Offer the most popular seafood products

There is a large variety of seafood readily available to the average restaurateur. Among the most popular are shrimp, crab, tuna, cod, salmon, scallops, clams, crayfish, lobster and mussels. For the more exotic palate find octopus, squid (calamari), caviar and exotic fishes like shark. Decide on the seafood you are going to offer based on the theme of your restaurant, your budget for seafood imports and your local variety.

I recommend: Cookery Online offers seafood information in the way of cuts and folds of fish, with pictures, and an extensive alphabetical listing of seafoods, basic physical characteristics and preparation tips. Visit iSeafood's Learning Center for ways to prepare the most popular of seafood varieties and information about seafood in general.

Spot fresh, high-quality seafood when selecting what to buy for your customers

For the freshest quality seafood available, shop at a local fish market if you live in a city with one. Get there early, as the boats come in before dawn. Seafood should never actually smell like fish; it should have a slightly sweet sea smell. The skin on fish should be firm and the eyes bright, not cloudy. For shellfish, look for bright colors and no visible damage to the shell.

I recommend: Whole Foods offers great information about properly purchasing seafood and what to look for in high quality, fresh seafood. Pike Place Market is one of the most-renowned fish markets, located in Seattle, Washington, it offers a large variety of local, fresh, high-quality seafood.

Find seafood distributors and get the best deal

Shop seasonally for the best value and to offer your patrons a fresh seafood experience. They will also appreciate the variety in the menu from season to season. There are many seafood importers, seafood exporters and seafood wholesalers, as well as fish markets from which to choose.

I recommend: Try The Fresh Lobster Company to buy seafood wholesale; they carry fresh fish as well as gourmet desserts and marinated meats. Always Fresh Fish processes more than 50,000 pounds of fresh fish each week, so they can easily handle anything from a smaller wholesale order (a minimum of 20 pounds is required for wholesale pricing) to volume ordering. Pacific Seafood is a major distributor of fresh fish in the western U.S. and Gordon Food Service offers a wide variety of wholesale fish choices in Canada, and the U.S. Midwest and Sourth.  For frozen shellfish or prepared breaded fish portions, try some of the big names in wholesale foods, Sysco or Performance Food Group.