When Robert Frost wrote, "good fences make good neighbors," he was speaking as a died-in-the-wool New Englander. Like Frost, I'm not originally from New England, but I lived there for 16 winters, and each one is ingrained in my memory like a tattoo. And while I'll never be a New Englander, I can at least purport to understand them.
My first summer of living in Rhode Island, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to grasp local tastes. After about five visits to local restaurants I pointed at a few menu items and asked the Flo-with-a-Warwick accented waitress what they were, please: Quahogs, cherrystones, steamers?
"They're clams, honey," she sighed, and poured me more coffee.
Clams, lobster, oysters and, further north towards Maine, mussels — these are the things, besides coffee milk and Del's lemonade, that New Englanders like to eat. These are the things, minus the coffee milk and lemonade, on Legal Sea Foods' menu.
The story goes (and you can read it on your Legal Sea Foods placemat) that George Berkowitz, who cooked the seafood from his father's shop next door, founded Legal in Cambridge in 1968. A popular mid-sized "group" of restaurants (the company goes to great pains to emphasize that it is not a chain), in 2008 the family-owned business has restaurants in Washington D.C. and Florida, besides the many operating in New England. This is its first in Atlanta, but there may be more to come.
George's son, Roger, who now runs the business, fell in love with the Luckie Marietta District in downtown Atlanta because of its proximity to the Georgia Aquarium. The restaurant is positioned nicely in the Hilton Garden Inn, with an inspiring view of Atlanta's skyline, but its ambience is more cookie cutter than quaint.
"Lots of Northerners have relocated in Atlanta because of the weather and standard of living. There's a young, vibrant demographic there that we wanted to be a part of," Berkowitz told me via phone.
Well, welcome South, y'all. Bless your hearts.
Atlanta's incarnation of Legal Sea Foods is no better or worse than any of the many I've dined at across New England. The New England style "chowdah" is still a trademark, rife with chunks of potatoes, clams and creamy goodness. The fact that Legal also has a thriving retail business that prepares all the chowder (and many of the other dishes) in Boston then ships it to oh, wherever, doesn't get in the way of the goodness of a bowl of the creamy white stuff. One thing the company can be proud of is consistency.
But like a true New Englander, Legal loses a little something of its heritage when it steps too far away from home. Berkowitz explained to me that the company researched Atlanta and the South before putting indigenous dishes such as shrimp and grits and Louisiana shrimp gumbo on the menu.
But throwing fried catfish on a bun and slapping some bacon around shrimp doesn't make you Southern, any more than I can claim to be from Boston. They wouldn't claim me, and Legal should stick to what it does best — "chowdah," "lobstah rolls," "steamahs" (steamers are steamed clams with butter, honey). Shrimp and grits are too salty, wrapped in bacon overkill and the grits are pasty and downright weird. That gumbo smacks of the shelf, not a chef's touch. A peach-and-pecan cobbler is plain insulting, with an odd, nutty crust and out-of-season peaches. This is one case where "when in Rome" doesn't cut it.
So skip the Southern stuff and go north: Start with a bowl of white chowder, New England style, and move to the crab cake, chock full of so much lump meat that it barely stays together, even after a light searing. Served with a coarse-grain mustard smear, it makes for fun eating. Or try a bowl of those steamers, dripping with butter.
Maybe even go for a one-and-a-half pounder (that's lobster, honey) with nothing more than a bib and some drawn butter. And go back for a lobster roll — perhaps the best thing to ever come out of New England: a big, fluffy hot dog roll (not a bun, honey) split and filled with chunks of lobster meat tossed with celery and mayo.
Drink a beer, and fill up on a platter of perfectly fried scrod (the New England term for cod) but save room for some Boston cream pie for dessert. You'll be overlooking Atlanta's incredible, ever-changing skyline, but your taste buds will be visiting New England.
Legal Sea Foods in Atlanta is missing that stubborn streak New Englanders are so famous for – it would do better to let fences make good neighbors and stick to what it does best: New England-style seafood.
Food: Seafood
Service: A casual, though never apathetic, attitude in a casual atmosphere. Prompt and courteous.
Address, telephone: 275 Baker Street, 678-500-3700
Price range: $$ - $$$
Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, DiscoverHours of operation:
Best Dishes: New England clam chowder, crab cake, fried scrod or fried seafood platter, steamers, lobster roll
Vegetarian Dishes: Salads and a variety of side dshes
Children: Yes
Parking: $10 valet ($5 validation) through the hotel, or self park for $10 to $20 with a $5 validation
Reservations: Yes
Wheelchair access: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Noise level: Medium
Patio: Balcony
Takeout: Available
Website: www.legalseafoods.com
KEY TO RATINGS
Outstanding: Sets the standard for fine dining in the region. 
Excellent: One of the best in the Atlanta area. 
Very good: Merits a drive if you're looking for this kind of dining. Good: A worthy addition to its neighborhood, but food may be hit or miss. 
Fair: The food is more miss than hit.
Restaurants that do not meet these criteria may be rated Poor.
PRICING CODE: $$$$$ means more than $75; $$$$ means $75 and less; $$$ means $50 and less; $$ means $25 and less; $ means $15 and less. (The price code represents a meal for one that includes appetizer, entree and dessert without including tax, tip and cocktails.)
