Restaurant talk: 20 Feet Seafood Joint

Blackened Shrimp w Grits and Slaw

Marc Cassel’s new 20 Feet Seafood Joint isn’t in Lake Highlands exactly (it’s in East Dallas) and it isn’t very big (it holds fewer than 50 people), so imagine my surprise when I showed up there Saturday night to celebrate a buddy’s birthday and found an LH friend at virtually every table. We were hootin’ and hollerin’ and visiting table-to-table. That is until the food arrived. Then, the only words I heard were, “can I have some of that?” and “mmmmm.”

Trissie Osborn and Susan Brooks proclaimed the Blackened Shrimp and Grits ($14) to be the best they’d ever had, and they both know a little something about grits. Trissie grew up in Clarksdale, Mississippi and Susan has zigzagged across the South visiting one son in military training at Fort Benning and another at Ole Miss.

Shrimp Po Boy w Fries

Birthday Boy Phil Osborn, who opted for the Shrimp Po Boy ($9) sans bread, said the batter on the shrimp was “light and fluffy, not bready,” and didn’t overpower the shrimp. Bill Brooks agreed and said the shrimp was so big, the sandwich wouldn’t fit in his mouth so he had to eat it with a knife and fork.

Randy Merrill was a fan of the beefy mushrooms on his Salmon and Portobello special ($14). He liked the seasoning but found the fish a little dry. Cheryl Morgan loved her Fish and Chips ($14) and said it was the best she’d had since she chaperoned the Wildcat Wranglers on a trip to London.

Salmon w Portobello Mushrooms

My hubby’s New England Clam Chowda ($7) was delish, and my Shrimp Caesar ($12) was a big, dense bowl with fresh shrimp morsels still hiding way down deep in the bottom, not missing-in-action after I ate the first layer off the top. Our table shared a couple of bowls of French fries ($4), thinly-cut with plenty of pepper.

20 Feet is awaiting a liquor license, so it’s BYOB. You order at the counter and seat yourself, but the friendly staff helped us put tables together for our group. They share a strip center (and parking lot) with the popular Goodfriend Beer Garden and Burger House and Good 2 Go Taco. It was a happening place prime time Saturday night, but we found seats and parking easily enough.