in chowder fries, and two-pound bags are available to take home. A bag in the cooler is a useful Westport souvenir: less decorative than a postcard, perhaps, but considerably better for dinner.

Crab melts and tuna melts offer a bread-and-seafood alternative when a full fried basket is not the plan. The crab melt can take a splash of malt vinegar for extra tang, a small customization that fits the straightforward, seafood-counter spirit of the place.

The upstairs restaurant has indoor tables along with an outdoor deck, with views from both areas. It is the more settled option at Merino’s, a place to put down a tray or plate and let lunch stretch beyond a quick counter stop.

Beer and wine are served upstairs, which gives the dining room a different rhythm from the walk-up window below. The room is comfortable for mixed-age groups and family meals, while the deck provides a more open-air choice near the beach.

Seating can be limited, particularly when the upstairs area is drawing a crowd. The street-level ordering option is a useful alternative when the day calls for food in hand rather than a table.

At street level, the walk-up window keeps the operation casual. Order food there and carry it off for a beach meal, a simple arrangement that works especially well for fish and chips, a seafood basket, or chowder to go.

The window is not just a smaller version of the restaurant upstairs. It is a separate, practical way to use Merino’s: less sit-down dining, more counter-service seafood when time outdoors is the larger plan. Alcohol service is associated with the upstairs restaurant rather than the walk-up setup.

The market storefront extends the visit beyond the hot-food menu. Seafood is displayed in a case alongside canned products, including locally canned albacore and other seafood items. It is an easy place to add something shelf-stable to the day’s purchases before heading out.

The market is worth approaching as a seafood shop with changing availability rather than a guarantee of every kind of raw fresh fish. Depending on the day, the selection may include whole cooked crab, frozen fish, cooked shrimp and canned goods; fresh-catch availability may be directed toward the docks.

That distinction is useful because Merino’s offers several forms of seafood under one roof: cooked lunch, take-home chowder, canned fish for the pantry, and market items for later. A visit can be as simple as one basket of fish and chips or as involved as stocking a cooler.

Merino’s is also set up for people who have caught the fish themselves. Customers can bring in a personal catch for cleaning and vacuum packing, then arrange shipping. It is a practical service for fishing trips that end far from home or for a catch meant to be divided among family.

The fish-packing side has its own window, giving the building a working-waterfront purpose alongside lunch and retail browsing. Seafood has been shipped from here to family as far away as North Carolina, a reminder that the place handles more than an afternoon meal.

Merino’s is in Westport near the beach, with free parking reported at the venue. The most relaxed approach may be to choose the format that fits the day: deck seating and a drink upstairs, a walk-up order for the sand, or a market browse after lunch.

For anyone bringing a cooler, the two-pound chowder bags, canned albacore and other seafood products give the stop some staying power after the last fry is gone.