Opus Ocean Grille owner Charlie Felts is steering his Clear Lake Shores restaurant toward bigger plates and more robust cocktails this fall.

Felts told Coast Monthly that the coming fall and winter seasons will bring heartier meals, less small-plate sharing and drinks like bourbon cocktails and espresso martinis.

"At the Grille, we have the freshest Gulf Coast seafood and that never goes out of style," Felts said.

The comments came as part of a Coast Monthly feature surveying six chefs along the upper Texas coast about seasonal menu directions.

Felts opened Opus Ocean Grille in 2016 at the Watergate Yachting Center on Marina Bay Drive. His menu draws on New Orleans-style cooking and the French culinary approach of chef Auguste Escoffier. His other restaurant, Opus Bistro & Steak House in League City, also serves New Orleans-inspired dishes.

Before launching his own spots, Felts spent years at Houston-based Landry's Inc., the restaurant and hospitality company, traveling across 38 states to study menus and competition. He got his start in the industry as a busboy at 16.

The Clear Lake Shores waterfront location has its own origin story. In a 2019 Community Impact profile, Felts recalled how he and his late business partner Chris Simon came to open their first restaurant there after Hurricane Ike wiped out the previous one.

"He called me up and asked me if I would consider doing a restaurant there, and I said, 'Yeah. I need something to do. I'm really bored right now. I'm tired of playing golf,'" Felts told Community Impact in 2019, describing the landlord's pitch.

They opened Opus Bistro in 2009. Seven years later, Opus Ocean Grille followed.

The name Opus was chosen by Felts' wife, Tricia. Felts told Community Impact the word refers to "one's life's finest work."

Among the restaurant's signature dishes are oysters and red snapper topped with jumbo lump crab and hollandaise sauce. A redfish étouffée was featured in the Coast Monthly spread. No specific launch date for the new fall menu has been announced.

Opus Ocean Grille is at 1510 Marina Bay Drive, Building 124, in Clear Lake Shores. Diners can call (281) 334-0006.