Old Florida cuisine gets an upgrade at Mar Vista, where grand grouper sandwiches and indulgent, croquette-like tater tots go hand-in-hand with the laid-back charm of the restaurant’s 1912 cottage. The waterfront setting and menu suit all occasions, equally appropriate for flip-flops and steamer pots as they are anniversary celebrations and red snapper curry. Inside, the cottage is an intimate, pub-like atmosphere, but Mar Vista gets even more magical out back. On the deck and the shell beach beyond, diners sit at wrought-iron tables under a grand, ancient oak tree festooned with strings of lights, channeling the calm of the Intracoastal in the soothing sea breeze.