21 Ninth Avenue (entrance on 13th Street) 212-941-5060 www.emmgrp.com
Seafood, American. When a restaurant is packed by eight, you know it’s a place to be. Every brown bricked, warmly lit, music pumped floor is filled with people out to have a good time. All the fish dishes I tasted (lobster roll, octopus, branzino, crab spaghetti) left me wanting more. They have their desserts down too. The S’mores pizza and banana crème brulee with banana bread pudding and Guinness ice cream are equally decadent. It’s the rare destination that combines outstanding flavor with club sensibilities, but they achieve it effortlessly. Go. Have fun. I dare you not to.