DUBLIN, Ga. — People in Dublin will soon be able to experience the coast and its great seafood without having to travel to Savannah.
Saltwater Fishery is a new restaurant on South Jefferson Street in downtown Dublin, and they're currently taking reservations for select dates.
The restaurant is owned by eight people from all walks of life, from attorneys to accountants to lawyers in the Dublin area.
They all say they're passionate about enriching the town's culture and making it a destination, and they plan to do that with Saltwater Fishery, which was 14 months in the making.
“We kind of had a vision a year and a half ago of creating a seafood restaurant, kind of like you’d go to when you’re on the coast,” said one of the co-owners, Brian Nash. “Taking a taste of Savannah, Charleston, St. Simon’s Island, and bringing it to Dublin.”
Many of those 14 months were spent getting the building in shape.
“This was an old building, built back in like, the early 1900s. The start of it, we basically had to strip everything out of it,” Nash said. “We’ve taken it back down to the brick walls and the raw ceiling, built it back up. We had new floors, we’ve tried to maintain as much as the old building as we could.”
They’ve paid attention to the smallest details when heading into construction, from incorporating parts of fishing vessels into light fixtures, to streaking the bar with flecks of blue to represent the ocean.
With eight personalities in the mix, co-owners say it can be difficult sometimes agreeing on things like design and the menu, but they still bring different strengths to the table.
What they're all really proud of though is the rooftop bar and dining area.
“There’s not much around like our rooftop,” said co-owner Steve Miller. “You know, it almost feels like you are on vacation, which we still have some of the downtown feeling in this building, it’s over 100 years old, and we’re wanting to keep that, but we also wanted to bring some coastal flair into as well, too.”
They hope that coastal flair is represented in the freshness of their seafood.
Co-owner Jacob Darley says their head chef is well-traveled and trained, hailing from New York and cooking in places like Miami and Maui. Darley says they’re already known for their house-made sauces, but have a few other things ready to be served up.
“What has been a huge hit is our crab cakes, we could package our crab cakes, and they would sell all over the country, that’s how good these crab cakes are, they’re not your grandma’s crab cakes, they’re not smashed and fried, they’re these huge, we call them, colossal crab cakes,” Darley said.
Not only are the co-owners excited about opening, Darley says the community is eagerly waiting.
“We want to make sure we are the best restaurant in between Savannah and Macon,” Darley said. “And so to do that, we are engaging in soft openings, we are having trial runs.”
The restaurant says they have future plans for neighboring buildings on either side of Saltwater Fishery, but you’ll just have to wait and see what they have in store.
Saltwater Fishery is located in downtown Dublin at 110 South Jefferson Street, and you can follow them on Facebook for updates on their progress.
They'll be taking reservations for select dates this week, and their grand opening is to be determined.
Photos: Saltwater Fishery
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