It must be restaurant season. Saltwater Crab opens today just west of Overton Square, in the former Indian Pass, with a large menu of seafood items that range from boils to sushi to fish entrees and grouper sandwiches. It’s owned by Gary Lin from Atlanta, who has opened more than 30 restaurants around the country since he immigrated from China 30 years ago; he currently owns five places in Atlanta, two authentic Chinese restaurants, one Chinese-American place, and two barbecue restaurants.

He’s redone the interior of what was most recently Indian Pass (and Chiwawa before that), added a nice bar program, and has hired restaurant veterans Cliff Ward from The Second Line, Sam Miller (Erling’s, Guest House at Graceland) and Andy Knight (Loflin Yard).

Saltwater Crab’s menu is large and extends far beyond boils, but it’s one of several recently opened up and coming restaurants to offer the boiled and bagged take on shrimp and crab. Red Hook, which opened in Bartlett last month, and Ocean Blue, which opened in Bartlett last week, are two others. Red Hook will open another location at Poplar and Holmes soon, and at least two more similar restaurants are forthcoming.

We’ll see how it plays out, but one thing is certain: No more complaining about there not being enough places for seafood in Memphis. As for Lin, whether he’ll open more restaurants in Memphis depends. “Let’s see how it likes my pocket.”

Destination: Delicious

Our first July event is July 11, when we’ll host our monthly tasting at The Casual Pint, 395 S. Highland. I’m really looking forward to this one, as it’s about as Memphis-centric as you can get, and it’s one for the beer lovers. We’ll start at 6:30 p.m. with a pint of Delta Sunshine pilsner, which you can sip as you mingle. When we take our seats, we’ll sample beers from the other six local breweries: Philbert from Wiseacre, Lost Hive from Ghost River, Margarita Gose from Crosstown, 201 Hoplar from Meddlesome, Mexican lager from High Cotton and Fireside from Memphis Made. Representatives from some of the breweries will be around to tell us about their beer and answer questions. When we’re done, you can order a pint of any one of the 28 drafts on tap to cap off the night. Meat and cheese trays and heavy hors d’oeuvres will fill your belly, too.

The price is $48 for subscribers and $55 for non-subscribers, and it includes your beer, food, tax and tip. Click here to get your tickets; subscribers, check your email for your promo code for your discount. 

And mark your calendars: Our lunch this month is July 19, and our dinner is July 30. More details to come; tickets for the lunch will go on sale next Monday.