Bubbakoo's Burritos fast-casual c hain opens first Louisville location

A New Jersey-based build-your-own burrito concept has opened its first Kentucky location in Louisville.

Bubbakoo's Burritos is a fast-casual concept that serves burritos, tacos, bowls and quesadillas with 16 different protein options. The first Bluegrass State location opened in eastern Louisville at 12919 Factory Lane on Tuesday.

Founded in 2008 by industry veterans Bill Hart and Paul Altero, the concept began franchising in 2016 and now has 45 locations in the U.S. The Louisville location is owned and operated by the Kentucky-based Patel family, who could open up to five in the area per a franchise agreement. In addition to Louisville, Bubbakoo’s Burritos has signed expansion deals in Georgia and New York.

Bubbakoo's Burritos offers six kinds of chicken, three kinds of pork, three vegetarian options, and six "premium" proteins such as steak, shrimp or shredded barbacoa beef. There’s also an original recipe called "The Chiwawa" — a cheese-smothered panko-crusted fried rice ball — and “love chips,” which are tortilla chips dusted with powdered sugar and caramel syrup.

Bubbakoo's Burritos co-founder Paul Altero called Louisville an exciting city “full of culture, flavor and Southern hospitality.”

Bubbakoo's also has a "read it to eat it program" where students can read five books and receive a free student meal in exchange.

It's open Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, visit bubbakoos.com.

More:Torchy's Tacos, a Texas specialty, is coming to the Louisville area

Dahlia Ghabour: 502-582-4497; dghabour@gannett.com; Twitter: @dghabour.

Bubbakoo's Burritos to open flagship Florida restaurant in ...

Bubbakoo’s Burritos, a New Jersey-based fast-casual chain, plans to open its flagship Florida restaurant in September on Wickham Road in Melbourne.

"It's a great part of the world. It's definitely someplace where we want to be," said Bill Hart, Bubbakoo’s Burritos co-founder and co-owner.

"We have kind of like an East Coast surfer-skater scene and feel to our restaurants. We have surf and skate videos on the TVs, a little bit of rock and roll and reggae playing on our radios. Fun and family-friendly," Hart said.

Bubbakoo's Burritos ready to open Hazlet Town Center restaurant

HAZLET - Get ready taco and burrito fans.

Bubbakoo's Burritos, the Mexican food chain, opens a new restaurant at 3070 Route 35 Friday. The burrito joint is located at Hazlet Town Center and the hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

”Everyone’s always asking when are we opening?” said Wayne Jordan of Aberdeen, who along with friend and business partner Rob Stolker of Holmdel owns the franchise location. “In the northern part of Monmouth County, not two years ago, not a lot of people heard about Bubbakoo’s, but now it’s completely changed. Everybody has”

Bubbakoo’s offers Mexican food fused with American funkiness, such as burritos and tacos with Buffalo crispy chicken or sweet chili shrimp. It also features other menu items such as boneless chicken wings, tater tots and curly fries as well as its signature Love Chips, fried tortilla chips with powdered sugar and caramel. The Hazlet shop is the chain's 21st location in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Bubbakoo's Burritos:Founders aim for 500 restaurants in five years

The food and Bubbakoo's local roots were among the reasons Jordan and Stolker signed up with Bubbakoo's. The company, founded by Paul Altero and Bill Hart, opened its first restaurant, located in Point Pleasant, in 2008. "The Mexican concept is definitely something that a lot of people love," Jordan said.

"It's really good food," Stolker said. "It's fresh, healthy. It's what people want today."

And Bubbakoo's is growing. The Hazlet restaurant will be the chain's 71st location overall and the pair say they plan to open a Bubbakoo's in Avenel as well.

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"We're just impressed by everything they're doing and what they're growing to be and how they're building as a brand," Stolker said. "We think we're in early in what is going to be an exploding, great brand."

Jordan said he and Stolker will be focused on supporting the local community. They recently joined Hazlet's small business association. "There's a lot of volunteer work, sponsorships, a lot of things we want to connect to the community," Jordan said.

Bubbakoo's is part of a rebirth of Hazlet Town Center. Once the home of giant empty Kmart and Pathmark stores, owner Woodbridge-based Onyx Equities has transformed the center, breaking up the big spots with tenants to make way for Burlington, Aldi and Planet Fitness.

Hazlet Town Center:Owner wants to create 'restaurant row'

Bubbakoo's is part of a remodeled space that was formerly Planet Fitness before the fitness club moved to another part of the center. Panera Bread is expected to open next door. A Wawa convenience store with fuel pumps has not yet begun construction.

David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for more than 20 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.

Louisville restaurants: Fast-casual franchises expanding

Bubbakoo's Burritos: 5 locations

Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh: 5 locations

Cousin Subs: 10 locations

As Louisville’s restaurant scene continues to grow, out-of-state fast-casual franchises are starting to take notice. In just a few weeks in August, three new restaurants announced plans to expand in Louisville, bringing 20 new fast-casual eateries to the city.

Whether you’re looking for loaded burritos, healthy Mediterranean food or a Wisconsin cheesesteak sub, these new brands have something mouthwatering on the menu.

Bubbakoo's Burritos opens on Route 22 in Somerville

SOMERVILLE - The Route 22 food court in the Somerville area has a new member.

Bubbakoo’s Burritos, a Jersey Shore-based eatery that serves Mexican food fused with "American funkiness," has opened its 16th outlet, this one on eastbound Route 22 between Davenport and Bridge streets.

It's the same block as Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's and Taco Bell, which opened earlier this year. In the next block are Wendy's, KFC and Buffalo Wild Wings. Longtime Italian restaurant La Catena has closed and will be replaced tentatively by Smashburger and Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza.

READ: Brewpub may open in Somerville next summer

READ: Taco Bell opens on Route 22 in Somerville

READ: Zinburger Wine and Burger Bar coming to Bridgewater

That totals eight fast-food restaurants in a half-mile and within walking distance of Somerville High School.

The Bubbakoo’s Burritos in Somerville is owned and operated by Brandon Shamy, Jesse Allen and Amanda Taibe. The Somerville location is third not at the shore; the nearest one is on Easton Avenue in New Brunswick near the Rutgers campus.

“I loved Bubbakoo’s food, and from a business perspective, I heard they were producing healthy numbers and had impressive systems in place,” Allen said.

The partners all have experience with restaurant franchises.

After college graduation, at age 22, Shamy opened his first of three Smoothie King franchises.

Allen and Taibe had careers in finance and interior design, respectively, before opening a Jersey Mike's.

“We came together and knew that we not only made a great team, but with Bubbakoo’s, we will be able to produce a great product, provide great service and have a chance to give back to our community,” Shamy explained.

Bubbakoo’s Burritos, which opened its first outlet in Point Pleasant in 2008, has on its menu burritos, bowls, tacos, salad, nachos and quesadillas, with 16 different protein options — including fried chicken, barbecue pork, Buffalo shrimp and grilled steak, as well as some more unusual flavors such as ghost pepper chicken and sriracha pork.

And if you're vegetarian, the choices include a bean-cheese-guacamole combo, batter-fried jalapeños and the Chiwawa, a cheese-smothered, panko-crusted fried rice ball.

Paul Altero, who founded the chain with Bill Hart, told the USA TODAY Network earlier this year that he expects sales to come in at $13 million this year, up from $7 million a year ago.

The restaurant got its name because Bubbakoo was Altero's college nickname.

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

New burrito restaurant Bubbakoo's opens Morrisville store

Bubbakoo's now has two stores in Bucks County, as a new franchise for the make-your-own burritos company has opened in Morrisville.

The store is located at 227 Plaza Blvd. and is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Another Bubbakoo's Burritos opened about seven weeks ago at 252 N. West End Boulevard in Quakertown. "The store is off to a great start," said Tom Mirabella, corporate spokesman.

The company opened its first store in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, in 2008 by founders Bill Hart and Paul Altero and has grown to 55 stores across nine states with many more in the planning stages.

The two men, veterans in the food service industry, shared a vision of offering "the complete customization of entrees with fresh ingredients and a strong concentration on customer service. Bubbakoo’s Burritos has innovated a menu where customers can pick and choose what they want and create something different every time they visit," Mirabella said. Customers can download an app to help with selections.

Bubbakoo's is also dedicated to helping children read. Schools can sign up for the "Read It to Eat It" program. "Students can read five books and in exchange, they receive a free student meal. Since the dawn of this program, hundreds of teachers have signed up to participate and together with Bubbakoo’s, they continue to incentivize education," Mirabella said. "It's caught on wonderfully."

Each location employs about 20 to 25 workers. The customers can order individual servings, which start at about $9. "No customer touches the food. There's no sharing," he said. Catering packages for parties are also available.

“We’re so excited to bring another location to Pennsylvania so a new group of people can discover Bubbakoo’s for the first time,” Hart said.

To contact Peg Quann, email mquann@couriertimes.com.

Burrito chain has eye on South Jersey

Tammy Paolino

@CP_TammyPaolino

When you click onto the Web site for Bubbakoo's Burritos, a Shore-based line of burrito restaurants, it's sort of like walking into a tailgate party of a Jimmy Buffett concert.

That might not be exactly what the owners are going for, but it's close.

After all, this isn't just a growing fast-casual burrito concept. It's a mind-set.

I'll let co-owner Paul Altero explain for me, by way of an emailed mission statement:

"Bubbakoo's Burritos: (buh-buh-koos buh-ree-toh): Noun. A realm in which everyone is content, a place where friends gather to laugh and eat, where things get done well by people who are happy to do them, and where all the problems which have plagued our world for millennium no longer apply.''

That may be a tall order for any mere restaurant, but it certainly sounds like a cool place to hang out.

Altero and business partner Bill Hart want to bring Bubbakoo's, which has eight locations in Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties (the newest one in New Brunswick near Rutgers) to hungry South Jersey burrito lovers.

While Bubbakoo's will draw inevitable comparisons to Chipotle, they stand out with some unusual flavors such as Ghost Pepper Chicken Tacos, Sriracha Pork Burritos and a house special, the Chiwawa, a lightly fried, panko-crusted rice ball smothered with cheese and topped with a choice of 16 protein options and many homemade toppings.

