(Second edition, Sept, 2015)
One of the most fun elements of our hobby has been researching long-lost southeastern restaurant chains. It’s comparatively easy to get a little backstory about a single business, but the story can become much more convoluted and fascinating when we’re digging into the past for little traces of what’s left when something distinctive and fun is trying to vanish. We’ve enjoyed learning about the story of Zesto in Atlanta and Columbia, and really loved tracking down what we found about Kay’s, Kay’s Kastles, and Ice Castle.
Digging into the history of Shrimp Boats – that’s Boats with an S – and its predecessor – slash – survivor The Shrimp Boat – that’s Boat without an S – has been terrific fun. I’ve learned a lot about this old southeastern chain, and what I’ve learned has been occasionally contradictory. The slight difference in names had me confused for a while, but I think that poor oversight led to many locations using both signs and names, in wild contrast to present-day marketing brand standards.
The original chain was called The Shrimp Boat and it was founded in Macon in the mid-1950s. I’m much less interested in these buildings, but there are a handful of survivors. Today, you can visit the oldest of these remaining locations in Rome, Georgia. It opened in 1958 and was, then, a corporate store. These buildings were constructed as trailers and towed to new locations. There was also one in Marietta, on Roswell Road down the street from what’s now the Big Chicken, in the East Marietta Shopping Center, in the early 1960s. The Marietta store was apparently the launching point for the chain’s expansion in the Atlanta market a decade later.
In late 1968, things changed somewhat and we entered the period that I’m interested in. The central business in Macon, at 555 Mulberry Street, rebranded itself Shrimp Boats Inc. (the trademark for the new logo, with the “S,” was filed on January 27 1969) and its distant corporate stores, such as the one in Rome, became franchises. They picked up a slogan, “The treasure of eating pleasure,” which is a pretty terrible slogan, honestly. Earlier in that month, the corporation held a franchise seminar in Macon. The cost to own your own Shrimp Boats in ’69? $27,000, or $174,626 in today’s currency. Officers included A. Emmett Barnes III, president, Joseph P. Smcha V, president-secretary, and J.B. Jolky Jr., treasurer.
As for the corporate stores, like the one in Rome, according to The Rome News-Tribune in 2003, “a local entrepreneur franchised it. That’s when Mack Bolton and his wife, Louise, took the helm in 1969.” Bolton’s son-in-law, John Walley, bought Rome’s The Shrimp Boat upon Bolton’s retirement in 1978. During the next thirteen years, Walley modified and improved the building, losing the original trailer underneath new dining rooms and flooring. Cylina and Kenneth Payne bought it from him in 1991. Rumors began later that decade that it would soon be destroyed for a major road and bridge overhaul. I’m not sure what happened, but somehow the Rome Shrimp Boat survived and is still thriving, very much a local landmark worth visiting.
Now let’s move on to the stores that I’m most interested in. In 1969, along with the rebranding to Shrimp Boats, they began constructing distinctive little framed buildings that sort of resembled the older-styled IHOPs. As you look at the photos below, you’ll see that two additional features help in identifying these buildings after they’ve been reconstructed somewhat. First of these are two artificial yards, horizontal spars at the top and the bottom of the roof’s frame jutting out as four short strips of metal with punctuated ends. On the original buildings, these were meant to evoke the horizontal spars along a mast pole from which the rigging and sails would be set. Almost all of these buildings still retain the metal yards. Less common today are wooden pier posts driven into the sidewalk at the front corners of each building.
Only two of these buildings remain the homes of businesses that use the name Shrimp Boats. They have each been independently owned far longer than they were ever part of a chain. For the sake of clarity, and even though this is a minor point, these are what I call Shrimp Boats buildings. By far the best known is one in Durham, North Carolina. Reader Erin Parr was kind enough to send the photo below of this building. I have seen a photo of it from 2005 that shows the building with a brown and orange paint job, and the name of the restaurant prominently below the semicircle logo. This new paint scheme, and the removal of part of the sign, came sometime in the last eight years.
This store (here’s its website) was opened in 1969 by John Workman, who kept it going after the chain disintegrated, and then sold it in 1997 to two employees who met on the job and married: Nancy and Mohammed Norwood-Yousef. It’s a much-beloved lunch destination in the city, but not open on the weekends except for catering. I visited this location in 2014, and here’s the story. It closed in 2017.
