Half Shell group buys Sal & Mookie’s building in downtown Biloxi. What’s the plan?
Half Shell Oyster House on Lameuse Street in downtown Biloxi is so popular people wait an hour or even two to dine there on weekends.
“That is at least part of the decision why we purchased the property when it became available,” co-owner Kevin Fish said after Sal & Mookie’s New York Pizza closed this week.
The restaurant is just north of the Biloxi Town Green, between the Half Shell Oyster House inside Hard Rock Casino Biloxi and the location near city hall on Lameuse.
He said Thursday a decision on the new concept is very close and may be announced to the public as soon as Friday.
When it reopens, the new venue won’t be a Half Shell or a Rack House, the other brand owned by the restaurant group .
“I think it’s going to be awesome,” he said.
The site is at one of the busiest corners in Biloxi, he said, and the building has space and opportunities that don’t exist at the Half Shell just up the street.
Half Shell gets frequent calls for party rooms and private dining space, he said. They don’t have that space at their current Biloxi locations — but they will now.
The building they bought has a private dining room, a bar, balconies and a large area on the ground level for outdoor dining.
“It has so much to offer,” Fish said.
It also has several issues that will need to be repaired before it can reopen, he said. Crews will make repairs to the structure, the floors and the air conditioning system while also transforming the restaurant into its new concept, Fish said.
“I don’t see any reason we won’t be open this year,” he said.
The company has 15 locations of Half Shell Oyster House and Rack House Steak & Spirits across Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida, he said. They are concentrating growth on Mississippi because of the success they’ve seen, he said, and the stronger workforce.
“In Mississippi we’ve been able to staff all of our restaurants,” he said, while they’ve struggled to find people to work in the other states.
This story was originally published March 2, 2023 at 5:20 PM.
