Tarpon Bend Raw Bar & Grill

• Cuisine(s): Seafood
  Hours: Sun-Mon 11:30am-10pm, Tue-Thu 11:30am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am-12am
  Price: $$$
  Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards
• Attire: Casual
  Features: Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout, Private Party, Kid Friendly
  Serving: Dinner, Late Night, Lunch
  Entertainment: Live Entertainment
• Alcohol: Full bar
  Reservations: Accepted, Required for Large Parties
  Parking: Street, Valet

Description

The third of a small, growing chain of casual seafood eateries, Tarpon's 200-seat room offers a limited raw bar -- three varieties of oyster, stone crabs and inventive ceviches. Warm appetizers are appealing, none more so than middleneck clams (from Florida's west coast) pan-roasted in a spicy white wine and tomato broth, with grilled triangular toasts for sopping up the garlic-and-herb-pepped liquid. Catch of the day specials reel in a quartet of filleted fin fish that's likely to include snapper, grouper, mahi-mahi, and salmon, each grilled and served simply with lemon wedge. If you fish through the small pool of wines long enough, you're liable to hook up with a neat Napa or try an affordable Chilean Cab like Mars and Venus ($7/glass; $24/bottle.) A couple of steaks, pork loin, and herb-roasted chicken comprise the non-seafood courses, but you might want to forgo the red meat in favor of the steamed Maine lobster served with red skinned potato salad and seasonal vegetables. A comforting soup and chowder menu rotates each day of the week. Not all the fare here is as impressive, and service needs to be thrown a lifesaver, but Tarpon Bend succeeds at being a fun, informal place to knock down a cold brew or enjoy a decent seafood dinner at a moderate price.