Connie & Ted’s

8171 Santa Monica Blvd. West Hollywood, CA

Connie and Ted’s in West Hollywood is a temple to the kind of seafood that doesn’t need saving, it just needs opening, shucking, and devouring. It’s New England by way of Sunset Boulevard — a clean, gleaming shrine to salt, brine, and butter.

The raw bar is a minor miracle. Oysters laid out like jewels, each one tasting of a different shoreline. The clams are cold, the shrimp unapologetically plump, and the whole thing carries the sort of unspoken challenge you’d expect from a bar full of sailors: keep up, or step aside.

And then there are the stuffies — clams reborn with breadcrumbs, herbs, and a slap of heat, each bite a small, nostalgic act of heroics at sea. They’re golden brown and glorious. Have them with a beer or a glass of chablis on your walk in Weho.