The second surviving store to use the 1969-74 building is in middle Georgia, in Milledgeville at 911 S Elbert Street. I finally visited this location in October. John Leslie has owned this location since 1969. You’ll notice in the photos here that there is a little brand confusion on the signs between Shrimp BOAT and BOATS. The fish is pretty good, but the slaw is downright amazing. If ever I’m in Milledgeville again, I’m stopping for a really big bucket of this slaw.
One of the hobbies that I picked up since starting the blog has been identifying old Shrimp Boats buildings. Most of them were bulldozed long ago. Originally, this post was a clearinghouse for pictures of those buildings exclusively, but it’s evolved, perhaps sensibly, into a more ordered listing of all the known locations. Five other Shrimp Boats have survived in different buildings, and are listed in this section. If you know of any that we missed, please get in touch! Every bit of information really helps.
FLORIDA
Jacksonville, FL: I understand that there was one near the Naval Air Base, possibly on Roosevelt, but have not been able to confirm that.
Orlando, FL: We stumbled on this former Shrimp Boats entirely by chance at 2730 N. Orange Blossom Trail (US-441). It is presently the home of Motor Point Auto Sales.
Tarpon Springs / Hollywood, FL: “Roadside Quest” identified a business called Best Choice Auto Sales on US-19 in this suburb of Tampa as occupying this old building in 2011. We visited in 2015 and found it is now the home of Sunray Auto Sales.
Titusville, FL: Reader Dale Young pointed us toward a store that had been located at 551 N Washington Ave (US-1). After the Shrimp Boats failed, the property was taken over by the successful Alligator Plumbing in 1979. As that business has grown, the original building was lost within several expansions, leaving nothing of the original visible.
GEORGIA
Athens, GA: The most legendary location, for me, had been the Shrimp Boats in Athens, at 600 Baxter Street. It survived as Shrimp Boats into the mid-1990s under the ownership of Helen Gilbert Hayes and her husband Jack before being bought by a large Chinese restaurant corporation. They sold Golden-This-Happy-That Chinese-American glop for a year or so before they installed a new sign, remodeled the building, and traded as China Boats for the next ten years. The building sat vacant from about 2006 to 2008 before the local Jimmy John’s franchisee consolidated his area businesses here. The old building was finally demolished to give the Jimmy John’s people a more modern facility. The photo above was taken by Dagmar Nelson on January 1 2008 and is used with permission. Please visit Milkaway Photography for more of Dagmar’s terrific work.
Atlanta, GA: This location at 1200 Collier Road in Atlanta has been Patrick’s Sub Shop for forty years. This is one of the most intact Shrimp Boats buildings, since the owners of Patrick’s have kept the place up with its basic orange paint job and minimal reconstruction. The yards and pier posts are exactly as they would have been when Shrimp Boats was in this facility.
Atlanta, GA: Also in the Atlanta area, here’s one which would’ve bit me had I not been looking for it. It’s on Peachtree in Chamblee, just north of Old Brick Pit and Rose of India.
Atlanta, GA: In 1973, there was a store at 2900 Campbellton Road. The building was demolished long ago. A gas station, Big H, is on the site now.
Atlanta, GA: In 1973, there was a store at 2258 Cascade Road. The building was demolished long ago. A computer store, Greene Creations, is on the site now.
Atlanta, GA: In 1973, Store Number 16 was located at 1461 Simpson Road, and it remained open, and, in the wake of the chain’s failure, independent, at least through 1979. The building was demolished long ago. The street was renamed Joseph E. Boone in March 2008, and any trace of the building is long gone; apartment buildings are there today.
Atlanta, GA: In 1973, Store Number 20 was located at 3640 Gordon Road. Gordon was one of several streets that were merged together and renamed for Martin Luther King. I’m not certain where along the present street numbering this would have been, but I don’t see any trace of it.
Augusta GA: One of the original trailer-style buildings had been at 15th Street and Walton Way (US-1). Around 1970, this was replaced by a 1969-style building a couple of blocks west, at 1631 Walton Way. I am guessing, but I believe that the original site had been lost under development for the VA hospital, and the later building survived a little longer, but it was bulldozed in the 1990s. A Checkers drive-through burger joint is at this address today.
Decatur, GA: One of our readers, Angela McFall Patterson, let us know that we missed a couple in the Atlanta area! Here is one that sits at 2139 Lawrenceville Highway in Decatur presently. This street number has actually changed recently, which doesn’t account for the omission, but there you go. It is currently home to an InstaLoan, and, up until 2012, had been Dekalb Watch and Jewelry Store and Repair. Many thanks to Angela for taking this photo for us. I took several more pics of this Instaloan for a photo post in October 2014.
