What’s going to replace Sal & Mookies? New restaurant borrows from Half Shell, Rack House
People have asked for a Biloxi location of Rack House Steak & Spirits, but the owners have even bigger plans for their purchase of Sal & Mookies in downtown Biloxi.
They still are kicking around names for this new restaurant at the corner of Beach Boulevard and Lameuse Street, said Kevin Fish, co-owner of Half Shell Oyster House restaurants across the Gulf South and the Rack House in Gulfport.
They have locked down the concept, which will take something from both of their brands to become a different kind of steak and seafood restaurant.
Like Biloxi itself, this new restaurant will be a mix of casual and comfortable with more business upscale.
“It’s always been our goal to bring a really pleasant restaurant experience,” he said, “making customers equally comfortable if they have on shorts and a T-shirt or are having a business meeting.”
The menu also will be part upscale for a special occasions and quick serve and casual for families and vacationers.
The steaks will be the quality of those served at Rack House in Gulfport, Fish said. The lobsters, crab, shrimp and other seafood favorites will mostly be steamed.
Some of the selections on the menu will be very traditional, he said, while they also will provide an a la carte menu for a bring a whole new taste.
Fish said customers will be able to choose their favorite seafood, perhaps a half pound of royal red shrimp and a pound of king crab legs. The shellfish will be steamed with Orleans oyster sauce or one of the other sauces so popular with customers at Half Shell. The result, he said, will be moist fish and unbeatable flavor.
They also plan to make the most of the ground-floor space under the restaurant.
“A little more casual and quick serve,” is what they envision, Fish said, with peel and eat shrimp and perhaps crawfish boils. That space is large enough to handle events for up to 200 people, he said.
“There are multiple places to have private events,” Fish says, and he sees live music, business meetings and wedding rehearsal dinners when the restaurant opens later this year.
This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 2:00 PM.
