With California native Jason Ryczek at the helm, the Pappas empire has opened its first chef-driven restaurant. Little Pappas Seafood House, which closed in 2020, has gotten a remodel that includes a spacious patio and a spiffed up main dining area. An ambitious menu of thoughtfully sourced seafood dishes also offers caviar and raw bar offerings, and we went for the nigh perfect tuna crudo, a colorful, luscious plate of wafer-thin fish, watermelon, pickled peppers, peanuts, and mint sprigs—so tasty we actually slurped up the broth! Our guest lauded her crisp green salad with burrata and boquerones, as well as her lobster gnocchi, with basil, bits of crisp potato skin, and blistered tomatoes. Our skin-on slab of pink, juicy king salmon and a New York strip with an oniony, garlicky demi-glace were both cooked to perfection. We all shared nicely crunchy stone-ground grits with cheddar and peppercorns and another side of multicolored charred carrots with honey yogurt. All in all, Little’s should be big in H-Town.