UPDATE 3-Landry's raises bid for Smith & Wollensky

(Adds Wollensky response)

NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Seafood restaurant operator Landry's Restaurants Inc. (LNY.N) said on Friday that it has raised its bid to acquire steakhouse Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group Inc. SWRG.O to $9.75 a share, or about $84 million, topping a rival bid by Patina Restaurant Group.

In January, Landry's, which operates the Landry's Seafood House, Chart House and Rainforest Cafe restaurants, made an unsolicited offer to acquire Smith & Wollensky for $64.4 million, or $7.50 per share -- which was roughly a 50 percent premium to the stock's $5.03 closing price on Jan. 12.

In February, the steakhouse chain agreed to be acquired by Patina Restaurant Group LLC for $79.5 million, or $9.25 a share in cash.

Landry's said on Friday its new offer was "clearly superior" to the Patina offer, and it believed a combination of the two companies "would be in the best interest of the stockholders of both companies."

Smith & Wollensky said in a statement that it had received the unsolicited proposal and that a special committee of its board of directors would consider the offer.

Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group operates its namesake restaurants as well as Maloney & Porcelli's, Post House, Park Avenue Cafe and Quality Meats. The original Smith & Wollensky restaurant is in New York City.

"Landry's stands ready to meet with the board of directors and its representatives as soon as possible," Landry's said in a statement. "Given our ability to consummate the transaction without a financing contingency, we expect that the board of directors would meet with us promptly and seriously consider our offer."

Shares of Smith & Wollensky closed up 75 cents, or 8.3 percent, to $9.75 on Nasdaq on Friday. Shares of Landry's added 31 cents a share, or 1 percent, to $29.29 on the New York Stock Exchange.

In October, Landry's agreed to sell most of its Joe's Crab Shack restaurants to a private equity group for about $192 million as it moved to concentrate on higher-end restaurants.

Many casual restaurant chains have struggled with a pullback in consumer spending as higher gasoline prices have cut into Americans' willingness to spend money on meals outside of the house.

Patina was not immediately available for comment. (Additional reporting by Jessica Hall in Philadelphia and Megan Davies in New York)