Where to eat seafood on Fridays (or any other day):

        Several popular seafood restaurants closed recently. But, as always happens on the restaurant scene, several new ones opened, so there are plenty of seafood specialty restaurants to try.

        Seafood here tends toward the upscale, white-tablecloth end of the price scale. That's OK. Seafood deserves careful treatment.

        The closings included all the area Shells restaurants, which served seafood in quantity, fairly cheaply, a step up from the more ubiquitous Red Lobster.

        Also closed is Sweeney's in Roselawn, which left numerous regulars bereft, with nowhere to eat simple broiled and grilled seafood in a comfortable setting.

        For inexpensive seafood, there's Joe's Crab Shack on the river in Bellevue. Its menu features all kinds of crabs and other shellfish and fish. The ambience is concrete floors, loud music, big mixed drinks and a deliberately tacky atmosphere. (859) 581-6333.

        Mitchell's Fish Market at Newport on the Levee has been busy since it opened in October. The menu covers all the bases, from fried seafood to elaborate fish creations. Prices are on the high side of moderate. (859) 291-7454.

        Uncle Yip's Fusion Cuisine opened in September in Fairfield. The menu is heavy on crabs and lobsters, and has both straightforward steamed dinners and Asian-style preparations such as ginger and scallion or Thai. 942-6512.

        In early March, Ferrari's Little Italy in Harper's Point (Symmes Township) will reopen as a seafood restaurant called Kingfish Grill. It will have a raw bar, six or seven catches of the day, and contemporary fish preparations. 489-9777.

        Those are just the newest. There are also the standbys: along the river there's Mike Fink in Covington, known for its raw bar; Michael G's in Columbia Tusculum, with carefully served simple fish, and the Four Seasons Restaurant in the same-named marina, Columbia Tusculum, which has a seafood buffet on Fridays.

        Jimmy Gherardi's J's in Hyde Park is upscale and contemporary. Florida-inspired Pelican's Reef in Anderson Township is casual, with a good grouper sandwich. The Green Derby in Newport serves a famous fish sandwich, as well as other fish preparations, and Uncle Yip's in Evendale makes a specialty of Chinese seafood.

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