Since reopening after renovation in early 2012 with a new menu and a new chef, Water Grill has become less of an innovative concept restaurant and more of a traditional seafood house. This doesn’t please all fans of what was anointed L.A.’s best seafood restaurant, but I think it should well suit the average diner just wants some good fish. The elegant dining room, with its crenellated ceiling, marble walls and leather seats, has been modernized but remains in step with the 1922 landmark building it occupies. An extensive raw bar with at least 10 kinds of oysters is its big selling point, but the menu, while more straightforward than in its earlier days, shows some imagination. The fritto misto appetizer is a pleasing medley of wild calamari, Mexican bay scallops, white shrimp, a variety of fish and vegetables. Farmed Ecuadorian shrimp is served with grits and merguez sausage ragout; house-made squid ink pasta comes with charcoal-grilled calamari and salsa verde. Simple, but not predictable. Note: A second location of Water Grill opened in Santa Monica at the end of 2013 at 1401 Ocean Ave. (at Santa Monica Boulevard; tel. 310/394-5669.)

-Christine Delsol