Since there is arguably some room for more burritos in the South Jersey dining landscape, it seemed worth a closer look.

Speaking from his home in Point Pleasant, the town where the restaurants first launched, Altero said he has his eyes on the Cherry Hill market for franchises.

"Bubbakoo's? I conjured that name up in college. It's more of a name that represents a lifestyle, a utopia, more than anything else.''

A utopia that offers Crispy Buffalo Chicken Burritos, avocado walls, Bob Marley and extreme surfing on large video screens.

"It's an ethos and a utopia, it's our little utopia, our little world that we live in in our restaurants. We just like people to come in and get away from the ordinary, almost like they're on a short vacation."

Altero says while he and his partner have no signed franchise deals yet, they are in serious negotiations in several parts of the state, with restaurant-rich Cherry Hill being a possibility.

"It really comes down to the real estate: Is it the right location?''

Altero and Hart got their start working their way up through ranks in the Johnny Rockets chain, and they "got promoted up together, built a friendship and a good relationship.''

They also do plenty of community outreach, and Altero hopes any future franchise owners would do the same.

"We're in schools,'' he said. "We do a tremendous amount of donating and fundraising and food drops and gift cards for raffles,'' he said. "We help the people who are helping out. It's a big part of the (Bubbakoo's) culture, and they'd need to understand the power in that. It really does pay back in dividends''

Chipotle, Taco Bell among restaurants with National Burrito Day deals

National Burrito Day is so much fun, Chipotle Mexican Grill started a day early.

Thursday, April 6, is National Burrito Day, and each year many Mexican food chains celebrate the made-up holiday with special deals and promotions.

Chipotle let burrito lovers get a head start on Wednesday giving away 20,000 burritos through Grubhub – burritos were the most ordered dish on the delivery service in 2022, Chipotle says.

Chipotle orders on Grubhub of at least $20 could get a free burrito, while supplies lasted – and that order was exhausted on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Chipotle is giving away 10,000 free burritos on Twitter. Throughout the day, free burrito codes will be posted on the @ChipotleTweets account and followers can text the code to 888-222 for a chance to win a free burrito.

Also on Thursday, all Chipotle burrito orders are delivered free with promo code "DELIVER."

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Taco Bell's National Burrito Day deal

Taco Bell has extended Burrito Day deals: You can get a free Grilled Cheese burrito with a $20 minimum order in the Taco Bell App April 6-9 (limit one per user; you can substitute the beef in the Grilled Cheese burrito for a small fee).

Delivery orders also can get a free burrito April 6-9 with a $20 minimum order on DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates and Grubhub (all burritos qualify).

Moe's Burrito Day deal: Buy one, get one 50% off

Moe’s Southwest Grill's Burrito Day Deal gets you second burrito for 50% off when you buy one on Moes.com, in the app or in stores, at participating locations nationwide.

Rubio's Burrito Day Deal: $7.99 Burritos

Rubio’s Coastal Grill will have every burrito on its menu – including its Shrimp and Bacon Burrito, Puerto Nuevo Burrito featuring Langostino Lobster, and the Chicken Burrito Especial – for $7.99. You can order multiple burritos for $7.99, and no additional purchase is necessary. Simply order online at Rubios.com, or through the app, and enter coupon code BURRITO at checkout, or scan the QR code at restaurants.

Freebird's Burrito Day Deal

Texas-based restaurant chain Freebirds World Burrito, is offering its first Burrito Day deal: $6 burritos online, in the Freebirds app or in restaurants.

Maverik's National Burrito Day Deal

Convenience store Maverik has half-priced burritos from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. for Maverik Adventure Club loyalty members with an upgraded Nitro card (limit 10 per customer).

To join the Adventure Club download the Maverik app and join the club. Go to a Maverik store and ask for a free Nitro card (you link your bank account for payments). Customers signing up for Nitro on April 6 will receive a free Bonfire burrito loaded to their Adventure Club account, which must be redeemed before receiving the half-off National Burrito Day offer.

Maverik will also add a free burrito within the official app of 1,000 customers on April 6.

El Pollo Loco's Burrito Day Deal: BOGO burritos

El Pollo Loco will give new and existing Loco Rewards members on Thursday a buy one, get one free deal redeemable for all burritos. Customers who order via the app or El Pollo Loco website will get free delivery. Also starting Thursday through May 5, each day El Pollo Loco will be a Loco Rewards member one million points – making 30 Pollo Millionaires.

Beyond National Burrito Day, new customers who sign up for the newly redesigned Loco Rewards program will get a free Original Pollo Bowl with any purchase, valid for 14 days.

Del Taco's Burrito Day Deal

Del Taco will give you a free burrito on Thursday with a $10 purchase. Buyers must be registered for Del Yeah! rewards to get the deal. Limit one offer per guest.

Pokeworks National Burrito Day Deal

Pokeworks is giving customers $3 off any regular “Poke Your Way” Burrito on Thursday with the code ‘BURRITO3’ in the Pokeworks app or online at order.pokeworks.com.

Bubbakoo's Burritos: 15 winners get burritos for a year

Bubbakoo’s Burritos, to celebrate National Burrito Day and its 15th anniversary, is giving 15 lucky winners free burritos for a year. Through April 6, you can enter to win by liking, commenting and sharing the brand’s posts on social media. The winners will be announced on April 7.

Pancheros' Burrito Day Deal: 10,000 free burritos

Pancheros Mexican Grill will give out 10,000 free burrito codes across its social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok).

Dog Haus Burrito Day deal: BOGO Breakfast Burritos

Dog Haus, which serves breakfast burritos all day, is offering a free breakfast burrito with the purchase of one, while supplies last. Only valid in-store for dine-in or takeout.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.

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Tacos, pies and burgers: These 5 new restaurants opened in ...

The height of winter did not deter these Louisville restaurateurs from their plans. Though indoor dining is still limited to 50% capacity during the coronavirus pandemic, several concepts opened their doors this month, like the long-awaited PG & J Dog Bar on Baxter Avenue and a second location of Monnik Beer Co. in New Albany, Indiana.

With the COVID-19 vaccine being slowly administered throughout the commonwealth and many business owners glimpsing a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, more than a dozen concepts have already planned to open this year.

Coronavirus NJ: These restaurants opened for business during ...

The coronavirus outbreak has caused restaurants nationwide to close their doors, temporarily and permanently. Yet, even though the future for the dining industry looks bleak, a bunch of new spots keep opening in North Jersey.

The main reason? Finances.

Restaurants that signed leases before anyone ever heard of COVID-19 still have to honor their agreement.


Wild American shrimp just taste better

Robert St. John

Contributing Columnist

On an upcoming episode of our new television series, "Palate to Palette with Robert St. John and Wyatt Waters," the artist and I learn how to catch shrimp with a third-generation shrimp boat captain on his rig. To find out how we did, you’ll have to tune in to Mississippi Public Broadcasting on an upcoming Thursday at 7 p.m., but I will let you know that it wasn’t much different than Forrest Gump’s early attempts on his boat, the Jenny.

Wild American Shrimp are one of this country’s greatest natural culinary resources. The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico provide one of the greatest bounties of shrimp in the world. To be a restaurateur and to live only an hour away is truly a blessing.

Biloxi was once called the “Seafood Capital of the World.” In the 1880s, immigrants from Croatia and Bosnia (“Croats”) settled along the Mississippi Coast and started fishing commercially. I still buy a lot of seafood from one of their descendants, Todd Rosetti.

Commercial fishermen and seafood retailers are almost always family-run operations. Our captain on the television episode was Ronald Baker. We ventured out on his boat, the Doris Mae. He grew up in a house on Deer Island. His father was a shrimper, and his grandfather was a shrimper. As a kid, he took a boat to the mainland to get to school every day. Baker started working on various family boats at an early age.

More:Restaurants tell stories: The Coney Island Caf

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Rosetti is a third-generation seafood retailer. His family has been selling fresh shrimp, Gulf fish and crabmeat since his grandfather, Bruno Rosetti, set up shop in Biloxi decades ago. Todd has forgotten more about seafood than I’ll ever know.

At the Crescent City Grill we purchase more than 32,000 pounds of Wild American Shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico every year. We know shrimp. I love the fact that we are a family-run business being supplied by local families. It’s really at the heart of what we do. We believe in doing business locally, and have been buying “local” since 1987.

This year the shrimp haul is down. We had too much rain early on, and the water stayed warm to mid-July. There were a lot of small shrimp early, but the mid-size shrimp were scarce. White shrimp are being harvested this time of year, and that haul is also down from last year. Having a steady supply of shrimp on our plates is one of the things that we can sometimes take for granted. I never underestimate the importance of family shrimpers, fishermen, and seafood suppliers. Seafood seasons are always up and down. It’s been a down year for the family shrimpers, let’s hope next year is a record year.

It is important to know — and have a close, trusting relationship — with your seafood supplier. He or she knows the fishermen, shrimpers and oystermen. It’s also important to know from where your seafood comes. We ONLY use Wild American Shrimp, and we take that a step further and ONLY serve Wild American Shrimp from Gulf waters.

More than 90 percent of shrimp served in restaurants throughout the country are farm-raised and imported shrimp. The other 10 percent are wild caught and come from waters that are within a few miles of the Mississippi Coast. We use Wild American Shrimp because it’s the “right” thing to do, but also because they taste better due to the nutrient-rich Gulf waters from which they come.

Wild American Shrimp are healthier, too. They are always antibiotic free. The FDA only tests about 1 percent of farm-raised and imported shrimp. Wild American Shrimp are a true, sustainable crop, and the shrimp from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico just taste better. Always make sure that the restaurant where you eat shrimp — or the market where you purchase shrimp — uses only Wild American Shrimp.

Know, too, that Mississippi Gulf shrimp are safe with Waters and St. John at the helm of a shrimp boat.

Robert St. John is a restaurateur, chef and author. Visit him online at robertstjohn.com. Follow him on Twitter @robertstjohn.