Decatur, GA: This one, however, is something of a sore point. When I first looked up this location, at 2804 Lavista Road in Decatur, I did not notice the roof of this building, kept scanning on street view, and erroneously concluded that the vacant lot next door had been the Shrimp Boats. Lavista Animal Hospital, of course, has buried the original building under expansions, but it’s still unmistakeable. Thanks again to Angela for the correction and the photograph!
Decatur, GA: This store was at 2059 Candler Road until about 1977. I found it in February 2014, and asked the owner’s husband whether any other business had used the building before Emergency Tire opened almost forty years ago. He said “No. Well, there was a whorehouse, for about a month.” In the late 1980s, they did a mammoth expansion with a new roof coming down to form covered service bays ahead of the original front windows and doors. One of the original four “yards” still exists; he explained that the steel that runs through the structure, punctuated on the outside as yards, is a load-bearing ceiling beam. They kept the one just to point it out to anybody who remembers Shrimp Boats. “That’s all that’s left.”
Doraville, GA: Now here’s a double-take. I did not find any reference anywhere to a Shrimp Boats ever being on Buford Highway, and probably drove past this building – 5406 Buford, home to Monterrey since, I believe, 1974 – at least thirty times since beginning research for this project, never mind all the other hundreds of times that I’ve seen it. Literally the day after I finished the first draft of this article, the next time that I left the house, in fact, we drove past and I suddenly noticed one of the yards on the upper corner of the roof. Since the owners camouflaged the building so well with the expansion and patio – a close look will show the difference in bricks on the sides of the building – it has been hiding in plain sight like a purloined letter. The property even seems to have an original metal sign with a nautical-styled lantern, into which a “Monterrey” sign was installed, and another pair of pier posts on the sidewalk right by the highway.
Dublin, GA: One of the original trailer Shrimp Boat restaurants was located at 1513 Rice Avenue. One of our readers has reported that it was never replaced by one of the 1969-style buildings. A car wash sits on this site today.
East Point, GA: This former store at 1018 Cleveland Avenue has been a coin laundry for the last several years.
Forest Park, GA: In 1972, there was a store at 4325 Jonesboro Road. It was demolished long ago. The site is now home to a small strip mall.
Fort Valley, GA: There was a store at 406 Carver Drive, which is now the home of a daycare called First Step Learning Center. While part of the chain, this was never converted to one of the 1969-styled buildings. This location survived as an independent business from 1974 until perhaps 2005 before closing. If you look up First Step on Google Street View, you may be amused by the “home cooked meals” sign above the day care’s name.
Gainesville, GA: There was a 1969-style building at 706 Broad Street. William J. Poe was the manager.
Mableton, GA: There was a Shrimp Boats at 1420 Bankhead Highway between 1970-1974.
Macon, GA: At Roadfood.com, a reader called “Southern Fried” identified this old Shrimp Boats at 3535 Pio Nono Avenue in Macon was recently a lottery store – the sign read “dba KENO CAFE” – but has closed. This was store # 3 in the corporate numbering.
Macon, GA: “Southern Fried” also noted three stores that were active in Macon in the early 1970s. These were at 778 Riverside Drive (store # 1), 2830 Riverside Drive, and 2978 Vineville Avenue. All are gone, and I’m unsure whether these were the framed buildings or not.
Marietta, GA: Here is El Pollo Dorado, at 715 Sandtown Road. Previously, it had been a video arcade, a package store, and at least two restaurants: Eddie’s Steaks and Super Burrito. For more photos from this location, see our story about this restaurant.
Milledgeville, GA: As noted above.
Moultrie, GA: Tommy Bailey is listed as the manager of a location at 1st Street in 1972. Moultrie is among those towns that have a NW/SW split on either side of Main Street, and I’m not sure which it was. There is nothing on 1st Street NW today that looks like it could have been a restaurant. 306 1st Street SW is a vacant lot between residential homes.
Newnan, GA: Jefferson B. Head was listed as the manager of a location at 129 Temple Avenue in 1973. No evidence of a building there is visible today.
Perry, GA: There was a Shrimp Boat, in the boat/trailer building, on US-41 in the 1960s. It closed and a new seafood/chicken restaurant, Skipper John’s, moved into it in the early 1970s. Skipper John’s is still in business, these days operating from a strip mall, and according to an employee, was never affiliated with Shrimp Boats, only used their former building.
Rome, GA: The Rome store is one of the seven still in business and has its own post.
