Eddie V's Prime Seafood

The first thing you notice at Eddie V's Prime Seafood: The white waistcoats on the servers. Yeah, it's that kind of place: Traditional, even retro, in layout and style, with a few key modern touches—especially on the menu—that keep things 21st century, from a chilled bottle of Fiji for water to a slightly springy table surface (great for elbows when deep in conversation).

Bypassing the enormous raw bar near the entrance (you can actually sit down at it and pick out your own protein), the dining room is deceptively large and has a wall of tinted windows looking into the spotless, stainless steel kitchen. The portions are huge and uniformly well-executed, from Alaskan king crab crudo served over diced avocado and cantaloupe to a Maryland crab cake that's all crab and just a hint of cake. The crab-stuffed shrimp is impossible to resist and the Chilean sea bass steamed Hong-Kong style in a soy-sherry sauce is a great example of a more modern fusion dish. If you've saved any room for dessert—impossible, I know, but try—order the Bananas Foster. There's nothing earth-shaking or genre-busting going on here, but it is nice to see seafood classics executed extremely well.

The owners seem to think Eddie V's will be a winner in Houston—there's already a second Houston location in the works at West Ave.