Shrimp Creole

From the upcoming book “A Mississippi Palate" by Robert St. John and Wyatt Waters”

To make the stock:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup yellow onion, medium dice

1 cup green bell peppers, medium dice

1 cup celery, medium dice

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons Creole Seasoning

1 tablespoon paprika

3 cups Roma tomatoes, diced, juice reserved and used

2 cups bloody Mary mix, preferably Zing-Zang

1 tablespoon Worcestershire

2 tablespoons Hot Sauce

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons cold water

In a stockpot, melt butter over medium heat and add onion, celery, and bell pepper; sweat 6-8 minutes until tender. Add garlic and seasoning, and cook for another 4–5 minutes. Add tomatoes and bloody Mary mix and bring to a simmer. Add Worcestershire and Hot Sauce. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add to simmering sauce. Bring back to simmer and immediately remove from heat.

To make shrimp creole:

2 pounds fresh 31/35 count Wild American Shrimp, peeled and butterflied, tails removed

1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

¼ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

½ cup dry white wine

1 cup green onions, chopped

1 tablespoon Creole Seasoning

Creole Sauce Stock (from above)

6 cups cooked white rice

In a very large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and Old Bay seasoning. Cook until shrimp are almost done, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add green onions and Creole Seasoning and deglaze with white wine. Let wine reduce by half. Add Creole Sauce and bring to a heavy simmer. Remove from heat and serve over rice. Serve with toasted French bread.

Pensacola restaurant that opened in 2020: Guide to eating out

While 2020 was far from ideal for the restaurant industry as it navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, it still produced dozens of entrepreneurs in the Pensacola area who made their restaurant dreams come true.

More:Twice as nice: Second Pensacola Chipotle coming to Cordova Mall this fall

Below are the 30-plus restaurants that started their journeys in Pensacola in 2020, listed in chronological order. Now you can head into the new year hungry and ready to patronize the many new local restaurants that endured pitfalls at one point or another this year.

Address: 3012 N. Ninth Ave., Pensacola

Phone: 850-439-5247

Facebook page

Info: The fast-service, carryout-only restaurant on Ninth is run by three cousins with decades of restaurant industry experience among them. In January, Pizza Kitchen replaced a Wing Shop in a small plaza just north of East Hill. Pizza Kitchen hangs its hat on its gargantuan menu that includes 17 specialty pizzas, close to a dozen calzone varieties and almost 20 pasta items.

More:Pizza Kitchen carryout restaurant opens on North Ninth Avenue with extensive menu

Address: 5100 N. Ninth Ave., Pensacola

Phone: 850-332-6988

Facebook page

Info: Cracking Crab, a Cajun seafood boil-in-a-bag restaurant with a full bar, opened at the Cordova Mall almost a year ago from the storefront next door to Red Robin.

Each fresh-catch seafood boil is boiled in the restaurant's secret spices, then blended with one of Cracking Crab's signature seasonings and served in a bag to preserve flavor. Boil varieties feature blue crab, king crab legs, snow crab legs, lobster tail, crawfish, mussels, whole shrimp and much more. Each pound comes with potatoes and corn on the cob.

More:Cracking Crab seafood restaurant and bar opens outside of Cordova Mall on North Ninth

Address: 8102 N. Davis Highway, Suite 12, Pensacola

Phone: 850-466-3104

Facebook page

Info: Replacing Tiger Sushi, this family-owned Vietnamese restaurant with a charmingly punny name serves 12 pho varieties, none of which contain any processed food or ingredients.

Some of those varieties include Phở Real Đặc Biệt (special beef noodle soup), Phở Nạm Gan Sách (beef noodle soup with flank tendon) and Phở Đồ Biển (seafood noodle soup).

More:'Our whole life is in this restaurant:' Pensacola's newest restaurants brave the pandemic

Address: 460 Pensacola Beach Blvd., Pensacola Beach

Phone: 850-677-3905

Facebook page

Info: Although it is currently closed because of damage sustained during September's Hurricane Sally, Laguna's opened a restaurant along with its revamped new adventure park on the beach, which rebranded and broke away from its former Premier Adventure Park name.

The Caribbean-inspired entrees at Laguna's Beach Bar & Grill consist of a fresh fish meal, a rum-marinated chicken dinner, beef tournedos and piri piri kabobs. Laguna's also does crab cake sandwiches, seafood tacos, jerk chicken sandwiches and a host of burgers. Breakfast at the adventure park is served between 8 and 10:30 a.m. every day.

More:Premier Adventure Park re-branding as Laguna's, adding Caribbean restaurant and tiki bar

Address: 3005 E. Cervantes St., Pensacola

Phone: 850-857-8290

Facebook page

Info: This southern and New Orleans-style breakfast spot tries to make you feel like you're sitting down to eat at Grandma's house or at a bed and breakfast.

Aunt Katie's opened in February from inside a building that has been a revolving door for restaurants during the past decade. The property most recently belonged to Spyros' Authentic Greek Restaurant.

More:Aunt Katie's Welcome to Breakfast restaurant coming to East Pensacola Heights on Cervantes

Benedicts are a staple item at Aunt Katie's, which also specializes in pancakes, biscuits and gravy, grits, French toast, signature omelets and even burgers and some lunchtime favorites.

Address: 1 New Market St., Cantonment

Phone: 850-332-5040

Facebook page

Info: During the past two years, Beef 'O' Brady's locations in downtown Pensacola and Gulf Breeze closed up shop for good, but a new one off Nine Mile Road opened early in the year and planted its flag in Cantonment.

Benefiting from outdoor patio seating, Beef's sticks to the franchise's script, serving traditional pub fare amid a sports bar atmosphere.

More:Gulf Breeze Beef 'O' Brady's permanently closes, new Cantonment location opens

Address: 1350 S. Blue Angel Parkway, Suite A, Pensacola

Phone: 850-466-2382

Facebook page

Info: Blue Angel Grill filled a void in family-owned west side restaurants when it opened in mid-March. The grill hangs its hat on teriyaki dinners, burgers and fries, fried shrimp options, a shrimp sandwich meal, jumbo chicken wings, salads and a kids menu. Most every item on the menu costs about $10, making the fast-casual restaurant an affordable one.

More:New burger and chicken restaurant Blue Angel Grill opens in west Pensacola

Address: 3041 E. Olive Road, Pensacola

Phone: 850-741-2973

Facebook page

Info: Yes, Coastal County is a brewery, but this Ferry Pass brewery and tap room devoted a lot of attention to its recipes right out of the gate.

"Pub food with a little bit of flare to it" is the way Coastal County describes its food. They serve a variety of sandwiches, burgers, tacos, salads and even brunch items on the weekend.

More:Coastal County Brewing Co. opens with craft brews, food and two-acre outdoor complex

Addresses: 6890 Pensacola Blvd. and the Cordova Mall food court, Pensacola

Phone: 850-525-1217 (Pensacola Blvd. location)

Facebook page

Info: It was a big year for 3-D Eats & Tea, which has steadily grown its customer base with its food truck business during the past few years. But 2020 was about expanding for owner Sean DeSmet, who brought a 3-D to a former Burger King property on Pensacola Boulevard and another to the mall's food court. The latter of the two should open right around the new year.

The business is known for its creative and indulgent burger, sandwich, melt and loaded fry creations. The brand is also synonymous with inexpensive lunch combinations.

More:3-D Eats and Tea opening new location in Cordova Mall food court in October

More:3-D Eats & Tea opens brick and mortar location on Pensacola Boulevard

Address: 12 Via De Luna Drive, Pensacola Beach

Phone: 850-786-3675

Facebook page

Info: This high-end Japanese steakhouse with waterfront views opened May 6 on the beach. The experience the restaurant presents is rivaled only by its supreme-quality sushi, A5 Japanese wagyu, hand-rolled ramen noodles and the many items on its menu.

"Everything at Bonsai is about attention to detail," Bonsai Head Chef Omar Torres said in May. "It's a completely different experience. Right now in our ramen noodles, the seafood one, we have a big jumbo prawn that is about 12 inches long. The thing is the size of a lobster. So it's just kind of unique things you won't see anywhere."

More:Bonsai high-end Japanese sushi restaurant opens at the Hilton Pensacola Beach hotel

Addresses: 1674 E. Nine Mile Road, Suite A, and 5100 N. Ninth Ave., Suite E541-A

Phone: 850-760-0558

Info: This is the first and last national chain restaurant to make this list, but Chipotle kind of had to make the list after years worth of hype from Pensacola foodies. A "Bring a Chipotle to Pensacola" Facebook page has been active for years, after all.

The fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurant opened in a shopping center near the University Parkway Publix in June. The Cordova Mall storefront Chipotle opened in September.

More:Chipot-yay: Pensacola's first Chipotle to open before the summer

More:Twice as nice: Second Pensacola Chipotle coming to Cordova Mall this fall

Address: 600 W. Garden St., Pensacola

Phone: 850-857-8304

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Info: The downtown Pensacola area's first Korean barbecue eatery was highly anticipated all winter, and in late May Kalbi Ichiban opened and began to deliver on its lofty expectations.

The 5,000-square-foot restaurant located at 600 W. Garden St. specializes in traditional cook-at-your-table Korean barbecue style lunches and dinners centered around kalbi, chicken kalbi, pork kalbi, pork belly and more. The extensive menu at Kalbi Ichiban also includes sushi, Japanese ramen, noodles, teriyaki entrees, sashimi entrees and much, much more. There's also a full bar and a full sake bar.

More:Kalbi Ichiban Korean barbecue restaurant to open on West Garden Street in 2020

Address: 601 E. Gregory St., Pensacola

Phone: 850-786-3675

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Info: Fin & Fork was one of Orange Beach, Alabama's favorite seafood restaurants before making an abrupt move across the Panhandle to Pensacola because of issues with the restaurant's previous landlord.

"Everything's 100% fresh," owner Matt Shipp said in May. "We have steaks and seafood. Steaks are sort of the hidden little secret, we have a reputation for some of the best steaks on the market. I think it's a very successful concept, and the price points are good."

