Photo by Glenn Govot, courtesy of Southport Raw Bar & Restaurant
Southport is probably the most rustic locale in South Florida to sport free wi-fi, but nobody cares: A computer would only serve to distract you from the eye-popping menu served by Jack, Pat, and Buddy a marvel of freshness, generosity, and kinky economics. Raw-barring folks will want to start with the Raw Seafood Combo, comprised of four clams, four oysters, and four spiced (with pickling spice and beer!) shrimp, all of surpassing freshness. This comes at you for "market price," but those two words don't mean the same at Southport as they do elsewhere (where "market price" is code for "we will now rape your wallet, thanks."). From these cold and reasonably priced beginnings, you can investigate what these folks can do with heat: fried clam strips like you haven't seen since you were last in New England ($5), baked stuffed clams ($5.75), and a thing called "Oysters Southport" (read: Rockefeller) that are, no shit, the best you've ever had ($7.25). Once you've mowed your way through a few dozen pounds of shellfish (and, by the way, you must try the fried scallops), you might want to note the bacon cheeseburger for $3.75. It's not shellfish, but who cares? It goes great with shellfish. And so does Yuengling, on tap along with many other brews for a mere $2.75 a glass.