Smyrna, GA: This one is on South Cobb Drive, across from the long-vacant Champs BBQ building. In the mid-1990s, it was briefly the home of Down East BBQ. For the last eight or nine years, it has been a clothing store called Dupsie’s. Drove past this thing five hundred times before I literally double-taked and realized it was a Shrimp Boats building. I wish somebody had been in the car with me to see that; I bet it was really funny.
The South Cobb store was owned by Ken and Andrea Felker, and, in 1968, it was located around the corner and up the street at 1004 Cherokee Road (now Windy Hill), as one of the original trailer buildings. In 1969, the new building was constructed on South Cobb. The location closed in 1974.
Statesboro, GA: There had been a restaurant at 468 S Main St. This site is now the home of a place called Southern Crab House.
Thomasville, GA: There had been a store at 401 N. Madison Street in the early 1970s. This corner property is now home to a Pure gas station, L and G Food Mart, with no trace of the Shrimp Boats building.
Valdosta, GA: Here is Ming’s Chinese Restaurant, at 508 North Patterson Street. This is likely the only location to have the sidewalk pier posts replaced by foo dogs. For more photos from this location, see our story about this restaurant.
Vidalia, GA: This store was one of the longest-lasting independent locations. Rick Allmond was the manager and owner and he kept it afloat long after the chain failed. I believe that it started in a 1969-style building at 618 West 1st Street in 1970. He kept this location going for twenty years before moving to a new site around the corner. I believe that this next location, listed at 705 NW Main Street, lasted until 1995. This location has been home to a Christian ministry called The Sanctuary since 2009. The original store, in the building that we love, could have been home to any number of businesses after 1990, but it was demolished around 2007-08.
Warner Robins, GA: Also spotted by “Southern Fried,” this building is at 1307 Watson Blvd in Warner Robins. I photographed it in July 2013. Note that one of the owners of this property had the yards removed from the roof.
NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte, NC: In 1962, before the adoption of the steeped-roof buildings, there was a location at 3711 Central Avenue. I don’t know whether a ’69-era building was ever constructed here, but whatever building it was, it was bulldozed some time ago for a parking lot and a more modern building for a check cashing place.
Durham, NC: The Durham store, shown above, is the subject of its own post.
Gastonia, NC: The Gastonia store is one of the seven still in business and has its own post.
Greensboro, NC: The store in Greensboro opened in August 1969 and closed in April 1971. It was next the home of Tomlinson Lincoln-Mercury. In the early 1980s, this business was sold to Leith of Greensboro. It appears that, now based in Raleigh, Leith Lincoln is one of the largest and most respected Lincoln-Mercury dealers on the east coast.
Raleigh, NC: Econo Auto Sales, at 1634 Capital Blvd, has occupied this building for several years. This image was taken from the dealer’s Google Plus page. Found by “Roadside Quest.” When this was a Shrimp Boats, they had a liquor license! You find the darnedest things searching public records.
Rocky Mount, NC: There was a location on Fairview Road which later became the home of Tubby’s Take Out.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Florence, SC: Here is Shealy Dental Clinic, at 461 West Palmetto Street. Image from Google Maps’ street view feature. Found by “Roadside Quest.”
Gaffney, SC: Another Shrimp Boats was in Gaffney, South Carolina for several years at 313 Hetty Hill Street.
Greenville, SC: There was a location on Springdale Road at SC-291 between 1969 and September 1972, when Graham Photo Supply moved into the building. Springdale mostly vanished when North Pleasantburg was expanded into a four-lane, and the businesses along it were demolished.
Lancaster, SC: The Lancaster store is one of the seven still in business and has its own post.
North Augusta, SC: A Shrimp Boats stayed afloat here until sometime between November 2009, when it received a 93 on a food safety inspection, and June 2012, by which time the business had failed and the Google Street Maps truck showed a vacant lot.
Rock Hill, SC: The two stores in Rock Hill are among the seven still in business and have their own post.
Sumter, SC: A Facebook commenter noted there was a trailer store in the mid-1960s. It isn’t known whether it was replaced by the building I enjoy.
TENNESSEE
Chattanooga, TN: There had been only one Shrimp Boats in Chattanooga, from 1969-1974, at 5508 Brainerd Road. The building was demolished the following year. These details were taken from an article in The Chattanoogan earlier this year, which is illustrated with a period “compliments of” yearbook photo of the building.
Knoxville, TN: Reader Tim Burns identified two stores here in the 1960s. Neither were in the building style that got me curious. These were at 3419 Chapman Hwy and at 4940 Kingston Pike.