More:Fin & Fork bringing its seafood, steak and Sunday brunch to Pensacola from Orange Beach

Address: 5 Via De Luna Drive, Suite K, Pensacola Beach

Phone: 850-565-4863

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Info: Water Pig, which opened in June, constructed a menu built around its 4,300-pound smoker and the low and slow ribs, brisket and sausage that are cooked inside it.

The restaurant offers deck and stadium-style seating and boasts a full outdoor bar that overlooks the Santa Rosa Sound.

Water Pig BBQ was rated as the No. 1 restaurant in the Florida Panhandle by Trip Advisor. The restaurant also was nominated for USA Today's Best New Restaurant in the nation. Those results will be revealed at the end of 2020.

More:Water Pig BBQ restaurant opening on Pensacola Beach, aims to make Florida's best barbecue

Address: 13700 Perdido Key Drive, Unit 106A, Perdido Key

Phone: 866-507-4992

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Info: Pizza lovers in the Perdido area should expect a thin-crust, New York-style pie from this carryout pizza spot that opened during the summer.

Paul's is located inside of the Villagio Perdido Town Centre below the Jellyfish restaurant. It also offers pastas, salads, subs and gluten-free pizza.

More:Paul's Pizza Company, a new pickup and delivery spot, opening soon in Perdido Key

Address: 6707 Pensacola Blvd., Pensacola

Phone: 850-474-3978

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Info: Chicken 'N The Egg replaced the IHOP on Pensacola Boulevard in June. The American family-style restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner all day long.

Although the concept is similar to IHOP, Chicken 'N The Egg owners promise a fresher, higher quality product on every plate. They also do omelets, build-your-own breakfast combinations and lunch options such as third-pound burgers and sandwiches.

More:Chicken 'N The Egg breakfast, lunch and dinner restaurant replaces Pensacola IHOP

Addresses: 1803 State Road 95A, Cantonment, and 1708 W. Fairfield Drive, Pensacola

Phone: 850-860-2812

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Info: Like 3-D, another ambitious food truck owner took a couple of big steps forward in 2020. Mark Garcia, owner of the Happy Taco food truck, opened his first brick-and-mortar in Cantonment during the summer.

Happy Taco's authentic street tacos, trademark puffy tacos and quesadillas soon will be available in Pensacola at the former Bangkok Garden Thai restaurant. And it doesn't stop there for Garcia, who has aspirations to open two additional Happy Tacos in Northwest Florida by the end of 2021.

More:Happy Taco opening new Pensacola restaurant, plans to operate four in NWFL by 2021

Address: 655 Pensacola Beach Blvd., Pensacola Beach

Phone: 850-677-8387

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Info: Cumaru first opened as a bar in June, but quickly integrated its second phase as a restaurant serving dishes and sandwiches that fully complement its beach surroundings.

Items like cheeseburgers, shrimp and mahi tacos, gumbos and sandwiches can be had at Cumaru, which switches up its menu often and is always offering daily specials.

More:Cumaru Bar opens at Pensacola Beach Marina as part of multi-phase restaurant and bar project

Address: 501 S. Palafox St., Pensacola

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Info: Formerly known as Al Fresco, The Garden took about eight months to renovate, add a roof and freshen up its concept altogether. When it opened under its rebranding last summer, it did so with four food trucks, five kiosks and a new cornerstone bar called Perennial.

Calavera Tacos, Esaan, Boca Latin Kitchen and Melt are the four food trailers, each of which are signed to three-year contracts. A new restaurant also is expected to open at The Garden in the near future.

More:The Garden food court opening on Palafox Monday with three new Airsteam food trailers

Address: 8084 N. Davis Highway, Pensacola

Phone: 850-760-2089

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Info: The Ferry Pass area lost a doughnut shop but gained a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean spot when owner AJ Dali made the switch in July.

Dali cited a desire to switch to a more sustainable restaurant concept during lean times early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Steak kabob, kofta kabob, chicken kabob and falafel meals highlight this menu chock full of authentic offerings.

More:Popular Pensacola bakery pivots, re-opens as In & Out Kitchen and Mediterranean

Address: 2805 W. Cervantes St., Pensacola

Phone: 850-466-3648

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Info: Taste of Jerusalem was a favorite in Brownsville for years, so west Pensacola rejoiced when owner Ray Sehweil announced an expanded concept in a bigger west side building in 2019.

Those goals came to fruition in July when Sehweil reopened the restaurant along with a dessert bakery, juice bar, hot grab-and-go station, old fashioned butcher shop, deli area and a grocery-style market.

More:Taste of Jerusalem moving to Cervantes in August, adding breakfast, deli, market and more

Address: 800 N. Navy Blvd., Pensacola

Phone: 850-741-4900

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Info: A full restaurant, a grab-and-go cooler and a meal subscription service are all on the table at Clean Eatz, west Pensacola's newest health food eatery.

"We have kind of a fast-food feel with a lot cleaner ingredients," said Clean Eatz franchisee Sam Poppell. "We have eight different wraps, we have a great smoothie menu. Bison burgers, turkey burgers. We recently underwent a menu change nationwide and added buffalo cauliflower, which I think is amazing."

More:Clean Eatz opens health food restaurant in west Pensacola, launches meal plan service

Address: 63 Via De Luna Drive, Pensacola Beach

Phone: 850-733-9311

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Info: This specialty sub shop on the beach opened at the end of July from inside the popular beach plaza that rarely lacks foot traffic.

Hot subs and flatbread pizzas help drive the sales, and the carryout-friendly restaurant also sells wings, appetizers, salads, desserts kids meals and more.

More:The Reef specialty sub shop and pizza restaurant opens on Pensacola Beach

Address: 11 Palafox Place, Suite C, Pensacola

Phone: 850-377-9874

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Info: The coffeehouse, breakfast café and home essentials store known as The Nest opened at 11 Palafox Place, Suite C, in the breezeway behind Blue Jay's in July.

Breakfast sandwiches, breakfast scramble dishes, sweet or avocado toast, a red pepper panini, wild rice soup and The Nest's patty melt round out the light and flavor-filled options at the café-style eatery.

More:The Nest General Store opens in downtown Pensacola with coffee, breakfast and lunch options

Address: 7552 Navarre Parkway, Unit 14, Navarre

Phone: 850-710-3370

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Info: The owners of Navarre's New York Pizza Depot opened the New York Pizza District in August, bringing a new sit-down spot to the building that Vinny R's formerly operated in.

The family-friendly pizza restaurant offers more than 15 specialty pies, a create-your-own pizza option and pizza by the slice, starting at $2.99. The New York Pizza District also serves up calzones, pastas, gyros, salads and traditional starters like cheesy garlic bread, chicken wings, fried ravioli and more.

More:New Navarre pizza restaurant brings New York style slices to Santa Rosa County

Address: 13160 Sorrento Road, Pensacola

Phone: 850- 465-3133

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Info: "Love at 900 degrees" is the slogan at this wood-fired, Neapolitan-style pizza place in the Perdido area.

The simple and straightforward Pizzaluté menu centers on more than a dozen pizza options, with a handful of salads and sweets spliced in. The restaurant also has a self-serve beer and wine bay that features 21 beer taps and three wine taps.

More:Pizzaluté brings authentic Italian wood-fired pizzas to Perdido Key

Address: 12 Via De Luna Drive, Pensacola Beach

Phone: 850-916-2999

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Info: This poolside tapas and cocktail lounge at the Hilton Pensacola Beach doesn't play around with its mixed drinks, offering 40-ounce margaritas, and oversized, overstuffed milkshakes that you just have to snap a photo of for Instagram.

If you like some food with your booze, Sal de Mar head chef Omar Torres has you covered. Torres described the restaurant as an American-style eatery with a lot of Spanish flair and influence. It's somewhere you can play it safe by ordering a cheeseburger, or venture out a little with some octopus and shrimp ceviche or bombas.

More:Sal de Mar poolside Pensacola Beach restaurant opening at the Hilton

Address: 6233 N. Davis Highway, Pensacola

Phone: 850-332-7333

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Info: This family-friendly Mexican restaurant replaced O'Charley's at the end of the summer on North Davis.

Seating more than 300 people, owner Ruben Chavez's restaurant features authentic Mexican food while benefiting from a full bar. Chavez plans to open a second Pedro's in Pace in 2021.

More:Pedro's Tex-Mex restaurant replacing Pensacola O'Charley's, Pace location coming this winter

Address: 4955 U.S. 90, Pace

Phone: 850-994-5230

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Info: This regional burger restaurant chain opened in September in Pace with a sporty, family-friendly style environment.

Mugshots grills up about a dozen specialty burgers to go along with its seven or eight original burgers. The Mississippi-based restaurant also serves sandwiches, hot dogs, pastas, salads, appetizers and much more.

More:Mugshots Grill & Bar coming to Pensacola and Pace, Ryan's in Pace to close by 2020

Address: 1124 W. Garden St., Pensacola

Phone: 850-434-3193

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Info: This one isn't a new restaurant, but it is at a new location. Its fresh, Gulf Coast seafood dishes and sandwiches just moved a little closer to downtown.

After spending 33 years next door to its parent business, Captain Joey Patti's Seafood Restaurant and Deli moved last fall into the property formerly occupied by Cypress and George Bistro.

More:Captain Joey Patti's seafood restaurant moving into former Cypress building this fall

Address: 11-B Palafox Place, Pensacola

Phone: 850-706-0627

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Info: What was initially a pop-up noodle bar that opened inside Pot Roast & Pinot in October will become its own restaurant when it consumes Pot Roast & Pinot in early January.

Owner Aimée Wilson said come January, 86 Forks will expand upon its design-your-own ramen noodle bowl concept and add a myriad of Asian-inspired small plates. The pop-up version of 86 Forks is open now, but the expansion is set for a Jan. 18 completion and opening date.

More:Pot Roast & Pinot to close in January, become 86 Forks small plates restaurant full time

Address: 1400 Barrancas Ave., Pensacola

Phone: 850-285-0564

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Info: The sister restaurant of Xiscali Mexican restaurant in Gulf Breeze opened in December as a fast-casual alternative for West Garden area communities.

