Happy Hour |

A week into the recent reopening of Cutters Crabhouse, I overheard the waitstaff explain the restaurant had temporarily closed to do some "modification," "a little touch up."

That's one way of putting it. Here's another: They stripped down that bar area, ditching the bread station, the front sushi bar, pillars and other obstacles blocking the restaurant's sweeping view of Elliott Bay.

Restaurants would kill to have this water view by Pike Place Market. Cutters Crabhouse just covered it up — until its recent remodel.

It looks cleaner, better lit and more inviting for happy hour. The bar menu got tweaked, but those addicting deep-fried Beecher's curds remain. It's one of the best beer snacks in Seattle — cheese in a tempura-like skin, with deep-fried pickled peppers thrown into the bowl, all to be dipped with a pepper jelly, each a glorious bite. It's crunchy, gooey, salty and sour.

Happy-hour sushi is always a disappointment, and Cutters is no exception. The menu boasts of "Pacific-sashimi-grade ahi roll," but I tasted mostly rice.

But they make a mean cheeseburger — juicy and smoky — with a nicely charred crust, served on a flaky, buttery brioche from Macrina Bakery.

That new cocktail menu, though, didn't get any better — drinks still too sweet or diluted. Wine or beer is a better bet. The latter with a handful of cheese curds watching the sunset over Elliott Bay? Feels like a perfect Seattle summer.

Cutters Crabhouse, 2001 Western Ave., offers happy hour daily from 3-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 4-6 p.m. on weekends and from 9 p.m. to closing (around 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, around 10:30 p.m. other days) every night with $5 food specials and $4 selected cocktails, beer and wine (206-448-4884 or www.cutterscrabhouse.com).

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @tanvinhseattle.