No Soft Sell

Another appetizer, the oysters Rockefeller ($9.50), brought only five oysters; when I asked the server why, he said that the thinking in the kitchen was that the extra stuff on the oysters warranted taking one away. Talk about cheap. The "stuff" turned out to be fresh spinach (a good move) that had been creamed with what sometimes tasted like nutmeg, sometimes tasted like parmesan and sometimes tasted like vanilla, depending on which oyster we were eating. Weird.

An order of fries ($1) came out mostly soggy, and that was one of the very few items the vegetarian in our group could order. He was forced to go with the only non-meat dish on the menu for his entree, the fettuccine Alfredo ($9.90), not something one would expect in a crab shack, and it needed something--like salt, or garlic, or flavor. And the Hawaiian ahi ($17.50) was the saddest tuna I've ever encountered, supposedly glazed in a soy-ginger sauce and then grilled, but tasting of nothing but the grill; one side had been cooked more than the other, and the piece was chewier than it should have been, even though the center was raw. It was served over a pile of regular old green cabbage--something like this really calls for Asian--that had been drenched in soy sauce, and this was inexplicably sided by coleslaw, along with the standard red potatoes I'd ordered.

After all that, we were surprised to find out that Anita's makes its own desserts and even more surprised to receive a lime-packed piece of Key lime pie ($3.95). Unfortunately, no one had checked to see if this obviously frozen pie had thawed all the way through before being served. It hadn't.

But it was kind of entertaining to watch each other cringe from the pain of biting down on something frozen. Still, that probably wasn't as painful as it will be for the folks at Anita's when they realize how much work it will take to stay afloat in this competitive market.

Swanky's, 1938 Blake Street, 303-297-2399. Hours: 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday-Saturday.

Anita's Crab Shack, 1801 Wynkoop Street, 303-308-9933. Hours: 4-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 4 p.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday; 4-10 p.m. Sunday.