‘Cabo San Lucas hits Mississippi.’ New Coast restaurant has bayou views, Latin flavors
It might be a crazy time to open a business, but the new Marina Cantina shows a restaurant can be successful with the right menu, location and personality for the neighborhood.
The menu at the restaurant that opened last month in Gulfport is an unlikely mix of flavorful Southwest and Central American-inspired flavors combined with Southern comfort food. Or as owner Thomas Genin describes it — “Cabo San Lucas hits Mississippi.”
Customers can order New Orleans-style barbecued shrimp in an edible bowl or one of the specialty tacos topped with an ear of grilled street corn.
The location is right off Cowan Road, on the northwest side of the bridge coming out of Gulfport. On the shores of Bernard Bayou, the Cantina will be the ending spot for the Dec. 12 Christmas on the Bayou boat parade.
And Marina Cantina has plenty of personality. Fresh seafood is displayed on ice in the upstairs dining room that shares the space with a bar and dining deck overlooking the water.
When visitors step down to Cantina Cove on on the waterfront, their reaction is ”wow.” Stretched out before them is a tropical hideaway of tables and televisions, a sand beach, stage and palm trees, cabanas, corn hole and other lawn games along with those water views.
Baja-inspired menu
This is the sixth restaurant conceived by Genin, who operates The Blind Tiger restaurants in Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, along with other eateries in Mississippi and Louisiana.
“I’m a chef by trade,” he said, and he worked at Emeril’s in New Orleans when it was one of the top restaurants in America. His time visiting a small Mexican town on the cliffs of the Baja Peninsula inspired him to create a menu people will remember.
Like at The Blind Tiger, he said, “All of our fish is fresh.” The small freezer at Marina Cantina is used for keeping Margarita fruit purees for tropical drinks.
In addition to the regular menu are a burger, taco, fresh fish of the day or two, possibly speckled trout or swordfish, and a daily cocktail created by the staff. They’re selling lots of tacos, he said, with crispy pork belly and the surf and turf tacos the biggest sellers.
Only a few items on the menu are friend, like shrimp and oysters for po-boys, said manager Ben Kaufman. He showed how flat racks of nachos are spread out and sent through a cheese oven so the toppings are evenly distributed.
Not caving to ‘processed food industry’
“We’re trying to do the things that aren’t on every menu around here,” Genin said.
He’s introduced a ceviche special, curing flaked fish, shrimp and other shellfish in citrus juice and spices.
“It’s authentic,” he said, and his customers are going crazy for it.
He also can offer chimichurri beef and shrimp, Genin said, because he has his own cut shop and he butchers the fish, pork and other meats he buys.
“We have not caved to the pre-made, processed food industry,” he said. Customers ask where they get their fries and guacamole, he said, and he tells them from potatoes and cases of fresh avocados every week.
A centralized prep facility and commissary with a chef allows him to smoke ribeye, brisket and pulled pork for all his restaurants.
“In March of 2020, every restaurant was on track to have the best March we ever had,” he said. “Literally the whole company got shut down in 72 hours.”
He used the time to open a seafood wholesale business, something he said he’s wanted to do for several years.
“We’re actually selling to several other Coast restaurants now,” he said. They buy shrimp straight from the Pass Christian harbor and fresh fish through New Orleans Fish House to start with the best ingredients.
Hop on a bike to make your own smoothie
In creating Marina’s Cantina, Genin said, “We want to be the spot where you know you’re going to eat and hang out awhile.
They have parking areas for cars, boats and jet skis and for the golf carts and bicycles neighbors ride from nearby housing communities.
Cantina Cove has live music on the weekends and its own bar, kitchen and menu of tacos, nachos and Mexican pizza, Kaufman said.
Bring the kids, and they can use Marina Cantina coins to visit their own concession stand and buy a burger, Pops Brothers popsicle, ice cream or spun cotton candy to eat at the kids’ picnic tables.
They also can create their own blender smoothies by pedaling a bike to turn the blender. To help them support community charities, they get a smoothie card. When the card is filled, Genin said, they can choose if their donation should go to the Mississippi Aquarium for the penguins, to the nearby Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, the Humane Society or St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
The design of the waterfront restaurant seems custom-made for social distancing, with outdoor dining decks and spaces that take advantage of the views of Bernard Bayou and screens and heat lamps to warm the nights.
The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday. Genin said he hopes to expand to seven days a week early next year and to add more floating docks to accommodate the people showing up in boats for a taste of Marina Cantina.
The address is 8813 Lorraine Road and the phone number is 228-241-1450.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 5:50 AM.
