Spend any serious time eating out in the Ann Arbor area and you'll learn one thing for sure: the chefs of this small but cosmopolitan city and its environs take their seafood very seriously.

Fish is a big deal here and with the demand for high-quality, ultra-fresh seafood as rigorous as it is here, shipments arrive every day bearing saltwater catches from both coasts, and freshwater fish from all over the Great Lakes region.

Stop number one in this informal tour of Ann Arbor area seafood restaurants is the Gandy Dancer (401 Depot Street, (734-769-0592). Housed in the former Michigan Central Depot-the fanciful, turreted stone train station that was Ann Arbor transportation hub for decades-the Gandy Dancer manages to be both elegant and relaxed at the same time. Long a favorite for parties, business lunches and plenty of romantic dinners for two, the Gandy Dancer also offers up some of the finest seafood in the area, everything from robust Atlantic salmon and Alaskan halibut to Great Lakes walleye and yellowfin tuna. Charley's Bucket features a 1 ¼-pound Maine lobster, king crab, clams, mussels, potatoes and corn. An excellent wine list augments a fine dining experience that gets occasionally-and delightfully-loud for a moment as the Lakeside Limited train from (or to) Chicago pulls into the Amtrak station next door.

A stalwart Ann Arbor favorite that somehow always seems fresh and new is the Real Seafood Company (341 S. Main Street, between Liberty and William, 734-769-7738). Spacious and warmly elegant, the RSC specializes in seafood from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. A friendly and extremely knowledgeable waitstaff will guide you through a huge and varied menu with creative specials that change each week. Great salads and soups and THE best pre-meal bread in town set this place apart, as does a terrific birthday offer: go in on the exact day of your birth (you'll need to prove it) and they'll knock the price of your dinner off the check. This is one of the best deals in town and helps foster a celebratory air that spins through the room at all times.

Drive south down Main Street, past the Stadium, past I-94, through about five minutes of lovely farmland and you'll get to the charming town of Saline (pronounced "suh-leen") where Mac's Acadian Seafood (104 E. Michigan Ave., 734-944-6227) has built a huge and devoted following. What's Cajun-inspired seafood doing in the middle of Michigan farm country? It's getting eaten, and with great enthusiasm. This fun, creative menu features the usual Cajun fare-etoufee, jambalaya, gumbo-balanced with non-Cajun favorites like fish'n'chips and crab cakes. Definitely worth the trip.

And 20 minutes west of Ann Arbor, in the quaint burg of Chelsea, in what was once Dancer's Department Store, the Common Grill (112 S. Main Street, 734-475-0470) has lines out the door on any weekend night. While this gorgeous restaurant offers a diverse menu, the nightly seafood offerings range from the simple ("Rainbow Trout") to the complex ("Grilled Ahi Tuna Salad Nicoise with mixed greens, French beans, asparagus, redskin potatoes, oil-cured black olives and feta cheese in a roasted lemon-basil vinaigrette…").