Frankland's Crab & Co Opens In Encino

Chef Phillip Frankland Lee has opened a new seafood shack in the Valley, located between his other two restaurants, Scratch Bar and Kitchen and Woodley Proper, in a mini-mall on Ventura Boulevard. Frankland's Crab & Co is a casual, intimate spot to savor a variety of seafood-based dishes.

The space is long and narrow, with an ordering counter at the entrance. Diners can eat in or take out. Wooden tables are located both inside and on a small outdoor patio. Tropical leaf-patterned wallpaper, reminiscent of that found at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and a bright red Crab & Co. sign lit up with exposed lightbulbs adorn the walls. Windows look into the next-door Scratch Bar and Kitchen, and a patch of AstroTurf covers the ceiling. Swinging doors lead into Lee's lounge/restaurant Woodley Proper.

The décor is fun, but the food is the draw at this shack. Diners can purchase Gulf shrimp, crab legs, and Maine lobster by the pound, as a sandwich, or on lettuce. There's also a great beer-battered branzino fish and chips and an outstanding "chowda" made with crab, lobster, bacon, and prawns. Other menu items include lobster buttered corn on the cob, fried calamari, potato chips, a fried chicken roll, and fried oysters and clams. The homemade root beer is delicious, and the menu also features plenty of beer and wine choices. Pastry chef Margarita Kallas-Lee (Phillip's wife) makes a killer homemade ice cream sandwich for dessert.

Scratch Bar and Kitchen is great for innovative dishes, Woodley Proper is a perfect spot for good cocktails and bites, and now Lee has opened a fantastic seafood shack. Who knew Encino had such fine food?