VIRGINIA
Fairfax, VA: Here is Anita’s New Mexico Style Mexican Restaurant at 10880 Lee Hwy. A reader, John, let us know about this location in July 2014. It is the second store in a small chain of seven restaurants around Fairfax and Washington, and our first confirmation of a store that far north. The owner, Anita Tellez, passed away in September 2009. While not visible in this image, a check of Google Maps’ street view showed that, in late 2012, the original two-post street sign from Shrimp Boats was still in use by the restaurant.
At its peak, Shrimp Boats is said to have had 95 locations. This blog’s a long way from finding them all. That’s only 55 of them! I hope that we can photograph one or two more of the buildings before they are also bulldozed.
Other businesses over the years have also called themselves Shrimp Boat. There was one by that name on Westgate Parkway in Asheville, North Carolina, from 1980-87, for example, that had no connection to the corporation or any of the former franchises. Another, much larger restaurant, by that name has been thriving in Panama City, Florida since 1950. In Darien, Georgia, there had been a business called Archie’s Shrimp Boat that later became Archie’s Restaurant by 1975 and closed in 2006. In Brandon, Florida, there’s a new business using this name.
Finally, I’d like to wave hello to the owner of the totally unrelated Shrimp Boat in Midland City, Alabama, not far from Dothan. He’s only been in business about ten years and was unaware that an old chain had the same name as his place, a walk-up window where you can get fresh shrimp and scallops. He couldn’t help me much with my quest, but a nicer fellow you couldn’t hope to ask for. Best wishes to him!
If you have any additional information – addresses would be awesome – about Shrimp Boats and would like to share, please do so. Your comments and corrections are very welcome.
If you’re only reading these chapters, then you are missing part of the story! We have a fantastic Facebook page, where you’ll be able to follow along with much more than just links to chapters here, but additional information about our favorite places, including PR announcements, links when our friends-in-blogging visit them, and other follow-up news about the places we’ve been when we can find it. Give us a like and tell your friends to come see us!
Marie, Let's Eat! 
What great research and a fabulous collection of old Shrimp Boat buildings!!!
Thanks, Rusha. I never found any evidence of any in your neck of the woods, sadly.
I remember the one in Macon that was shaped like a boat; I guess those are the ones you’re talking about when you mention the trailers. http://www.agilitynut.com/09/10/shrimpboat.jpg
Yes, I believe that the trailers were often – but not always – gussied-up to look like a boat. The ones in Marietta and Augusta were certainly like that, too. Thanks for writing!
It was really more than just “gussied up”; they looked just like shrimp boats, and were surrounded by moats. You had to walk up a gangplank to get to the deck, where the front door was.
i always loved the Shrimp Boat. It was the only place in macon for a long time to get fish dinners. being a kid, i really liked the boat design. great research on this article!
Thanks very much for the compliment, Donna. Glad you enjoyed the chapter!
have a picture to share and info about Macon Shrimp Boat that is a trailer.
Thanks, Dutch, but I’m afraid that Facebook link is coming up “currently unavailable.” We’d love to know more!
I live practically across the street from the one in Durham. I can send you a photo if you like.
I’d like nothing better! By all means, and thanks for offering.
I just sent you a message on facebook with the photos attached!
I grew up on the shrimp boat in Smyrna,Ga.My favorite place when I was a kid.I remember it moving from the rickety trailer that looked like a shrimp boat around the corner to a REAL building. Very sad when it closed. Always thought it was the best.
I assume this is the one that moved from Cherokee / Windy Hill to South Cobb? My mother tells me that she and my dad used to eat there as well. Thanks for writing!
I spent many a dinner (and a few date nights) at the one in Athens from 1978-1980. Thanks for the Shrimp Boats memories!
My visits to the Athens store mainly came in 1990. They had an awesome deal in The Red & Black Coupon Survival Kit for a fish sandwich, fries and a drink for $2.99. I walked up Baxter from Reed Hall every weekend for a quarter to cash in for a cheap Sunday lunch.
Do you think anyone would remember a truly boat shaped resto in Buckhead, across from Phipps Plaza in the 60’s and 70’s?. It was right on Peachtree. Facing it, Lenox Road would be to the right.
thanks for chronicling this. back in the early 90’s that shrimpboats in athens, ga was my most favorite place to eat. absolutely loved it. been thinking about it lately for whatever reason.
You and I might have been there at the same time, Logan! Thanks for the comment.
Thank you for the great story on Shrimp Boat(s). My husband and I enjoy spotting defunct Shrimp Boat(s) buildings, as well as other chain restaurants that have closed.
