The long-awaited Raleigh location for McCormick & Schmick’s opens today. The high-end chain was rumored to be going into about 12 different new projects in Raleigh at one time or another, but in the end they settled on Crabtree’s dreadful parking deck expansion.

The restaurant is basically seafood’s answer to Sullivan’s, and if Wednesday night’s grand opening party is any indication, M&S will be a perfect fit for a market needing high-end seafood that even land-lubbers would like. The decor is extremely buttoned down, contemporary with a hint of Asian influence. Three stained glass light fixtures over the bar honoring the area’s major college’s remind us that we aren’t in Anywhere, USA. While we were able to sample only a small portion of the menu at the special event, the samples were all we needed to know that their deep-frying techniques and sauce-making are spot-on.

They’ve done a couple of lunches this week that have already gotten rave reviews. My trusty sources started out with the delicious Shrimp Flat-bread Pizza appetizer (w/ tomatoes and mozzarella). It was just under 12″ in diameter and had a very thin crust. Next, they moved on to the Bacon and Blue Cheese Chopped Salad and the Seasonal Mixed Greens Salad. Both were delightful. In fact, they commented that a fantastic lunch for two would be for each to get a salad and share a pizza.

Given that these are hungry folk, they moved on to the entrees, and weren’t disappointed. They ordered an entree salad, Classic Bay Shrimp Louis, which featured much lettuce, small (but numerous) shrimp, and an excess of 1000 Island Dressing. Dressed properly, they said, this salad would have been a big hit. The other entree was the Stuffed Shrimp, which was fantastic. There were only two shrimp, but they were large and filled with a delicious crab stuffing.

The highlight of the meal came at the end, with the Tiramisu Cheesecake. While this pair does like their Tiramisu, they said this was the finest dessert they have ever eaten, which carries a lot of weight (no pun intended) with this observer.

We have some good mid-level seafood restaurants in Raleigh, but there haven’t been any that are good for those wanting a top notch business meeting, special occasion, or fine dining experience. McCormick & Schmick’s has done well in some of America’s classic seafood cities, and Raleigh will fall right in line.

Below you’ll find the menus for McCormick & Schmick’s opening day. The first image is the Dinner Menu, with the wine list following. The third image shows the Lunch menu, with the wine list following. Due to the large format of the originals, it was necessary to section the menus before scanning, and reassemble the images electronically. Please pardon any format inconsistencies or strange lines running through portions of the images.