10/27/2023
Hello, friends of Bill’s Seafood Market of Sunset Beach.
Let me reiterate this once more …
While Crabby Oddwaters Restaurant & Bar ABOVE US will soon close its doors for the last time,
BILL’S SEAFOOD MARKET OF SUNSET BEACH IS NOT CLOSING, CHANGING, MOVING, OR ALTERING IN ANY WAY. BILL’S SEAFOOD IS AND WILL BE UNAFFECTED BY THE CLOSURE OF CRABBY ODDWATERS RESTAURANT & BAR.
Joe Peed started Bill’s Seafood Market in an old convenience store in early January 1980 (though the building had been previously occupied dating back to, I believe, the late 1960’s under different ownership. As the Market grew, customers began to ask if Bill’s fresh, local seafood could be prepared ready to eat onsite. Seeing an opportunity, Joe built a small kitchen with a window in the Market and front of the building drive-up service to the Market. By 1988 the prepared food had grown such that an expansion for in house sit down dining was in order, and Joe’s then wife, Ms Kathy, who passed away unexpectedly on Halloween 1991, conceived and developed Crabby Oddwaters Restaurant & Bar. She was ahead of her time to be sure, and many of her then innovative ideas are now coming into more mainstream favor in coastal restaurants today.
BILL’S REMAINED THE SAME, ON THE LOWER LEVEL, AND IT WILL NOT CLOSE OR CHANGE MOVING FORWARD.
Unfortunately Crabby Oddwaters has reached a point in its evolution where we are in need of change which cannot be facilitated under its current moniker. One reviewer said it best (and many expressed similar sentiments this season in particular): It is not the same as it once was; if we are going to change it, may as well not call it Crabby Oddwaters anymore since there is an expectation from patrons that will (and did) lead to disappointment.
So Crabby Oddwaters is closing. We are not rebranding or choosing a different name; we are closing. And even if the next restaurant concept to occupy the space is similar in terms of type of food - and even some of the very same items from Bill’s Seafood below - that new entity will be a new entity.
BUT BILL’S SEAFOOD IS AND WILL BE UNAFFECTED.
While Joe had Bill’s and Oddwaters as a single corporate entity when we purchased it, we have gone to great lengths to COMPLETELY separate the two. They are separate corporations with separate bank accounts, separate staffs, separate management. They have mostly separate vendors, and those which overlap are paid separately, with separate corporate checks. They have separate Facebook and Google pages, as well as separate websites. And I have been disparately and inequitably committed to each, as Joe himself was in his waning years of ownership, and much to my disappointment for how that may have contributed to the present situation. And while they share the same building, there is a clear delineation: Bill’s Seafood occupies the smaller lower level, and Crabby Oddwaters occupies the upper level. The signs adorning the building are a dead giveaway.
THESE ARE SEPARATE ENTITIES, AND BILL’S SEAFOOD IS NOT AFFECTED BY THE CLOSURE OF CRABBY ODDWATERS.
Now then, stay tuned for what’s next upstairs ABOVE BILL’S SEAFOOD. And as for Bill’s, there are some changes afoot which we feel will be resoundingly positive and which we are very excited about. With a nod to Mr Joe and Ms Kathy - and to Ms Teresa, Joe’s current wife who nurtured and continued daily to build both Bill’s and Oddwaters since the 1990’s …
BILL’S SEAFOOD OF SUNSET BEACH WILL BE ADDING CATERING SERVICES SOON!!!
IN ADDITION, WE WILL BE OFFERING FOR CARRYOUT/TO GO OUR STEAMED SHRIMP AND CRAB LEGS, ODDWATERS’ HUSHPUPPIES, AND ALL OF MS SARA’S FAMOUS HOMEMADE CREATIONS: CRAB CAKES, SHE CRAB SOUP AND CLAM CHOWDER, SHRIMP AND CRAB DIPS, ROUMELADE, AND THOSE AMAZING KEY LIME PIES, AMONG OTHERS.
We are also considering the addition of steamed oysters and clams, chargrilled oysters New Orleans style, and smoked meats to go out of Bill’s.
And finally, look for the addition of local beef and poultry as well as fresh vegetables locally grown - if not before this year is out, then certainly by the spring season.
SO BILL’S HAS A WHAT’S NEXT TOO. WE WILL BE HERE FOR YOU, REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAPPENS ABOVE US. WE PREFER TO THINK OF OUR “WHAT’S NEXT” AS MORE SUBTLE EVOLUTION THAN SEISMIC CHANGE.
I draw inspiration from places I like: Eagle Island Seafood just outside of Wilmington, Platt’s Seafood Market in Cherry Grove, Haag & Sons Seafood in Oak Island, Clem’s in Southport, and various businesses in Southport, Little River, and Roanoke Island in the OBX, to name a few. I hope that we are not like any of them - except in their feel, character, and vibe - but rather gather some elements from all of them (and others) to form our own unique experience here in Sunset Beach and in our new Bill’s location in Holden Beach.
Thank you so much for your continued support, and please know …
BILL’S SEAFOOD MARKET OF SUNSET BEACH IS COMPLETELY UNAFFECTED BY THE CLOSURE OF CRABBY ODDWATERS AND WILL CONTINUE TO SERVE YOU MOVING INTO THE FUTURE FOR AS LONG AS YOU WANT US HERE.
God bless and all the best,
Tim
