Restaurant Review:

One day, I bicycled on the boardwalk near the pier, and the restaurant on the lower level was called Chimayo at the Beach. It didn’t seem that long ago that it was called Savannah at the Beach. Now it was back to Chimayo, and before I pedaled into one of the pier’s concrete support pillars, I had to ask someone at the restaurant if the name was going to stay the same.

I was assured it was. The company that owns Chimayo, Culinary Adventures, has had its share of tumult the past few years. There was Chat Noir near South Coast Plaza, which came and went, and French 75 went through some changes as well, including leaving Fashion Island and heading to Laguna Beach.

The management team, though, has tightened up the company and apparently is focused on its remaining three facilities.

Chimayo has the best location. It is right next to the pier, underneath Duke’s, and has just as good a view as its upstairs neighbor.

My lunch there was on a perfect sunny fall day. The weather was crisp, but there was no need for the overhead heaters on the patio where we sat. The patio should be the first choice for diners.

It seats quite a few people, and the prime seats are near the large brick pit fireplace that rests in the middle of the dining room.

I liked the lunch menu, though it was not as voluminous as I thought it would be. That is not necessarily a bad thing, though. I liked the tightness of the menu; it didn’t seem like there were a lot of repetitions with items and ingredients, except for the appetizers, where there were a couple of lettuce wrap options with either chicken or shrimp.

My guest and I ordered the newest appetizer. The buffalo popcorn shrimp has been on the menu a little more than a month, our waitress said, and she suggested we give it a try.

I am glad we did. The shrimp is pan-cooked and comes out crisp.

The spicy sauce that accompanies it is tangy but doesn’t discourage you from returning for more of the shellfish.

At $12.99, I was a bit taken aback by the price, but there was so much of it that it easily could have been a meal. My guest and I had trouble finishing it off with the entrees we ordered.

My guest got the CABLT sandwich. The grilled chicken sandwich comes with avocado, bacon, lettuce and tomato on a ciabatta roll.

The chicken was pretty fresh, and though I would have asked for chipotle sauce on the side, it was perfectly acceptable.

I just like the chipotle sauce they serve. It was the main reason I ordered the seafood enchiladas. The price is steep at $16.99, and the crab was a little less than I would have liked, but overall it was a good entrée.

There are definitely more items on the menu I want to try. The mahi-mahi sandwich looked intriguing, with a grilled piece of fish and chile aioli.

Another sandwich I liked at first glance was the slow-braised pulled pork with Pacifico beer marinade.

It appears the name changes at Chimayo have stopped for now.

I hope the restaurant keeps the small amount of momentum it has built up, because it could turn into one of the more popular places downtown.

Chimayo at the Beach

Address: 315 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach

Phone: (714) 374-7273

Website: www.culinaryadventures.com

Cuisine: American

Specialty Dish: Braised beef short ribs

Alcohol Served: Full bar

Entrée Price Range: Lunch: $6.99 to $17.99

Family Friendly: Yes, children’s menu

Credit Cards Accepted: American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa

Rating: ***

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants and may be contacted at [email protected] or P.O. Box 2984, Seal Beach, CA 90740.