A family-run fish market tucked into a parking lot between two Cambridgeport residences. Lobster salad comes as a toasted Scali bread sandwich, a bag of Utz chips on the side. Dine at a picnic table beside the cars or in a tent. Louis Mastrangelo opened the quirky spot in the 1990s; he lives in the house draped with buoys that overlooks the shop.

Most lobster rolls come with the meat tossed in mayo or drizzled with melted butter. Then there’s the lobster roll at Eventide, the Fenway sequel to the original restaurant in Portland, Maine. Served on a fluffy steamed bun — like a cross between Wonder bread and dim sum bao — the lobster here is enriched with nutty brown butter, which lends umami and depth without overwhelming the delicate flavor of the meat.

A fish shack in the middle of Boston’s waterfront, trucks whizzing by. You can smell the ocean. The iconic lobster roll mixes chunks of meat with mayo or butter, packed into a toasted, unbuttered top-loaded roll. James Hook and his sons trucked lobsters from the North Atlantic to the Boston fish pier 100 years ago, and the business is still family run. The lines are long; the wait is worth it.

What more can be said about the lobster roll at Neptune Oyster? It is justifiably the best-known roll in town, written about ad infinitum, famed for a reason. No list of the best could exist without it. Here, then, it is, in all its glory. There is no such thing as enough lobster, but the generous portion of fresh, sweet seafood served here on a toasted brioche roll comes close.

Even if you prefer the cold lobster roll, betray your instincts and order the warm version here at Row 34’s Fort Point outpost (others are in Cambridge, Burlington, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire). Chef Jeremy Sewall has long been a big name in Boston’s seafood scene, first at the now-shuttered Island Creek Oyster Bar in Kenmore Square and now at the stylish Row 34.

A window into New England’s historic charm against a no-frills backdrop, this family-owned spot offers an authentic taste of generations-old fishing traditions. Its famous cold lobster roll, served in tender brioche buns alongside fresh fries or coleslaw, comes overflowing with claws and tails mixed with crunchy celery bits.

Belle Isle serves rolls piled high with big bites of super-fresh lobster (the place is also a seafood market), with a view of the water as well as airplanes flying in and out of nearby Logan. What more could you want? It’s a genius place to take kids, and the fried seafood platter is almost as good as the justifiably famed lobster roll.