Legal seafood has grown from one restaurant next to their fish market in Cambridge to over 30 restaurants in 8 states and the District of Columbia. What hasn’t changed in over 50 years is their dedication to serving the freshest fish available.

On Friday as we were waiting for the Trolley at Long Wharf we realized that facing us was Legal Seafood. We decided that we would return to have dinner there after we had completed our touring.

We arrived at 5pm. We thought that if we arrived early we could avoid having to wait and we were right. We were seated immediately and were placed our drink orders in a snap. We were given a basket of nice rolls and butter while we looked at our menus.

They have just about anything you could possibly want when it comes to seafood. There are raw choices, 5 types of oysters and 2 kings of clams or f you can’t decide there is the Treasures of the reef an assortment of shucked and chilled raw shellfish. If raw isn’t your thing, and it isn’t mine, there is smoked salmon, steamers, and mussels in a white wine sauce.

If you are looking for Chowda then this is your place with New England and Fish offered as well as Lobster Bisque. I decided to start with a cup of chowder and very good chowder it was. It was creamy but with that clammy brine that keeps it from being too rich and plenty of chunks of potato to enjoy.

Both Irene and I decided to try the same entrée, Legal’s Signature Crab-cake Combo. The combo has one lump crab-cake with grilled shrimp and scallops. It turned out to be a near perfect dish. The crab cake is just that crab, there was almost no visible filler just sweet juicy crab. The scallops and crab were also perfectly cooked, very simply but so perfect that there was not even a hint of the chewyness that is the result of over cooking. The fish was accompanied by a small green salad that was served on the plate with the fish.

You have the option of ordering many kinds of fish wood grilled. It is served with two sides and you can add spices or sauces to personalize your choice. They have many expected choices like popcorn shrimp and fried clams and some really exceptional ones like nutty wild salmon and red onion jam swordfish.

The only place they fell short was in the coffee department. We ordered two cups of decaf. Irene added two creamers to hers and it was still a very dark muddy color. I asked out waiter if it was the bottom of the pot and he said no it has to be new every hour. Well it was awful, I just couldn’t drink it. He took it back and credited our bill for both of them, a satisfactory solution but I would have preferred a good cup of coffee.

There are a few Legal Seafoods in Boston, and many up and down the coast. For locations/addresses, go to www.legalseafoods.com and click on locations.

This was the first place we decided to go after we left the airport. We didn't really have to wait very long. For an appetizer, we both had clam chowder—I would definitely recommend it while in Boston. For a main course, I had a small order of lobster, and my father (who I was dining with) had a shrimp trio platter with three different types of shrimp, coconut shrimp being one of them.

All of the food was very good but kind of pricey, definitely a splurge. You will notice that they really do want you to enjoy your food here, as they will ask you if everything is good about every 10 minutes. I would recommend this restaurant if you are looking to enjoy some quality seafood while in Boston.

The food was a little pricey for my taste, since I was on a tight budget. I just got a crab cake appetizer, and it cost $13 dollars. But they gave me salad and bread with the crab cake. The crab cake was one of the best I've ever had. I had hardly any filler in it and had big chunks of crab.

It was a really nice experience. My wife and I had the tuna fish steak with wasabi as an appetizer. After that, she ordered blackened salmon which looked really good. I had gohan rice with jumbo shrimps lightly covered with shrimp sauce--it was delicious. To drink she had a great pina colada, and I opted for the wine samppler, which had five different wines from the the California and Martha's Vineyard regions.

When the first Legal Seafoods first started popping up, they were situated in the Boston/New England area. As I think about Legal, I can easily remember four loacations in the Boston area: Logan Airoprt, the Park Plaza area, and two in the Copley Place/Prudential Center mall complex.

Legal has good seafood at rather decent prices. They change their menu slightly every few months. My personal fave my last few times at Legal was the salmon burger: salmon ground up and seasoned and served on a bun like a normal burger. They seem to take pride in their clam chowder at Legal, and it's a good buy as a starter.

Most of the Legals have a somewhat rustic, fisherman's look to them--buoys, pictures of boats, and stuffed fish adorn the walls. The Legal in the Colpley mall (above the movie theater) is more of a trendy-looking bar, and I remember the prices being higher here. The menu in the bar is also different. The other Legal in the Prudential section of the mall is better in my mind, and fits into the chain's atmosphere.

Boston is a big seafood town. Legal is a convenient, affordable way to experience seafood in Beantown.