Bluewater Grill offering a menu of best-sellers for new diners to try during Restaurant Week
When someone tells you Bluewater Grill is next to a gas station, they mean it literally.
When we pulled up at 4640 Warm Springs Road to take a look at what the seafood joint is serving during Restaurant Week, a truck billowing smoke from under the hood pulled in, too. Soon enough the fire department was on the scene trying to control a possible blaze and diners were at the windows to check out what was going on in the parking lot.
It’s all part of the charm.
“It’s sort of a result of me watching too much ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ to be honest,” chef and owner Loren Smith said of the location choice. “It is a bit unorthodox but we felt we were in an area that was lacking choices especially in seafood.”
After opening earlier this spring, Smith said business has been “brisk,” with Restaurant Week giving them a positive boost in the community.
“Columbus is learning about us steadily,” Smith said. “We haven’t advertised much at all, most of the business is by word of mouth and we’ve already garnered quite a few regulars that are helping spread the word.”
Rather than create an entirely new menu for the week, Smith decided to feature a sampling of their regular and best-selling dishes to give new diners a chance to see what they’re all about: “Seafood, simply-prepared fresh.”
On most days, Smith said his team gets in the kitchen around 9 a.m. to prep for five to six hours before opening for dinner.
A few of the must-try dishes include the Bluewater Char-Roasted Oysters, Shrimp Pompano and Grouper Panama.
If the dishes sound familiar, it’s because Smith has been serving them for almost 30 years — in Panama City Beach.
Before opening his restaurant in Columbus, Smith had Pompano’s Restaurant from 1990 to 2015. His father, Lowe Smith, built the original Shrimp Boat in the early 1950s.
Smith moved to Columbus with his family last year after selling the Pompano’s property on Front Beach Road to a developer. One of the reasons he chose to move to Columbus was he has family in the area, including his mother, Gwen Morrison.
“Most of the folks that have eaten with us, we are learning that they ate with us at Pompano’s over the almost three decades we were open,” Smith said. “We do have a lot of the similar Pompano favorites on this menu so it’s great that so many people are already familiar with us.”
Smith is offering up three different Restaurant Week menus for dinner, priced at $15, $25 and $30. Each one features a soup and salad with the entrees and desserts differing with price point.
Bluewater Grill is open 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations are encouraged during Restaurant Week.
This story was originally published July 27, 2018 at 12:18 PM.