LI Pour House in Port Jefferson Station reinvents itself as Mr. P.'s Southern Skillet

Fans of Carle Place's LL Dent who are mourning its impending closure have another new spot for southern-style cuisine, but they have to drive a few dozen miles east to Port Jefferson Station.

LI Pour House, a four-and-a-half year old pub known for its barbecue and self-serve beer, has been reborn as Mr. P's Southern Skillet. Taking the kitchen reins is chef Anthony Citarella, formerly of Locale in Patchogue and Taste American Grill in Massapequa (and a culinary graduate of Johnson & Wales University). He has rolled out a menu that plucks from Louisiana to the Carolinas, where Citarella once worked.

Among those plates are fried green tomatoes ($9), country-fried chicken steak ($24), shrimp and grits ($25), and a pork chop over sweet potato hash with apple-bourbon gastrique ($26). A pulled-pork burger comes with apple-cabbage slaw and melted pepper jack cheese ($16), and vegetarians can opt for an Impossible burger ($14). Citarella said the kitchen is making most everything from scratch, from aioli to demiglacé to a definitely non-Southern New York-style cheesecake, $7.

Mr. P's owner, Anthony Pallino said the LI Pour House concept had run its course, and he wanted to create a more "Nashville-style restaurant." The renovation included new murals of country music stars on the walls; live music will be part of the weekend scene. There's still a self-serve beer wall, but also a roster of $10 cocktails that draws liberally on brown spirits for drinks such as a blackberry whiskey smash.

Mr. P's Southern Skillet is open for lunch and dinner Wednesday to Monday (closed Tuesday) at 650 Route 112 in Port Jefferson Station, 631-509-0718. mrpssouthernskillet.com