(FORTUNE Magazine) – Common sense has kept many a traveler away from the doors of seafood restaurants in the American heartland, far from the sea. Granted that frozen / fish can, when thawed, be stuffed with herbs, tumbled with almonds, coddled in rich sauces, and festooned with slices of lemon until it looks delectable. The problem is its often vapid taste, especially if it has spent months glaciated in fillet form or has been shipped around, thawing slightly and then refreezing. Dining on seafood thus abused can hardly be expected to compare with the elevating experience of eating a finny creature fresh from the sea, filleted the same day and flopped into a pan. Douglas Buckingham, assistant manager of Anthony's Wharf in Minneapolis, sums up the difference: ''Eating frozen fish is like coming into a room that is stuffy; eating the fresh thing is like coming into a room that has just been aired.'' Thanks to air freight, however, the old rule of common sense no longer necessarily applies. These days, as many fish are apt to be winging around the U.S. at any given time as executives. From Boston alone every day an estimated 41,000 pounds of freshly caught seafood is packed onto beds of ice, trundled into planes, and rushed to destinations often faster than express mail. Restaurateurs who are willing to take the trouble and pay the freight can place seafood before their customers in Des Moines or Kansas City only hours after the wholesaler bought it from the fisherman in Boston, Chesapeake Bay, Oahu, San Diego--or even Holland (turbot and plaice), England (Dover sole), and France (langouste). To give what coast dwellers call ''flyover territory'' its due, midcountry restaurants have long proffered fresh Maine lobsters, oysters, or clams --species that can be shipped live--and, for that matter, admirable freshwater fish from Midwestern lakes and streams, including pike, perch, the ubiquitous catfish, and bass. Rocky Mountain trout is a staple even on coastal seafood restaurant menus. But for many fish eaters freshwater varieties are not as viscerally exciting as those genuine beasts of the sea like pompano and swordfish, she-crabs from the Gulf of Mexico, abalone from the great Pacific, tiny scallops from Long Island's bays. The demand for fish is zooming, and--despite recent drops in air freight rates--so are prices. Fresh shrimps, once nearly as cheap as chicken at coastal markets, now are more expensive than filet mignon. But freshness is worth the price. Following are recommended seafood restaurants visited recently on the interior circuit. All accept the usual credit cards and, unless otherwise noted, reservations are a good idea. * MINNEAPOLIS. Anthony's Wharf occupies the lower level of a former mattress factory tranformed into one of those merchandise warrens of lively specialty shops. A bare-brick place, modernly plain with an open kitchen, it also has a nearby fish store. Through the big glass windows, fine Minnesota snow sifted down persistently the day I was there. The fresh salmon was fine-grained too. Try the shrimp Anthony--shrimp and vegetables redolent with garlic, served over rice; or Boston scrod--fresh baby haddock baked in wine and lemon butter. Open every day; no lunch on Sunday. Telephone: 612-378-7058. CHICAGO. The Cape Cod Room of the Drake has been rightly renowned since 1933, a regular Nantucket on Lake Michigan, even when its ocean fish roared westward from the coast on crack express trains. Cozy, with red-checked tablecloths; the waiters have two stripes on their sleeves, the waiter captains three. The ambiance is marvelous and the fare splendid. Try the Cape bay scallops, broiled. If you can wait 30 minutes, you can order a fine bouillabaisse Marseillaise. Open every day (312-787-2200). The Cape has competition in seven-year-old Nick's Fishmarket. Nick's originated in Hawaii and now occupies sumptuously decorated rooms beside the First National Bank of Chicago's sunken plaza south of the Loop, accessible by elevator. The atmosphere here: tuxedoed waiters, vivid Leroy Neiman prints at the bar, leather chairs. The menu gently warns patrons not to smoke cigars. Nick's seafare is sometimes even a touch finer than the Cape's. Try the Mahimahi (a sport dolphin), flown in from Hawaii, and the house salad, with tiny shrimps peeping up from among the lettuce. Listed modestly on the menu is Caspian caviar, ''price on request.'' Recently that was $45 per ounce. Open Monday through Saturday and occasional Sundays (621-0200). DETROIT. Joe Muer's is an inland seafood classic--big, accomplished, and bustling (FORTUNE, January 28, 1980), and now in its third generation of ownership by the same family. No reservations accepted except for large parties during the week, but patrons do not mind lining up at the entrance. Open daily for dinner, lunch Mondays through Fridays (313-567-1088). DENVER. Pelican Pete's Downtown is only three months old, but it has elder brethren in Boulder (where it began as a simple oyster bar and fish store) and in suburban Aurora. Downtown and Boulder also serve sushi. The new Denver quarters are in a lofty warehouse near the old railroad station, with plenty of Tiffany glass and potted palm trees. Assistant manager Ramiro Sanchez II claims, ''We can get seafood on the table just as fast as a New York fish house can transport it from Fulton Street.'' Open every day; no lunch on Sunday (303-893-3758). ST. LOUIS. In a lavishly furnished house in the close-by suburb of Clayton, the 25-year-old Port St. Louis spreads its nets off Holland, Florida, England, New England, Maryland, and the State of Washington. The service is gracious, the fish excellent, the atmosphere Victorian. Four different salmon are available, three from Washington and one from Norway. Try the broiled fresh Florida tuna and it will spoil canned tuna sandwiches for you forever. Port St. Louis serves only dinners, but does it daily (314-727-1142). PITTSBURGH. In Heidelberg, between the airport and downtown, Wright's Seafood Inn serves fresh Alaskan salmon, Idaho trout, Florida pompano and red snapper, and, from Boston, lemon sole, haddock, and cod, not to mention live lobsters, Long Island oysters and cherrystones, and Norwegian salmon. Wright's also knows just how long to cook the fish over its mesquite grill. Open Monday through Saturday; reservations accepted only Monday through Thursday (412-279-7900). Second only to Wright's for seafood is the spectacular Grand Concourse in the former Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railroad station just across the Monongahela River from the city (FORTUNE, November 16, 1981). Open daily, no lunch Saturdays (261-1717). DALLAS. In a city that has spawned an amazing number of fish restaurants recently, Ratcliffe's is an elder eminence at the ripe old age of four. It still shines. The waiters wear shirt sleeves and long aprons and serve with gusto. The night I was there, fresh prawns had just arrived by air from Alaska and were worth the trip. The sourdough bread is imported too--from San Francisco. A typical daily catch includes Eastern lemon sole, Idaho rainbow trout, Pacific salmon, and Gulf red snapper. Open for dinner daily, lunch served Monday through Friday only (214-748-7480). Even in many of the best restaurants, the seafood is occasionally frozen --kept in stock as a backup in case the fresh runs out. And since most of the shrimp catch is frozen immediately, these days just about all seafood houses have to rely on it except, in some cases, from March to September, when fresh Gulf shrimp can be had. But ask which fish is fresh. In any of these places, you can expect an honest answer.