Seafood Places That Accept EBT (Plus Those That Don’t)

While you can use your Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card to buy seafood at your local grocery store, several popular seafood markets across the U.S. also accept EBT.

EBT cards can be used to purchase fresh, frozen, or packaged seafood items — but usually not hot or prepared foods, like restaurant food.

There are exceptions in certain states under the Restaurant Meals Program, but none of the seafood restaurants we contacted participate in this program.^[1][2]

Since seafood markets sell food for home preparation, they can accept EBT if they apply to become an approved retailer.

Specialty seafood markets like the Boston Public Market and the Portland Fish Market also allow recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to use their EBT cards to get fresh-caught seafood.

We list the seafood markets that take EBT below. We gathered this information by contacting customer service representatives at each market.

See our related research for the list of grocery stores that accept EBT.

The List

Boston Public Market

• Location: Boston, MA^[3]
• What it offers: An indoor market with vendors selling a variety of products and foods, including local seafood^[3]
• Open: Year-round from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday^[4]

Portland Fish Market

• Location: Portland, OR^[5]
• What it offers: A variety of wild-caught fish, crab cakes, crab meat, shrimp, oysters, salmon, and more^[5]
• Hours: Year-round from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily^[5]

John Yi Seafood

• Location: John Yi Seafood is located inside the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, PA^[6]
• What it offers: Fish (farmed and wild-caught), shellfish, tuna, salmon, and more^[6]
• Hours: Year-round from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday^[7]

Saltwater Seafood Market

• Location: Raleigh, NC^[8]
• What it offers: Fresh and frozen seafood, including fish, crab, clams, lobster, and more; note that EBT cards are accepted in the market only, not at the restaurant.^[9]
• Hours: Year-round from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; closed on Mondays^[8]

Jersey City Fish Stand

• Location: Jersey City, NJ^[10]
• What it offers: Sustainable, local seafood^[10]
• Hours: Year-round from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; closed on Sundays^[10]

Seafood Places That Don’t Accept EBT

In the course of our research, we found that the following seafood places do not accept EBT:

• Joe’s Crab Shack^[11]
• Red Lobster^[11]
• Bonefish Grill^[11]
• Mac’s Seafood Markets^[11]
• Conrad’s Crabs & Seafood Market^[11]
• 4th Street Shrimp Store^[11]
• Andria’s Seafood Restaurant & Market^[11]
• Atlantic Seafood Market^[11]
• Carolina Fish Market^[11]
• Crab Cake Cafe^[11]
• The District Fishwife^[11]
• The Lobster Place Seafood Market^[11]
• Monahan’s Seafood Market^[11]
• Pappas Seafood Co.^[11]
• Pike Place Fish Market^[11]
• San Pedro Fish Market^[11]
• Santa Monica Seafood Market & Cafe^[11]
• Seattle Fish Guys^[11]
• St. Paul Fish Company^[11]