Shrimp Basket seeks more Columbus, Phenix City restaurant locations

Fresh off its successful opening on Veterans Parkway in Columbus a month ago, the Shrimp Basket restaurant company is now searching for additional locations in the local market.

“We’ve identified the Midland area, the Macon Road area and possibly a Phenix City location. But we’re just looking at this point,” said Jack Hayes, the real-estate broker with KW Commercial-Realty River Cities who assisted Shrimp Basket with its 6073 Veterans Parkway location, which opened March 16 to healthy crowds.

“They think they can do up to two additional stores in the market. But you’ve got to be careful about cannibalizing one store from another,” said Hayes, noting the Veterans Parkway location is centrally located on a major artery between downtown Columbus and the city’s north side up to Harris County. That means the strategic placement of new restaurants will be required to meet demand in other areas of the community, but not take away any business from the Shrimp Basket that already has opened here.

“We felt like based on traffic counts and demographics that Macon Road would be fantastic, if you can find a location. It’s hard to find a location there,” said Hayes of the local search, which included a recent tour of the city by company officials. “And, of course, we like the Midland area.”

The Midland area of Columbus has exploded with restaurants over the last two to three years. The intersection of J.R. Allen Parkway and Manchester Expressway has become a magnet for places to eat, both of the fast food and casual full-service variety. The names include Moe’s Southwest Grill, Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant, LV Bar & Grill, Yamazaki Sushi and Hibachi, Chicken Salad Chick, Zaxby’s, Firehouse Subs, Chick-fil-A, Hardee’s, Davino’s Pizza and Subs, IHop, Hibachi Express, New China Express and Subway.

Launched in 1993, Gulf Shores, Ala.-based Shrimp Basket is a growing regional seafood chain with 25 restaurants in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and now Georgia. It will soon add another in the Panama City, Fla., area on 23rd Street to go along with its existing eatery on Front Beach Road in Panama City Beach, which opened in December 2014.

The Shrimp Basket menu offers a variety of fried, grilled and steamed items, along with oysters on the half shell with cold beer. The mix includes steamed platters and shrimp country boil, po boy sandwiches, specialty seafood burgers and chicken items for those who are not big fans of seafood. Sides include seafood gumbo and smoked tuna dip. Desserts include key lime pie and funnel cake fries.

Hayes also pointed out the overall hunger for new restaurants throughout the city, with Pita Mediterranean Street Food, which he helped bring to Whittlesey Boulevard in Columbus, doing well after opening a couple of weeks ago. The small chain’s Columbus eatery had the largest ever opening numbers-wise for one of its locations, he said.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Shrimp Basket seeks more Columbus, Phenix City restaurant locations."