Name: Auggie's House of Crab

Cuisine: Cajun-style seafood with a Vera Cruz flair

Owner/chef: Agostino "Auggie" and Rosario Scalercio

Signature dishes: Auggie's Feast (head-on shrimp, snow crab, corn on the cob, andouille sausage and red potatoes); Stuffed Jalapenos

Price range: Appetizers, $6.95-$8.95; sandwiches, $6.95-$10.95; feasts (for one or two), $16.95-$45.85; seafood by the pound, $9.95-$19.95

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily; happy hour 3 to 6 p.m. daily

Location: 1468 N. Coast Highway, Encinitas (about 2 miles south of La Costa Avenue.)

Seating: 24 inside, 8 on patio

Phone: 760-634-CRAB

Web: auggies.net

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When Agostino "Auggie" Scalercio left his job as a sous chef at Encinitas' Shrimply Delicious 13 years ago, he hoped to cook Cajun-style seafood again someday. After working as a driver for FedEx for more than 10 years, Scalercio made that dream come true and opened Auggie's House of Crab in January 2008.

"I enjoyed those two years of my life (at Shrimply Delicious) and said, 'I want to live it over again,'" Scalercio said.

Now, Scalercio and his wife, Rosario, combine techniques he learned from Shrimply Delicious' German owner, Karl Flugel, with Rosario's Verz Cruz background for a unique menu of seafood with Mexican accents.

Guests are greeted at the restaurant -- usually by Rosario or Auggie -- with a bowl of tortilla chips and homemade salsa. The menu is mostly steamed seafood covered in Scalercio's homemade spice mix; items include head-on shrimp, black mussels, clams, king crab legs, crawfish and more, and they are served with fresh homemade sauces after they are dumped onto a paper-covered table.

Auggie's also boasts the Shrimp Burger, made with an all-shrimp patty shipped from Louisiana; Jambalaya; Stuffed Jalapenos; and more. At Happy Hour, the jalapenos are $1, pints of Stone Pale Ale are $2.50 and pints of Arrogant Bastard are $3.

The causal, family-friendly restaurant sits on a major thoroughfare, but Scalercio said many people drive past it without thinking of stopping.

"We're hard to find," he said. "We're a niche. Everyone says they drive by and never stop. But once they stop, they keep coming back."

Scalercio and his wife are at the restaurant pretty much every hour it's open (except Sunday afternoon and night, when they have time off together), making the restaurant a true family business. He also touts the restaurant as a fun place to eat, and said there are times when strangers will pull tables together after chatting with each other during a meal.

"If you want to have a good time and eat great seafood for a good price, come here," Scalercio said.

Find coupons at auggies.net/coupons.