The new taqueria rolled out a simplified, taco-based menu with the same Tex-Mex style recipes and flavors cooked up in the kitchen of owner Reina Medina's Gulf Breeze sit-down restaurant.

More:Xiscali returning to Pensacola, will open taqueria on Barrancas Avenue before 2021

Address: 6209 Mobile Highway, Pensacola

Phone: 850-741-3378

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Info: The former Krystal on Mobile Highway made way for this fast-service seafood restaurant, which is open until at least 2 a.m., seven days a week.

Fresh seafood options at Sam's — which opened its original location in Bradenton in the spring of 2019 — include snow crab trays, fish, shrimp, scampi garlic Cajun shrimp, calamari rings, crawfish, scallops, oysters, mussels and crab leg dinners.

More:Sam's Seafood & Grill opens Pensacola restaurant in place of Krystal on Mobile Highway

Jake Newby can be reached at jnewby@pnj.com or 850-435-8538.

Newport's commercial fishing industry is facing challenging times

By Bob Gulla

“Different? How are things different? Just look at it.”

Gazing out over the water toward downtown Newport from a dock on Long Wharf, Denny Ingram, the burly captain of Blue Moon, is answering my question with a question.

“Nothing’s the way it used to be. Nothing.”

We’re standing on the last remaining pier dedicated to the city’s commercial fishing industry. The view is crowded with pleasure boats, mid-rise condos and high-end hotels. When Ingram started fishing nearly 40 years ago, the scene was quite different. The city had an established and bustling working waterfront with bait shops, fueling stations, and a bunch of places to sell that day’s catch.

Today, all of the businesses serving the commercial fishing industry have evaporated. You can’t even get ice locally. “We pooled our money and bought a commercial ice machine, made just for our needs, and we can’t even get the inspectors to sign off on it so we can turn the thing on,” Ingram says. As we shoot the breeze, a few lobster and gill net boats bob defiantly in place, roped to pilings, poised for another voyage.

These are interesting times for the local brotherhood of people who make their living on the water.

The Headwinds

Historically, Newport’s natural harbor, nearby ocean and neighboring Narragansett Bay all made for hospitable waters. They teemed with mackerel, fluke, tuna, haddock, flounder and perch. The harbor itself accommodated 150 wharves, making affordable local dockage easy to come by. Even as recently as the mid-1900s, Newport was a commercial fishing epicenter on a par with New Bedford, which is now the country’s most profitable fishing port.

“When we first started fishing, Newport Harbor from south to north was filled with busy port activity for us.” says David Spencer, a member of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation. Spencer has been lobstering locally on his boat, the Nathaniel Lee, since 1973. “There were freezers and boats and fuel and a bunch of places to sell our catch. It wasn’t so touristy, so we could make it work.”

And work they did, until Newport became one of the premier tourist destinations in the country. Since that time, tourism, and the money it brings in, has exerted tremendous pressure for stakeholders to cash in on even the smallest sections of Newport’s waterfront. A fleet of aging trawlers couldn’t possibly pay the kind of money that dock owners get from the super-elite, million-dollar-plus pleasure boats that find their way here. “How can we possibly compete?” Ingram asks.

It’s safe to say that commercial fishing today has changed in every conceivable way. Newport’s importance as a fisheries hub has shrunken dramatically in the last half century, both literally and economically. Since 2011, Newport fisherman fishery landings have decreased almost 70 percent. Unlike New Bedford, Newport’s fishing industry does not provide much economic support to the city. Today, there are around a dozen and a half trawlers, all confined to the state-owned Long Wharf (also called Pier 9).

“We wouldn’t even have this small piece of the waterfront if a group of lawyers hadn’t stepped in with a bridge loan on the real estate,” says Spencer. “If it weren’t for that loan, this land would have been sold right from under us. We know there was an offer on the table.” That loan allowed the commercial fishermen to buy enough time for the State of Rhode Island to purchase that waterfront parcel on their behalf, with the intention of retaining it exclusively for commercial fishing.

While onshore matters have stabilized somewhat, offshore is a different story. Construction of a massive wind farm is underway, throwing another obstacle in the fishing industry’s path. “The fish don’t like it at all,” says Ingram. “That’s happening right out where we like to be, and you can go out there and there’s nothing. That’s definitely going to make things complicated. Even the ground tests they’re doing are disturbing the stocks.”

Declines in fish stocks have also occurred due to changes in the environment, including changing water temperatures, predation and pollution. Since 1898, overall fish yields have decreased by an astonishing 81 percent. Changes in wild shellfish include the disappearance of soft-shell clams, oysters and scallops, all of which were replaced by quahogs.

Graying of the Fleet

Spencer and Ingram are integral to the community of local fishermen, whose hard work and independent spirit helped to create a proud and successful tradition. Today, though, many of those once-proud fishermen are nearing retirement, and there are few, if any, of the younger generation willing to step up and take their place.

“Nobody really has statistics,” says Sarah Schumann, a commercial fisherman and owner/principal of Shining Seas Fishery Consulting. “But you hear a lot of people express the view that there is a ‘graying of the fleet’ — a sharp increase in the average age of commercial fishermen nationwide.”

Today, Ingram and Spencer are among the last of the fishermen who enjoyed the boom time of the 1980s, when they were able to take advantage of a 200-mile expansion of federally approved fishing waters. “For the longest time, it was a really good business,” says Ingram. “It was hard work, but it was worth it, especially if you wanted to be your own boss and make your own hours. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

Adds Spencer, “For whatever reason, the younger generations don’t want to do this kind of work. I understand that times have changed, but there’s still a real opportunity out there to make a good living.”

Schumann says that fishermen in Newport have had to do everything they can just to hang in there. “There’s so much competition for waterfront space, it just makes it difficult to have a working waterfront in that location, like it used to be.”

All of the dealers — legendary places like Anthony’s on Spring Wharf, where fishermen would sell their catch — are gone. Time was the fishermen could come in, unload their haul, get paid, clean up, and live to fish another day. No longer. “The dealers all disappeared,” says Spencer, “so we needed a solution, an outlet for the guys to sell their catch.”

Introducing the Newport Lobster Shack, a modest outbuilding where the local boats can unload their catch. It opened in 2010 after the Department of Environmental Management put a stop to individual off-the-boat lobster and crab sales in Newport. Every captain who berths a boat on the pier is a member of the co-op and has a vote in any of the shack’s business decisions.

Local support for the establishment — where you can get a killer lobster roll, among other things — has been overwhelming. “If it weren’t for the lobster shack, I don't know if they would be there anymore,” says Schumann, referring to the fishing fleet. “From what many of them have told me, that’s really been their lifeline. During COVID, especially, when people were looking for local provisions, it really made a big difference.”

Spencer agrees. “The shack is an anchor that helps to keep the commercial fishing fleet in Newport,” he says. “It’s really integrated the fishing community into the city, into the state. We’ve become part of the tourist trade here.”

Fishing for Answers

Contrary to what all of this sounds like — that the walls are closing in on commercial fishing — there are actually reasons for optimism. “In a lot of ways, fisheries are doing better than they ever have before,” says Schumann. “The management of those fisheries has reached an even keel finally, after a few turbulent decades, and the relationship between the fishermen and DEM has also stabilized and become much more productive.”

Beyond the management aspects, there are also viable alternative pursuits that allow those commercially minded fishermen to make a living. Many turn to chartering their boats for day-tripping fishermen. “Consumers are more aware of the world they live in,” says Brian Combra, a fisherman from Tiverton who’s been on the water since he was a young kid. “They’re more into climate, conservation, knowing where your food is coming from. A lot of people want to catch fish, but they also want to do it the right way, experience the nature without killing it. The recreational side of it is such a big business.”

As captain of Newport Fishing Charters, Rob Taylor knows that fact pretty well. He runs one of Newport’s most successful charter enterprises. A biology graduate from Roger Williams, Taylor has done his share of commercial fishing, but now shares his passion and gift for sport fishing with paying customers. “Newport should be one of the sport fishing capitals of the world,” he says. A billowy beard, part of his persona, belies the 39-year-old’s youth and hides a confident smile. “You can fish anywhere out of Newport, Block Island, the Vineyard. I love it,” Taylor says. His enthusiasm is backed by a busy calendar. He’s often booked through the summer, two trips a day, and he’s even booked solid this October–December. “Don’t get me wrong, I love commercial fishing,” Taylor says. “But the price of seafood is so cheap right now, I find that it’s really hard work for not a lot of money. I’d rather catch a bunch of fish with people and watch them smile.”

Combra recently decided to get off the water full time and buy into Ken’s Bait Shop in Middletown. “I saw the writing on the wall,” he says. “In general, I see commercial fishing as a dying industry. When you walk down the docks, you don’t see young guys running boats. If they do, their ambition is to go offshore where they can make more money.”

Combra grew up fishing with gill nets and a few lobster pots. “I didn’t have any aspirations of getting rich, but I did like the lifestyle,” he admits. “Then this offer came along at the bait shop and it was a chance for me to change things up and be a little more secure.”

Turning the Tide

As the world turns, many industries have succumbed to great change, and commercial fishing, like farming, is no exception. Lately, though, farming has experienced a resurgence, as interest in local food sourcing has exploded. Perhaps this will be the case with fishing, too. But it could all be in how it’s messaged. “Once you start talking about commercial fishing as a ‘dying industry,’” says Schumann, “it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy and a little scarier for a young person to invest in it, even if they desperately want to do it or if it’s been the family business.”

That said, it’s not enough to commit to it. The fishing infrastructure needs to be in place in order for it to make sense. Right now, in Newport, it’s not. “Even though we’re all extremely independent people,” Schumann says, referring to her own commercial fishing business, “nobody can do it alone. You need a functioning dock space, a place to sell your catch, a gear supply store, a fuel supply. You need all of those things. It’s one of the reasons why younger people aren’t getting involved.”

Ingram agrees. “The next generation isn’t picking up on it,” he says. “I had a couple of kids last season who just had trouble getting out of bed. I leave at 5 a.m. and they had a really hard time getting up.” As he talks, he’s rolling a blue plastic barrel off his truck and into a neat row. “To me, it’s never felt like a job, and you get paid at the end of it. I’ve had a helluva time,” he says, grabbing another barrel. “I’m on the back nine, and I don’t regret a minute of it.”

