Houston’s Newest Seafood Haven is a Reimagined Classic With a Bold Twist

When Levi Goode — the trustee of his late father Jim Goode’s fabled restaurant empire — makes a move, he goes big. But in the case of his new Memorial-area Goode Company Seafood, he didn’t go far.

He built a new (more than 8,000 square feet) Houston restaurant right next door to the existing Goode Co, which was then closed.

Building upon a seafood legacy that started 33 years ago when the original Goode Company Seafood was launched in a charming old railway car on Westpark at Kirby, Levi Goode (along with Gin Design Group and Studio Red Architecture) has kept the endearing memories of a life spent oystering with the family in Port Aransas. Awash in a sea of blue hues, the wide-open space has a bar shaped like a fishing boat, with the words “starboard” and “port” spelled out on the floor in penny tile.

Sepia-toned photos compiled by photographer Doc McGregor depict a slice of life captured decades ago, when tarpon fishing along the Gulf Coast made the town of Port Aransas renowned, while a large-scale map painted on the wall leads the way to that scenic Texas barrier island.

At the top of the menu, loyalists will find many of their favorites, including campechana de mariscos, the spicy, chilly seafood app that overflows in a sundae coupe, to be scooped up with tortilla chips — a recipe inspired by the beach-side treat Levi’s father loved as a child ($16 to $17). Other new dishes are exclusive to this location, including two seafood towers groaning with oysters, jumbo shrimp, marinated blue crab claws, jumbo lump ravigote and the aforementioned campechana: The Pearl (serves two to three, $65) and Grand Prize (serves four to six, $125).

New starters include shrimp etouffée hand pies (crisp, warm empanada-like pouches filled with the classic creole and Cajun shrimp dish, $8) and the fried oyster BLT slider ($6). Feeling rich and skinny? Try the jumbo lump crab au gratin in a mushroom sherry cream sauce topped with cheddar and baked until what lies beneath is bubbling hot ($35).

This Memorial Goode Company Seafood is open continuously for lunch and dinner seven days a week.