Tarpon Bend Raw Bar & Grill

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. Read more.