Sustainability eludes the fishing industry

Dan Friedell

USATODAY

Advocates focus on best ways to use precious seafood resources.

The U.S. is second only to China in seafood consumption.

Snakehead%2C an alternative fish%2C turns out to be tasty.

Herman Melville's Captain Ahab of Moby Dick may have been the first fisherman to practice sustainability. The Pequod captain's quest to catch one whale is right in line with what advocates for a sustainable seafood industry believe today.

Modern-day examples of sustainable fishermen include harpooners who catch swordfish along the Atlantic coast of northern Canada and divers who use spear guns to snag lionfish in the South Atlantic and Caribbean. These fishermen have a one-fish-per-device limit that eliminates bycatch, the trapping of non-targeted species in nets or long lines.

Of course, the Ahab comparison can also be seen in a negative way: Some fishermen have a single-minded quest to catch members of lucrative but dwindling species, like the bluefin tuna. The tuna sell for nearly $2 million every January and about $100,000 the rest of the year.

"That's the scarcity theory of value, the kind of thing that happens with elephant ivory or tiger skins," says Christopher Mann of the Pew Charitable Trusts' campaign for healthy oceans. "That's why we have tended to focus on [making] unsustainable tuna fishing illegal. What we can hope to do is make the countries of the world unite around the idea that this is a crazy way to exploit a resource."

Andrew Zimmern, host of Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel, says the American consumer should be the No. 1 target for messages about preserving the oceans. The U.S. is second only to China in seafood consumption. Americans consumed 4.7 billion pounds of seafood in 2011, about 15 pounds per person.

"Sadly, slowing down this behemoth is almost impossible," Zimmern says. "If we could eat two more or three more meals a week from the alternative protein bucket that includes small fish with the head on it, octopus and a whole range of seafood, we could self-correct the horrific damage we've done to our food system in America in about 18 to 24 months."

One of those alternative fish is the snakehead, a non-native species with no natural predators that has gained a foothold in the Potomac River around Washington, D.C. Its name and looks are unappealing, but the fish tastes good—really. And local chefs are now serving it in an effort to ease its effect on the region's native fish.

"A lot of the species are just not palatable," says John Rorapaugh of Profish, a major seafood vendor in Washington. "But [snakehead] is a beautiful protein, just as good as rockfish, or maybe better." Profish now pays suppliers up to $5.50 per pound of snakehead, about 10 times more than it pays for catfish.

Positive steps, but Zimmern says more needs to be done. "We're going to lose species, wetlands, manageable oceans, so many things, and I think one of those things is going to end up getting everybody's attention and create the social movement necessary for real change to happen."

This article is excerpted from USA TODAY Green Living magazine. The special publication contains articles on sustainable living, green products, DIY projects, and people and companies helping to save the planet. Get an eco-friendly version for your tablet or computer at zinio.com/usatodaymags.

Haddock chowder a winner for fishermen and the hungry

CHATHAM — When the pandemic hit last winter, restaurants and fish markets were among the first businesses to shut down.

The combination hit the region’s fishing fleet really hard, said Seth Rolbein, director of the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust at the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance. May starts the new fishing year and summer is by far the industry's busiest season.

“It took the legs out from under the fleet,” said Rolbein.

Additionally, fish processors in ports like New Bedford and Gloucester had the same issues as meat packing plants in the Midwest, Rolbein said. With employees working in close proximity, the fish processing plants weren’t built to contain the spread of the virus, said Rolbein, and they shut down too.

While Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the federal fishery regulators moved to make it easier for fishermen to sell right off their boats, the Fishermen’s Alliance looked to create new markets and bring some needed money to struggling fishing families.

The third goal was to feed families in what quickly became a food crisis brought on by COVID, said Robert Vincent, assistant director of advisory services at MIT Sea Grant, which funded a pilot program to market the frozen haddock chowder that the Cape fishermen's alliance had developed.

Vincent and MIT Sea Grant helped the Cape chowder gain access to the Greater Boston Food Bank and to food banks across Massachusetts and New England, and into MIT food services.

A year later, the haddock chowder program pioneered by the fishermen's alliance is a success, giving fishermen much needed cash flow during the pandemic, creating a market for "snapper" haddock that are plentiful but fetch a low price because they produce small fillets, and providing 800,000 meal-sized servings of chowder to those suffering through income loss and needing food assistance.

"It was a phenomenal thing," said Rolbein.

Private grants underwrote most of the program's costs, but Rolbein is hoping to expand into institutional settings like colleges and university food services and to gain entrance to the U.S. Department of Agriculture food assistance programs, whose payments could make the chowder program fiscally sustainable, and potentially create new markets for other underutilized species like skate.

The Cape fishermen's alliance worked with Gloucester fish processor Great Eastern Seafood and Lowell food maker, the Plenus Group Inc., to produce the chowder. The measure of success in food pantries is when you have return customers for what you are putting out, explained Christine Menard, executive director of the Family Pantry of Cape Cod in Harwich.

It not only tasted good, but it was easy for clients to use, she said. They just had to open and reheat.

"This was resoundingly a winner, said Menard.

The fisheries alliance is focused on advocating for small boat fishermen. Smaller vessels, generally 50 feet and under, are the backbone of the Cape and Islands fleets. As popular and marketable inshore fish stocks declined, these vessels could not compete with larger fishing boats that could withstand the stormy offshore seas of the North Atlantic.

Snapper haddock tend to be found closer to shore, said Cape hook fisherman Eric Hesse. Because of their size, they go into products like fish cakes and fetch a low price, as low as 60 cents per pound when plentiful, while larger haddock that produce marketable fillets can return $3 per pound to fishermen.

Hesse normally goes farther offshore to catch bigger fish in the winter but he estimated about a third of his catch this past winter was snapper haddock sold to the chowder program at a guaranteed price of $1.50 per pound. Funding helped the haddock chowder program to guarantee fishermen that price.

"It was a good, fair, equitable price for the effort," said Rolbein.

"It definitely helped in the winter when everyone was hammering on haddock," said Jim Ford who captains a 50-foot fish dragger, the only one remaining in Newburyport. "It added quite a bit to our bottom line, especially when the haddock were thick."

Rolbein said it cost about $1 million to produce 276,000 pounds of chowder. Their biggest grant came from Catch Together, a Chatham-based non-profit looking to strengthen fishing communities and businesses, fisheries management and food security. Rolbein said the chowder program paid $295,000 to the 30 fishermen who participated.

While the fishermen's alliance was initially focused on Cape fishermen, it expanded to other small vessels in other ports because the Cape boats couldn't catch enough haddock to meet the demand of the processor and the chowder maker.

Hesse, who is from Barnstable, fished out of Gloucester this winter. He has one of the few longline vessels remaining in New England. He deploys lines of baited hooks strung between two buoys to catch fish. Hesse said the winter haddock fishery off the Cape is usually dominated by large fish draggers.

The Cape small boat groundfish fleet is mainly gillnet vessels that use anchored upright panels of nets that ensnare fish by their gills. But the mesh size tends to be too large for snapper haddock, who can swim right through.

Chatham was once one of New England's top cod ports, but overfishing and climate change made it a scarce commodity. In recent years, the alliance has tried marketing what fishermen were catching including monkfish, skates and dogfish with limited success until the chowder experiment paid off.

While there have been some signs that the haddock population may be declining, it still remains at levels far above what it was even a decade ago. Vincent said Sea Grant and the alliance are working to create a sustainable business model for undersized haddock that will provide some steady income for the region's small boat fishermen.

Last month, U.S. Rep. William Keating sent a letter to Sec. of Agriculture Tom Vilsack advocating that they incorporate more seafood like haddock chowder into their food assistance programs. Keating was particularly concerned about minimum volume amounts required by the USDA that precluded participation by smaller food producers like independent fishermen.

"This initiative ... features a sustainable new product that keeps family fishermen on the water and provides volumes of nutritious, affordable, ready-to-serve meals," Keating wrote.

Follow Doug Fraser on Twitter:@dougfrasercct

Shortage of blue crab pickers forces Maryland seafood shops to shut ...

Help cannot come quick enough for Harry Phillips.

The owner of Russell Hall Seafood on Hoopers Island has not had any workers to pick Maryland's finest crabs since the season started April 1.

"It puts us at a shutdown," Phillips said. "If we don't have somebody to pick the crabs, what am I going to do with them? It's affecting hundreds of people."

And he's not the only one. Four of the eight businesses on the Shore that utilize the H-2B visa program are essentially closed as many pickers could not make their yearly pilgrimage from Mexico to the Shore.

It's estimated that almost half of the workforce is missing, and the eight businesses process around 80 percent of the crabmeat, according to Jack Brooks, president of the American Seafood Jobs Alliance.

For the first time, the Trump administration awarded the visas in a lottery this year, instead of the usual first-come, first-served basis.

"Can you imagine a lottery that decides whose business lives and whose business dies? That's just horrible," said Brooks, who is also a co-owner of J.M. Clayton Co. in Cambridge. It was one of the four crab processors that received visa workers.

The lack of workers could put some out of business. Crab processors can't find willing American workers to fill the void, and experts are unsure of how it will affect the consumer market for crabmeat.

More:Get crabbing: Maryland season opens April 1

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The industry is expecting some relief as another lottery for 15,000 more H-2B visas, which is for seasonal workers in non-agricultural jobs, to be announced this month.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, the Republican who represents the Shore, have asked for an immediate raise to the visa cap.

“Many businesses within Maryland’s First District depend on the H-2B visa program to hire seasonal workers," Harris said in a statement Thursday. "While the imminent approval of 15,000 visas won’t fully satisfy current nationwide demand for seasonal workers, I am grateful for Secretary Nielsen and Secretary Acosta’s efforts to support the seasonal businesses of Maryland’s First District."

But why only 15,000, Brooks said he doesn't know. Even if workers arrived Monday, a month would have been lost, Brooks said. And it could take 30-45 days after a lottery to get workers into the country.

"From day one, we have to go as hard as you can since we only have 8 months," Phillips said.

