Friday’s snail mail brought me a menu for Lake Highlands new restaurant Offshore’s Nextdoor (which many of you have chimed in on already), located in the old Hog Wild spot. So Saturday, around 10 p.m., I called them up (the mailer said they were open until midnight). I first asked how late they were open (because even though the menu said midnight, I couldn’t imagine a restaurant in that location doing a whole lot of business after 10 —it ain’t exactly a Saturday night hotspot), and, alas, she said the kitchen closed at 10 p.m. But then she asked what I wanted and said they would go ahead and get it ready for me. Wow, thanks!

When I arrived to pick up my ahi tuna salad and grilled shimp po boy, there were two groups of happy looking people on the patio — a really cool, clean and relatively spacious patio — enjoying drinks.

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When I arrived to pick up my ahi tuna salad and grilled shimp po boy, there were two groups of happy looking people on the patio — a really cool, clean and relatively spacious patio — enjoying drinks.

Inside, it had a real Aw Shucks sort-a feel. That leads me to my one (and so far only) gripe about the place — no oysters on the half shell or boiled crab legs.

After considering the hospitality with which the staff treated me, and observing the cool atmosphere, I really wanted the food to be good — and it was. My husband (who’s in the restaurant business if that means anything) thought they went a little heavy on the spices (both items), but to me it was perfect. I like intense flavor. The tuna was perfectly seared and succulent, and peppered with sesame and cayenne (I think) on a bed of lettuce. A lot of times when I order ahi tuni, I end up with overly oily fish—not here. They didn’t skimp on the shrimp (which can also be ordered fried) on the sandwich — that made my dining partner happy.

Overall: I am super happy to have them in my neighborhood and I look forward to returning — and if they had boiled crab legs I’d be there every day.

Oh, and they offer free wi fi!