East Coast Grill is too casual to be described as “fine dining,” but the prices reflect the super high quality of the fish, spices, meats, and local vegetables, not the atmosphere of the restaurant, which is more like a seafood shack by the sea transplanted to Inman Square than a softly lit, white glove fine dining establishment. You’ll either get it or you won’t.

The brunch is the best in town with big latin flavors (tortilla rellonos!), small plates abound (pork stuffed banana!), and a make-your-own bloody mary bar that has many, many options… including in-house hot sauce Real Inner Beauty. Careful with that stuff, its an eye opener. Definitely not for the faint of heart. The same can be said of the legendarily spicy Hell Nights.

For dinner I recommend the black board specials, which change about every month and reflect local and seasonal ingredients. Tried and true favs are the white pepper grilled tuna, the mahi mahi, brisket, tuna tacos, dumplings, wetbones (smoked pork ribs lathered in a sticky sweet sauce)… The prices are high but they reflect on the quality, which IMO is consistently the best seafood in Boston / Cambridge.

For staying so good for almost 25 years the cooks in the open kitchen are kind of heroes. Accordingly, the menu offers an opportunity to purchase for them a thirst-quenching six pack of PBR tallboys. If you enjoy your meal here, that’s the ultimate way to say “thank you.”

I’m glad to see the star rating isn’t a 5. Many review sites rate this highly, but I have to say that for $20+ for a main course, I expect a lot more flavorful experience than is delivered. This place is definitely yuppyville and (at the prices they charge) survives on word-of-mouth more than on its menu. Not to say the food isn’t good, just not great or inventive while being way overpriced.