Brooks said companies have dealt with worker issues since 2005 but this year is going to be the worst yet.

Maryland has 20 licensed crab processors but are about 200 employees short of the 500 that normally come through the program, according to Bill Seiling, director of the Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association.

Applications more than doubled the allotted 33,000 jobs for work beginning in April, prompting the lottery approach to award visas.

The price of Maryland crabmeat could go up with a short supply, while the international selection will always set the low bar, Brooks said. More unpicked crabs will head to live markets for sale, lowering the price and quality because of the style and size.

"The live market, no matter what anyone says, just can't absorb all these crabs," Brooks said. "The crab picking businesses have been absorbing so many crabs over the decades."

Three of the four businesses without workers are on Hoopers Island, Brooks said, but Lower Shore processors still use local pickers to supply the market.

Metompkin Bay Oyster Co. in Crisfield and Ocean Highway Seafood in Pocomoke City make do without visas.

Many critics find it easy point out that American workers would solve the crab picking pickle, but the Eastern Shore is still steeped in that tradition whereas other parts of Maryland have desperately tried to keep up, Brooks said.

"We'd love to, but people are simply not taking these jobs," he said.

It's a tradition that has gone by the wayside, Phillips said. No one wants to do the tedious work that runs for only eight months of the year.

And students look to the beach or something that will benefit them more after they finish school, he added.

"We've done everything we could to hire American workers," Phillips said.

Russell Hall opened in 1992 and started with 12 workers from Mexico. Now they're closer to 50 and have second generation families coming from the south to work.

Phillips gets text messages every day asking when the seafood company might open so that the workers can make money fast and send it back to their family.

More:H-2B visa logjam may put Shore employers in summer hiring bind

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He's seen businesses close year after year, knowing what missing a whole season could mean.

He fears for the future if the lottery stays and the shortage continues year after year. It trickles down from his employees to the truck drivers, dock workers, refrigeration companies and more.

Phillips might have to make it work with a half of season. And after 25 years of hard work, he's hoping his luck will change.

"It's a shame," he said. "These people are hardworking people."

This report includes information from the Associated Press.

Saving NH's fishing industry: Help is on the way for young fishermen

Angeljean Chiaramida

news@seacoastonline.com

SEABROOK — Help is on the way for the region’s dwindling commercial fishing industry in the form of a half-million-dollar federal grant to train a new fleet of young fishermen to replace those who are retiring.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, recently announced the grant, which comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to Shaheen, the grant invests hundreds of thousands of dollars in recruiting, training and mentoring a new generation of fishermen with the goal of continuing the state’s 400-year-old fishing industry, which is in real danger of disappearing.

“New Hampshire’s commercial fishing industry is critical to the cultural and economic identity of our coastal communities,” Shaheen said. “Unfortunately, the industry’s aging workforce poses tremendous challenges for our fisheries’ future. That’s why I’m proud to welcome nearly $550,000 to train and support a new generation of fishermen.”

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According to Shaheen, by investing in these training programs, New Hampshire’s coastal communities can thrive with better economic opportunities and expanded regional seafood access. Received by Seabrook’s Yankee Fishermen's Cooperative, the $540,753 three-year grant will create the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance, to be run by Andrea Tomlinson, co-author of the grant.

Tomlinson, who has been involved in the state’s commercial fishing industry for 20 years and currently runs New Hampshire Community Seafood, worked with Yankee Cooperative board member David Goethel and others when putting together the grant.

To be administrated by the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative, the $540,753 grant is backed with a soft match of $232,000 from in-kind services, bringing a total of $772,753 to tackle the problem of a seriously diminishing number of boats and licensed captains in the state’s once healthy small-boat fishing fleet.

Replacing the aging fishing workforce

The problem isn’t just in New Hampshire, but throughout New England and the nation, according to Tomlinson, who said the average age of the New England groundfishing workforce is about 60 years old.

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In 1990, when the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative was founded, there were dozens of active commercial fishing boats in the fleet, Goethel said. Today, he counts six boats still out there doing the job.

“There are only four draggers and two gill net boats,” said Goethel, a 54-year veteran of commercial fishing. “Pretty much everyone else is retired. But there are people who want to become boat captains. They need the tools to be able to do it.”

The reason for the drastic reduction in the fleet are many, he said, including the fact that the usual generational aspect that replenished the fishing trade has broken down. For hundreds of years, he said, it was the offspring of fishermen – sons, grandsons, daughters and granddaughters – who became new boat captains, filling vacancies as the older generation retired.

That’s no longer the case, Goethel and Tomlinson said. Among the factors leading to the demise of the family traditions of the business, they said, are the increased cost of fishing boats and fishing permits, the difficulty getting loans from financial institutions, the cost of insurance and gear, and complex federal fishing restrictions and tight fish quotas. They are all converging to keep young would-be fishing boat captains on the docks instead of at sea, both said.

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Goethel said, with the right training and experience, it is still possible today for a man or woman to make a very good living in commercial fishing. They need to be physically fit, mentally tough and they need to know how to fish smart, he said, meaning understanding the complex regulations, the markets, where the fish are and how to catch them safely and at a profit.

“In this business, you can’t afford to make mistakes,” Goethel said. “If you catch a halibut that’s smaller than regulation, that’s a $10,000 fine when you get to the docks. And there’s no place for bar rooms or drugs in commercial fishing. Those so-called reality shows like 'Wicked Tuna,' you need to forget those. If we fished the way they do on those shows, there wouldn’t be any fishermen left alive.”

Training the next generation

Tomlinson said she and others engaged in “dock talks” in 2019. They spoke with deckhands – those who work on fishing boats — and sternmen — those who work on lobster boats, who face putting up hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy boats, gear and entry-level groundfishing or lobster permits with no quotas that start at $25,000.

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The cost of a boat loan, multi-species of groundfish permits or commercial lobster permit, couple with insurance, registration and dock fees, maintenance and equipment present an insurmountable hurdle for most young people interested in getting started in commercial fishing, she said.

What was learned from these discussions, Tomlinson said, is what the next crop of potential young commercial fishermen – those 45 and younger – said they need to overcome these obstacles and become fishing boat captains.

And it’s what came from these discussions, she said, that the grant monies fund: training programs in small business, fishing regulations and industry standards for increased sales; mentoring programs with established captains to learn the trade from those who ply it; as well as collaborative marketing techniques.

Independent of the grant funding, Tomlinson said, there will also be training in safety and collaborative research so new captains can understand existing, and collect new, fishing industry data.

How it will work

For the next three years, the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance will recruit six trainees each year. These men and women will go through from six to nine months of training, both in a classroom and aboard boats with experienced captains as their mentors.

“They’ll work on fishing boats during the day and earn income that way, and take the courses at night,” Tomlinson said. “We plan on the classes being somewhere along the Seacoast, but we haven’t nailed down exactly where yet. At the end of the training period, each trainee will receive a $5,000 stipend.”

Goethel said the stipends are important, both to help these trainees survive financially, and to impress upon them that their time is valuable.

Tomlinson has lined up a number of trainers who are funded through the grant, many of whom understand the industry. For example, she said, doing the small business planning and training will be Christopher Duffy, a former fisherman himself, now with Rockingham Economic Development Center.

There will be others who’ll deal with marketing, food systems and even public speaking and presentation to show future fishing captains the skills they need to develop their businesses.

Two captains have already agreed to be mentors, Tomlinson said, and she’s sure there will be more.

An additional part of the program funded by the grant is a trip to Alaska by the trainees, she said, to learn from Alaska’s Young Fishermen’s Alliance. It’s one of the first programs of its kind in the country, she said, in one of the biggest fishing communities in the nation. She feels the recruits can learn a lot from that trip, as well as at the National Seafood Summit that will take place during the trip.

Growing the fresh fish market

Another important part of the grant helps ensure the market for fresh local fish grows so fishermen can sell their products to a reliable wholesale and retail marketplace. To that end, the grant funds ways to strengthen capacity and develop the regional food system.

That will be done with collaborative marketing and advertising, as well as working through distribution connections like New Hampshire Community Seafood and New England Food Hub.

The goal is to enhance distribution networks so at some point the fresh catch from New England and New Hampshire fishing boats can be delivered to restaurants, schools, hospitals, and even some retail outlets without the fish ever having to be frozen.

“We also plan to collaborate with the NH Food Alliance Food Hub network, bringing more local seafood to several established Food Hub systems throughout the entire state, from Colebrook to Seabrook,” Tomlinson said. “What we want to do through these programs is keep the supply of local fresh seafood available for the New Hampshire consumer.”

Marketing and advertising are time-consuming for fishermen who often spend 12 hours a day at sea. So Tomlinson, through her role as executive director of the New England Young Fishermen’s Alliance, will work to properly market products through advertising and collaborations with food distribution systems.

Tomlinson is looking for office space to rent at a reasonable price for the headquarters of the operation. The Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative really doesn’t have the room, she said, but she’s hoping to find about 1,000 square feet or more along New Hampshire’s Seacoast highway, Route 1A, and set up shop.

Rent and the cost of equipment is covered in the grant along with cost of training, travel etc. for the next three years, she said, with the objective of bringing in 18 new young fishermen into one of the oldest and most historic industries of the Granite State.

After that, Tomlinson is hopeful the organization will become financially self-sustaining and continue its mission for years to come.

Historic Hockessin building is new home to crabs, oysters and Italian

A long-vacant and cavernous hall in Hockessin Corner will soon come back to life — as a two-story restaurant and bar with local oysters, steamed crab, cheap beer, red-sauce pasta and flame-cooked pizza.

Michael Rocco, a longtime veteran of Delaware restaurants whose most recent project was Bogle Cove Oyster House in Pike Creek, said he couldn’t believe what he saw when he walked into the 19th-century building that will soon be home to his restaurant, Corner Cove.

Fish are jumping in Southwest Florida waters after Irma

Charter and commercial fishing captains gave a surprisingly positive report Thursday of their post-Irma waters around Captiva, Matlacha and Pine Island, Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach.

The consensus: boat and dock damage moderate to mild, and fishing heavy to hot. The biggest problem expressed by many? No customers.

