Just as celebrities bestow unusual names on their children – my favorite is Kal-El Cage, son of Nicholas – restaurant owners can often gravitate names that are quirky or amusing.

Some restaurants choose obvious and straight-forward titles, like La Creperie or PB and Jellies. But there are always those that make you laugh, like Schnitzel Fritz or O’Furry’s Sports Bar and Grill.

Among the list of smaller neighborhood restaurants that crop up on the local radar, the unusual names of three caught my eye and made me smile: BooDad’s Beach House Grill, Phat Daddy’s Café & Ice Cream, and Rasta King Seafood Bar and Grill.

The three unique characters were a match made in heaven for Insider Eats. In fact, each of these colorful names insert some vibrancy into their neighborhoods via their regional specialties and oft-unusual venues.

BooDad’s Beach House Grill5910 Omaha Blvd.380-7263, boodadsbeachhouse.com

Formerly Sand Pits Volleyball and Grill, many customers are drawn in by the BooDad’s Beach House Grill’s most unique feature: the outdoor beach volleyball courts. The remodeled interior, however, should be enough to bring a whole new crowd of diners inside.

Sure, there’s a bar (both indoors and out) for nightlife, watching sports on multiple TVs and even karaoke. However, it’s a bar that serves New Belgium 1554 on tap, which is a good sign in my book. There’s also a quiet, almost resort-like family dining room with inviting booths.

BooDad’s is fresh and tasteful, both in the décor (surfing/nautical/tropical in tone) and the solid new menu. For instance, I’ve had many a frozen, then thawed and over-fried fish and chips. I was not expecting but definitely enjoyed their cod tossed in a homemade Belgian-white beer batter, which is made fresh to order, crisp and light ($7.95). Equally non-processed, the fries are hand-cut and skin-on, regular or sweet potato — and fantastic.

The Cajun items are certainly respectable. Blackened shrimp (in pasta, $9.45, or po-boy, $8.95) were delivered spicy and supple. Plus, their tangy and spicy house Boo sauce is great on almost anything, including fries and burgers.

BooDad’s is still a bar, with bar food like wings ($5.95 for six) with buffalo sauce that’s thin and zesty. The new menu and great service, though, reinvents the restaurant for a new, non-Volleyball-playing clientele.

Phat Daddy’s Café & Ice Cream311 S. Hancock Ave.434-2201

From Dad to Daddy, there are a few similarities between BooDad’s and Phat Daddy Café, which is sandwiched between dollar and liquor stores. For one, there’s the flat-screen TV and the incredibly friendly, personal service. Plus, Phat Daddy’s also served me another plate of luscious, crispy fried fish, this time in the form of catfish nuggets ($8.50). They were pillows of clean and fresh-tasting catfish filling an entire platter, served with tartar and hot sauce as well as another platter-sized portion of spiced “Caesar” fries.

This café is actually more of an indoor concession stand. The kitchen is open and smells of fresh frying, and they were still on a cash-only basis on my visit. It also seems part someone’s personal office, because several tables display boxes, books, cups and other back-of-house supplies that make it seem rather haphazard. This lack of polish perhaps encourages take-out and delivery over eating in.

However, the concession-stand style charms. They embrace the older methods. Rather than the thick patties and gourmet toppings popular in burgers today – and that I often enjoy – Phat Daddy’s burger ($3.50 CKD) was fresh beef pressed thin on the grill to create crispy edges. It melds with its white-bread bun into a delicious feeling of summertime.

I also enjoyed the Southern flair of the sides, like the fried pickles ($2.50), even if mine arrived overdone. They also offer collard greens, okra, rice and gravy, and rice and beans, giving this little shopping center some great flavor.

Rasta King Seafood Bar and Grill675 S. Circle Drive344-4447

Coming full circle, Rasta King Seafood, which is located in a plain brick building once home to Latin Fusion, is obviously a bar. Inside, it’s cute and clean, but dim and dominated by loud music and a DJ booth. The dance floor is only temporarily covered by tables during dinner service.

It’s not most people’s first choice for dinner – I know, because mine was the only table – but this 8 p.m.-onward nightclub served me the best, most artistically spiced seafood I’ve had in Colorado in recent memory: Rasta King’s coconut steamed fish ($13.99).

As a warning, the fish is served whole, head on and bones in – which suits me, if not everyone – but the flavors are amazing. The mild coconut essence pervades every flake of flesh, and a subtle heat and earthy spice underlay the creaminess. The amount of fish for the price is impressive, enough to feed two, and it’s served with heaping portions homemade rice and peas and steamed cabbage.

I found an exotic version of something familiar in another entrée, the brown stew fish ($13.99). The fish is fried, then doused in aromatic, Jamaican-spiced gravy to create a spicy seafood version of chicken-fried steak.

This nightclub that parties at night is meticulous in the kitchen. The seafood is all imported fresh from the East coast (whatever fish is freshest is served that day) and they limit their use of sodium and saturated fats. After dinner hours, the floor is cleared, live bands perform and the dinner menu is shelved. Take heart! They still do serve one item until 2 a.m.: jerk chicken.