Marina Cantina in Ocean Springs will soon have a new name and Southern Coastal menu
Thomas Genin and Jourdan Nicaud each built restaurant empires in South Mississippi and now Genin is selling his new Marina Cantina restaurant in Ocean Springs to Nicaud Restaurant Group.
The restaurant on U.S. 90 near the Biloxi Bay Bridge will remain open until the sale Nov. 1, according to a press release. Then it will become Bacchus on the Bayou — similar to Bacchus on the Beach in Pass Christian — with a new chef and management team and the current staff.
Nicaud said the plan is to close for about a month to paint and make some other changes to carry the Bacchus theme. This restaurant fits the Bacchus concept, he said, just “on the bayou with boats, not on the beach.”
The Bacchus menu features oysters, steaks, sandwiches, fried green tomatoes, Mardi Gras pasta and other Southern specialties. A happy hour menu, brunch and very popular special nights add more variety.
Monday is pork chop night at the Pass Christian Bacchus, served with collard greens and jalapeno cheddar cornbread. Other nights a fried shrimp platter with cajun fries or steak served on a bed of mashed potatoes are offered for a low price.
“We created Bacchus as a place for people to come together and enjoy food, drinks, and community,” Nicaud said. “We can’t wait to bring a similar atmosphere and the same delicious coastal cuisine to Ocean Springs.”
Nicaud Restaurant Group already operates Charred: A Steak and Oyster Bar along with Rooftop Taco and Tequila Bar in Ocean Springs, along with several other restaurants and developments across South Mississippi.
Genin owns The Blind Tiger restaurants in Biloxi, Bay St. Louis, Slidell and Madisonville, Louisiana, and recently announced he is opening his fifth TBT restaurant on the Fairhope Municipal Pier in Fairhope, Alabama.
“The sale frees me up a bit to further focus on the growth of The Blind Tiger and Marina Cantina Gulfport,” Genin said.
He spent nearly a year transforming what was McElroy’s on the Bayou in Ocean Springs into Marina Cantina, patterned after his Marina Cantina in Gulfport.
He touched every part of the restaurant in the renovation and added a 6,000-square-foot deck on the back side of the building to take advantage of the waterfront views. It has cabanas, fire pits and a stage for live music, and Genin described it as “the coolest outdoor bar I’ve ever done.”
