Santa Monica's Ocean Avenue Seafood will morph this summer into the Water Grill, a popular, high-end seafood house in downtown Los Angeles known for its raw oyster bar.
The two restaurants are owned by the same parent company, Kings Seafood Co., which also owns 555 East steakhouse in Long Beach.
A spokeswoman would not say what is driving the re-branding in Santa Monica.
A new chef, Damon Gordon, simplified the Water Grill's menu last year to the praise of Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila, who raved about the fish 'n' chips and fritto mist appetizer. Yelp reviewers love the clam chowder.
"In downtown Los Angeles, Water Grill is an institution on the order of Tadich Grill in San Francisco (though not nearly as old)," wrote Virbila.
At Ocean and Santa Monica Boulevard, Ocean Avenue Seafood will close in the next couple of weeks for remodeling. When it opens as the Water Grill, the outdoor dining area will be enclosed, the entry relocated, and the facade redone with painted wood panels, glazed brick and steel-framed windows, according to a permit application filed with the city's planning department.
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