Another appetite-piqueing starter was baked shrimp, mussels and clams, all in their shells, with a light-textured breadcrumb topping and buttery sauce.

Yet there were also mushy baked shrimp, overwhelmed by their crab stuffing and smothered in shoestring potatoes that seemed out of place on the plate.

We dined on our choice of roast beef au jus or baked stuffed shrimp and the only one of us to have gotten a divorce stared at the rest with defiant eyes.

Recommended dishes: Eggplant rollatini, baked shrimp, capellini with putanesca, sea scallops provencale, chicken a la nonna, quattro stagioni and superiore pizza, strawberries and zabaglione.

Sizzling shrimp diablo is a winner, too - baked shrimp glistening with olives, mildly hot chilies, garlic, scallions and tomatoes, served in an earthenware crock.

Take an appetizer like baked shrimp with asparagus and shiitake mushrooms ($7.50).

I started with the phyllo-and-pistachio-wrapped baked shrimp with three zippy dipping sauces: chipotle ketchup, honey mustard aioli and "Virginia ketchup" (as opposed to Nebraska ketchup?)

The menu, as Grill suggests, is mostly a mixture of grilled and broiled meat, seafood and poultry (chicken or quail), with two exceptions (baked jumbo shrimp and roast wild turkey).

Another bubbly hot casserole contained baked stuffed shrimp.

Seafood entrees include sauteed sliced scallops and conch; squid with ginger and scallions, and baked salted jumbo shrimp.