Lobster and shrimp rolls soon will be found at new Mississippi Coast location
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- Salty Jax will close its Crave Food Hall location on Sunday, May 31.
- Owners Ngoc Nguyen and Lu Duong will open a new restaurant in D’Iberville.
- Salty Jax will keep its food truck running across South Mississippi while relocating.
Seafood fans have just a few more days to get their fill of lobster and shrimp rolls at Salty Jax Seafood Co. in Ocean Springs before the restaurant moves to a new location in South Mississippi.
Their last day at Crave is Sunday, May 31.
In February, owners Ngoc Nguyen and Lu Duong moved from the food truck they operated since 2022 to a location inside Crave Food Hall at OS 1515 on Government Springs in Ocean Springs.
Along with their loyal fans, who had followed the food truck from place to place, the restaurant gained a new legion of customers, who many days sold them out of seafood dishes and their creamy lobster bisque and clam chowder.
The idea of opening at Crave was to try to get the feel of a sit-down restaurant and see how it might differ from the food truck, Duong said.
Now they’ve refined their goals. Working behind the scenes on something bigger and stand-alone, they announced this week they will open a new restaurant in D’Iberville. The exact location and opening date haven’t been disclosed yet.
Until then, their food truck will continue to operate across South Mississippi, stopping at Gautier, Diamondhead, Pascagoula and other towns across the Coast, with their location posted each day on social media.
Seafood North and South
The ultimate goal, Duong said, is to grow into fast casual chain in Southern beach towns like Destin, Florida.
Restaurants and seafood shacks selling lobster rolls are common in other seaside towns along the East Coast, but are rare in South Mississippi.
Salty Jax brings to the Gulf Coast the delicacies of Connecticut lobster rolls with warm butter and Maine Lobster rolls tossed in mayonnaise and served chilled.
For those who prefer their seafood with a kick, their Bayou Roll is served warm with crawfish and Cajun garlic butter, and crawfish and red shrimp give a Southern twist.
Another business also moves on
Several restaurants that started at Crave Food Hall have since closed or moved on to new locations. Burger Bar is just down the street. Chicago 6ix moved to a busy location on U.S. 90 in Ocean Springs and Marcello’s — Taste of New Orleans is right in the center of the downtown.
Positive Energy, a beverage place that offered smoothies, teas, iced coffees and energy drinks, just closed and posted on Facebook why they and other restaurants are leaving.
“We’ve faced delays in implementing new ideas and a lack of flexibility with our hours, which has made it hard to run our business effectively,” their post said. Other restaurant owners said that it was difficult for a small business to stay open the hours the food hall management required.
“It is indeed true that we are subject to a commission of 30% of sales or a daily minimum, whichever is greater,” the owners of Positive Energy said. They decided to close at Crave and focus on their mobile operations.
“This will allow us to manage our schedule, promote effectively, enjoy family time and connect with you directly without the constraints we’ve experienced,” they said.
Food incubator for new ideas
The management of Crave Food Hall joined the Facebook fray about why businesses are leaving.
“Crave Food Hall was designed to give chefs, food creators and new concepts a place to launch, grow and be discovered,” the post says. “From first-time restaurant owners to expanding brands, Crave creates opportunities for culinary ideas to come to life.”
Meanwhile, the food hall is looking for new tenants and expanding its own opportunities to bring more people in, with trivia and karaoke nights. Every Friday night they bring out retro video game consoles and classic titles for a night of nostalgia and competition as the food hall and the vendors work through the challenges.