“Fishing will be wonderful this season,” predicted Fish Tale Marina owner Al Durrett on Fort Myers Beach. “The small bait fish are coming back into Estero Bay, and the big fish will follow.”

Captain Neil Eisner, who runs flats charters out of Durett’s marina, confirmed big snook are coming into the bay.

“Mother Nature is a wonderful thing,” Eisner said. “The fish know what to do beforehand. Right before the storm they feel the pressure change and eat like crazy, then move to deep water for safety to wait the storm out.”

But while restaurants on the Beach are 99 percent back in business, Eisner’s first charter isn’t until Oct. 5.

“The biggest thing affecting us right now is there’s no one to charter,” he said.

Fishing should be excellent for the next couple of weeks, agrees Captain Daniel Andrews, who plies the inshore waters around Sanibel, Captiva and Pine Island.

“What’s harder for fish to respond to are the Lake Okeechobee releases as a result of an exceptional rainy season followed by the hurricane," Andrews said. “It’s never good for the fishery, it underscores the need for Everglades restoration to move the water south."

My Captiva Fishing Guide’s Nelson Diaz, who's been fishing around Captiva almost every day since Irma, was surprised at how good it’s been.

“I wasn’t expecting it because the water is dirty from the Lake O runoff," Diaz said. “It’s really sad when you can’t see the bottom in one and a half feet of water, but we’ve always dealt with that."

Captain Donnie Kish of Old Marco Charter Fishing has been scouting the backwaters of the Ten Thousands Islands, where he says very few local captains lost boats.

Kish finds “lots of trees downed by Irma that could be hazards for back country navigation, but they could also become structure for the fish.”

“No trouble at all,” reported Captain Tony Stout, who moved his offshore charter rig to safety alongside his Cape Coral canal dock during Irma. A charter guide since 1984 — his wife Marilyn is a Cape Coral city council member — Stout’s base at Matanzas Marina on Fort Myers Beach has about 10 days’ worth of damages to repair at its dock before he can resume operations there, he said.

At Getaway Marina on San Carlos Island, Captain Rick Pitts was provisioning his scuba live aboard Ultimate Getaway for its first Dry Tortugas run since Irma.

Pitts, who’s been around Southwest Florida hurricanes since 1972, predicts things will be interesting for wreck divers and treasure seekers after Irma because “the bottom changes up after the storm.” His boat will have a head start on his competitors based in the Keys, where so much marina infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

On the same waterfront, “exhausted,” is how Captain Don Rynn called it as he cleaned up a long line grouper boat, Chances R III, after attending to three of his own commercial vessels in St. Augustine.

“Irma will have the same trickle-down effect on us as on other businesses,” Rynn said. “We had freezers and air coolers shut down, and lost a lot of inventory.”

Owners Jeff Bonard and Doug Zipperer of Southern Faith, LLC had lost their freezer and $10,000 worth of bait, but they were still offering free ice to island residents who are living without electricity -- about $100,000 worth given away since Irma struck, Bonard estimated.

For commercial fishing crew like Shaun Olschewski, the next trip can’t come too soon. Between waiting for Irma to come, waiting for it to pass and waiting for other storms to clear out, he and others in the trade have been sidelined for close to a month.

Island Sea Food Market's Andy Fischer on Matlacha said his company’s fleet came through Irma fine and went fishing as soon as the storm cleared. The commercial vessels go out 70 to 80 miles for grouper and snapper seven days at a time, so the first ones are just returning.

“When a storm comes through, the fish can’t feed, so they’ll be pretty hungry,” Fischer expects.

For the same reason, Island Crab Company on Pine Island reported an excellent post-storm blue crab harvest.

At the shrimp docks on San Carlos Island, Trico Shrimp Company’s retail outlet was slow Thursday, but not for lack of shrimp, Lynn Davis and daughter Bailey German said. before Irma hit, the fleet came in and unloaded their haul to waiting freezers; then headed offshore or to Texas to wait out the storm.

Commercial operations on Marco Island took bigger blows.

In Goodland, Walker’s Coon Key Marina lost most of its docks and rack storage and sustained heavy boat damage.

Near-neighbor Kirk Fish Co. lost refrigeration in its fish house.

In downtown Naples, the storm destroyed the Pure Florida cruise and charter dock at Tin City.

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Without taking away from what their harder-hit colleagues have been through, many captains were relieved to have Hurricane Irma come when it did, before tourist season resumes.

“Mother Nature hit at the right time of year,” Fish Tale’s Durett said.

Follow this reporter on Twitter @PatriciaBorns.

Landmark Ruke's Seafood Deck closes on Smith Island

Deborah Gates

dgates@dmg.gannett.com

It was a question to pass the time for a young wife and entrepreneur hoping to draw new business to The Store.

Had it not been for a storm that left her stranded on the mainland until it was safe to catch the ferry back home, Charlotte Middleton Dize likely would have not crossed paths with the sandwich maker.

"My mom went to the mainland and had seen a woman making subs," said Rukie Dize, recalling the story. "She asked her how she made them, and the lady showed my mother how to make subs."

Submarine sandwiches were unheard of on offshore Smith Island in the 1960s, especially the recipe that called for slivers of steak, cheese and spices smothered in fried onions and piled on a soft bun.

It wasn't long before the Dize family grocery, The Store, expanded to include a successful restaurant that grilled the novel cheese steak sub.

The grill went cold last month. The Store, now known as Ruke's Seafood Deck, named for Dize's husband, Ruthman "Ruke" Dize, closed permanently after nearly a century as a business in the island village of Ewell.

Locals and visitors have lost a landmark and a piece of island lore.

"A sad decision"

"It's said because it's like an institution," said Jeff Staus, a resident of Baltimore. On their first visit to Ewell recently, Staus and his fiancee, April Nelson, dined at Ruke's on crab cakes and soft-shell crabs. "We thought it would be there another 100 years, that we would be going back, taking the next generation — our children."

Personal family setbacks forced the closing, said Charlotte and Ruthman's son, Rukie Dize. He and his sister, Bernice Evans, bought the business from their elderly parents who lived on the island and continued to run the business until Ruthman took sick recently and they moved to the mainland for medical reasons.

"It closed because dad is in a nursing home and mom is not physically able," said Rukie, who lives on the mainland, in Fruitland. "They were born and raised on the island. People loved going there. It was a sad decision."

Ruke's closes as locals and officials in Somerset County and the state work to chart a future course that builds and sustains the economic base for the three tiny island villages of Ewell, Tylerton and Rhodes Point.

There are other eateries and bed and breakfasts with meals scattered around the island of fewer than 300 people. But Ruke's, patrons say, was a social centerpiece.

Still rustic

"Ruke's was the social center of the island," Rukie Dize said. "People who are adults now were teenagers who grew up around Ruke's. They spent their teenage days there.

"People are brokenhearted about it," he said.

Not much seems to have changed since The Store debuted in 1917, when island resident Robert Tyler built the wooden and rustic structure at the water's edge.

The business changed owners several times, and in 1960, Charlotte Dize and her mother, Willie "Ma Willie" Middleton, bought it. Soon after, Charlotte's husband, Ruke, joined the team, their son said.

"The lady showed my mother how to make subs; the idea was to make extra money," Rukie said. "That's where Ruke's Subs come from."

Word spread about Charlotte Dize's recipe for subs all the way across the Tangier Sound, some 14 miles, to the mainland. It wasn't long before orders were pouring in from the mainland, and the ferry boat captain would bundle sandwiches to fill orders at the Crisfield dock.

"They started having hamburgers, then cheeseburgers, and they were getting calls from the mainland to ship crab cakes and subs," Rukie said. "That's how Ruke's restaurant got started.

Cheese steak subs

"Everybody ate crab cakes on the island," he said. "Subs were a big thing."

Ruthman Dize joined the business after serving on a Navy destroyer during World War II. He and Charlotte married 68 years ago come June 11.

Ruthman returned after the war and became a waterman, supplying the restaurant with seafood "caught right there in the bay," their son said.

"He supplied seafood to the store and my mother and her mom ran it," Rukie also said.

Ruke's Seafood Deck is still rustic in characteristic red paint with a red tin roof and an outdoor veranda overlooking the Tangier.

"A gentleman was saying that all the locals like to get the cheese steaks, but we got a crab cake and a softshell" crab, said April Nelson, the visitor from Baltimore. "We figured that well, we're on Smith Island and crabs are a big deal, so we decided to stick with the crab cake and softshell.

Open year-round

"They were both delicious," she said.

John Delduco fell in love with Ruke's soon after he and his wife, Pamela, moved to Ewell from New York City. He volunteered a few hours a week at the business to help out Charlotte and Ruthman Dize, both in the 80s.

"There is a main restaurant here, Bayside Inn, and it's known as 'the big restaurant,' " Delduco said. "I helped out down there at Ruke's because it got me off the couch and gave me a purpose."

Unique about Ruke's is that would be open year-round at times, and when it closed during the off season, it was for a short period of time, Delduco said.

"They opened a month earlier and closed a month later than" the 'big restaurant,' " Delduco said. "This has affected people on the island. Most people are brokenhearted about it."

Rukie Dize hopes the restaurant will reopen some day.

"That's my prayer," he said. "But we will sit vacant for a while."

dgates@dmg.gannett.comOn Twitter@DTDeborahGates

A taste innovation

As Rukie Dize recalls it, his mother went to the mainland in the 1960s, where a woman showed her how to make submarine sandwiches, unheard of at the time on tiny Smith Island. Shortly after that, the family business, The Store, later known as Ruke's Seafood Deck, added cheesesteak subs to its menu.

Personal setbacks

Rukie Dize and his sister, Bernice Evans, bought Ruke's Seafood Deck from their parents, Charlotte and Ruthman, who stayed on the island operating the eatery. They were forced to close now that Ruthman is in a nursing and Charlotte is physically unable to continue with the business.

From the war to the water

Ruthman Dize joined the business after serving on a Navy destroyer during World War II. After the war he became a waterman, supplying Rukie's Seafood Deck with seafood "caught right there in the bay," their son, Rukie, said.