I will be in Boston on Friday evening, May 30th. I will have about 2.5 hours before my train leaves. I would really like to eat at a good seafood restaurant that is fairly convenient to the airport and train station. Is there any recommendations? Is there a restaurant at the airport that would be a good choice? I would be willing to take a taxi if needed.

You are coming in by plane and leaving by train?
There is a Legal Seafood in the airport. If you are coming in on Delta or Continental via Termainal A, even better, a Jasper White's Summer Shack but it't inside the terminal between the gates and security. There is also a good, sitdown Legals in Terminal C.
If you want something near train (I assume South Station), lots in the area.
The Blue Line (which is actually an underground Bus) goes between the Airport and South Station and is convenient.

If you're flying into Logan, then taking a train out of South Station, you should aim for eating near South Station instead of at the airport.

You should take the Silver Line NOT the blue line to get from the airport to South Station.

Is Legal Seafood really that good? I've avoided it because it seems like such a chain and maybe an overpriced one at that. But everytime someone asks about seafood it's the first thing that gets recommended.

I'll echo yk's idea to get to South Station before eating somewhere. BTW, note that Summer Shack dishes up subpar food at high prices and is a must to avoid.

The best seafood place in the more or less general area is Neptune Oyster (in the North End), but it's not so easily convenient with your time constraints. Two possible options:

1. off the Silver Line a few blocks away from the Silver Line Way stop is a mildly dumpy seafood shack style place, Yankee Lobster. A less reliable option is the No Name, also not far from that stop. Please do not consider the Barking Crab, also in that area, and a place that rightly has a reputation for unacceptably grungy digs and not-so-sanitary food handling -- I've gotten sick eating there twice.

2. a more radical notion. Chinatown is only a few blocks walk away from South Station, and you might consider a good Hong Kong seafood style Chinese place like East Ocean City or Peach Farm, both excellent.

Re Legal Seafood: it's not bad, though there are better seafood places in Boston. One can do worse.

Bachslunch, what would you suggest for better places?

I have never taken the blue line, so not sure how much time would be spent getting from terminal to train....but you could get of at aquarium and either go to Legal Seafood or Todd English' Kingfish Hall in Fanuel Hall... and jump a cab to SStation unless you have time for the leisurly walk.

We still need to know if OP is arriving on plane and leaving someplace on train or some other arrangement. If this is the case, why is s/he looking for food at airport - why not near South Station where train is likely to leave from - or North Station if local commuter rail.

Standard seafood spots better than Legal's in Eastern Massachusetts?

Judging from my experiences, Neptune Oyster and B&G Oysters in Boston, East Coast Grill in Cambridge, and Clam Box and J.T. Farnham's on the North Shore all qualify. I think Dolphin Seafood (Cambridge) is as good as Legal's, with better prices. And some dumpy Boston spots like Yankee Lobster and Morse Fish can provide worthy seafood at first-rate prices.

Legal's certainly isn't bad, but it's possible to do better locally. Atlantic Fish, Kingfish Hall, Turner Fisheries, and the McCormick & Schmick's chain (all in Boston) are about comparable. It's normally better than No Name or Salty Dog (both Boston) and miles better than Summer Shack (Cambridge, Boston) or Barking Crab (Boston).

Legal Seafood started in Cambridge in Central Square as a fish market and, certainly, when it first opened as a restaurant, it was very good, especially in the very mediocre restaurant scene in Boston at the time.

If you take the blue line from the airport, you can get off at the "aquarium" stop. I personally think that the Legal Seafood there is quite good. No, not the "best" seafood in the Boston area but the location is good and the food is consistent and offers a wide selection of fresh seafood.

Also at the aquarium stop, you can go to Quincy Market. Kingfish Hall is fun and generally good. Not as wide selection of seafood but what they offer will be more "interesting".

You cannot reliably get from the airport to South Station via the T AND have time to eat a reasonable dinner in 2.5 hours. If your plane is late, and you should expect that on a Friday evening, or if the T the shuttle bus is delayed, you are out of luck. You can get to South Station, but you can't take the time to eat a meal on the way on a Friday night.

I lived at Harbor Towers, next door to the Aquarium for ten years, so I can speak with some authority.

If you want seafood and don't require a restaurant meal, you can pick up a takeaway lobster roll or two and some chowder at one of the Legal branches in the airport, and take the Silver Line to South Station, where you can have a picnic at one of the tables near the generally wretched food court in the arrival and departure hall.

As to the great Legal debate: the quality of the fish is superb, the quality of the cooking is excellent, the recipes are generally stodgy and boring, and the service is generally awful, with the recent exception of Legalbar in Terminal B (the American side) at Logan.

I've seen a couple of negative comments about the Barking Crab and Legal Seafoods on this thread. My experience at both has been positive. The barking crab is super casual, though. If you're looking for an outstanding seafood experience, this might not be the place for you, but personally, I like it. I've gone to Legal several times, and on each occasion, I've had good service (sometimes excellent) and the meals were of good quality, though pricey. As for your timing, I'm not sure, but you might be able to take the water taxi to Rowes Wharf and walk along the waterfront over to the Legal Seafoods at the Aquarium location - but it could be tight.

Well, we needed to grab lunch quickly and since we were staying at the Marriott Longs Wharf we made a reservation on OpenTable and tried Legal. It was a disappointing experience. Since it was a beautiful day we opted for the outside dining. We had to go inside to check in and it seemed very noisey.

Outside the tables seemed to be unnecessarily awkwardly situated and halfway through the meal someone was seated literally at my elbow at the next table (a table for 2, seated on the corners of the table).

Our wait team was overly familiar, not in a nice way. The girl who took our order really pushed the lobster roll. My daughter had that and admittedly it was tasty (at $23). My crab cake was miniscule and not particularly memorable. I opted for broccolli instead of fries and it came in a separate bowl, leaving my plate looking pretty bare with a tiny crab cake and a pile of very wilted, soggy mixed green salad. Our ice tea came in plastic glasses and we were each given one packet of splenda.

Maybe we should have eaten indoors (then we wouldn't have had the screaming kid two tables down at least) and it would have been more formal and a better experience. I probably will try some of the other seafood options next time.

Now last night in Providence I had one of the best meals I've ever had; scallops and lobster on squid ink pasta with the most delectible lemon butter sauce. I haven't had a scallop that tasty in years!

IMHO Legal Seafood is reliably acceptable - everything will be OK and you won;t get sick. But - it's certainly nothing special to write home about.