The Shrimp Boat on LaVista Road near Oak Grove Road is still standing. If I am thinking of the same empty lot you are and that you refer to in the story, it was the Chevron gas station at the corner of LaVista Road and Oak Grove Road. The Shrimp Boat is Lavista Animal Hospital (link to their website: http://www.lavistaanimalhospital.com/). It is across from Walgreen’s and next door to a dry cleaners. Several years ago they did a renovation and took away many of the elements that made it easily recognizable as a Shrimp Boat.
Another former Shrimp Boat is at 2143 Lawrenceville Highway, Decatur, Georgia. It is in between Precision Tune Auto Care (2145) and Skyspeed Distributors (2139) and across the street from the new Golden Corral at North DeKalb Mall (2136). If you go to Google Maps, look up 2136 Lawrenceville Highway, Decatur, GA and look at the street view. You will see the North DeKalb Mall parking lot where Golden Corral was built. Keep clicking on the left arrows until you are looking across Lawrenceville Highway and you will see the former Shrimp Boat with a red roof. In the photo the building is DEKALB WATCH & JEWELRY SERVICE & REPAIR. It may be out of business.
Stone me! Two of ’em! I looked right at that darn vet’s office and didn’t spot the roof. Thanks, Angela! I’ll be off to shoot those soon.
the shrimpboat on Lawrenceville Hwy was next to the Burger King and across the street from KFC , this burger king was robbed every week !!!
my bad memory again , the shrimpboat was on candler road in decatur burger king next door KFC across the street , down the street was a large cemetery
Forgive my memory , it was 45 years ago !!
More details about the Durham location and the Gastonia location in these follow-up stories. Don’t miss them!
I grew up in Fairfax, Virginia outside of DC and remember my mom going to a Shrimp Boats in the mid 70’s. The restaurant has since become a (New) Mexican restaurant called Anita’s. The building has been pretty heavily remodeled, but you can still see the basic Shrimp Boats shape behind the facade:
Another view that shows the slanted roof better:
Wow! This is the first confirmation we’ve received about Virginia. I’ll update the post soon. Thank you for writing, John!
there is a picture on the wall at the Macon mall of a shrimp boat restaurant on Riverside Drive. it looks like a mobile home that was modified to look like a shrimp boat.
the picture was dated 1965.
Thanks very much for that, Johnnie! There were two on Riverside, at different locations – evidently one of the two started as a trailer in the mid-60s or earlier.
There were two in Knoxville, TN in the 60’s. One was at 3419 Chapman Hwy and was the trailer shaped like a boat. The other was at 4940 Kingston Pike and was in an old 1960 Burger King building. Both have been long gone years ago.
I’ve been wondering about Knoxville! Thanks very much, Tim. I appreciate it!
I grew up in Athens and have great memories of the Baxter St Shrimp Boat. Their pulley bone snack or lunch with fried bisquits and honey cured many hangovers in college. Their sweet tea and slaw were also first rate. Really enjoy your columns.
Thanks a lot, Jim! I wish that I had thought to take pictures of the Athens Shrimp Boats when I was a semi-regular there.
The Shrimp Boat In Dublin, Ga never converted to the “IHOP-style” building.
Thank you for the information! We’ll revise the post to note that.
Good research on an old favorite when I was growing up in Marietta, Ga. during the late 50’s and early 60’s. We were always going to the Shrimp Boat in the East Lake Shopping Center off Roswell Rd. This was one of the original locations, but I remember around 1969/70, a second Shrimp Boat opened on Sandtown Rd. right off of Powder Springs St. This was a ‘newer’ style building. For a while, my girlfriend worked there, and I would drop by and get my ‘free’ lunch. But you couldn’t compare the quality of food Shrimp Boat offered to the stuff Captin D’s tries to pass off. Sure miss the Shrimp Boat.
Wowwww! Finding this blog was a pleasant surprise. I grew up and lived behind the Shrimp Boat in Fort Valley, Ga (Carver Drive). It was ran by Mrs. Fannie Taylor and husband If I’m not mistaken. The Chuckwagons!! Seafood Platters!! Scrumptidelicious!– The cole slaw, Oh, yes, it was good! I remember hoping my mama didn’t want hers so that I could have it. This was an iconic place nestled in our hood back then (80’s). It’s customers were mostly those who lived close by, faculty, students and employees of Fort Valley State (back then) College. I never knew there were other Shrimp boats?! I must visit the one in Milledgeville and try a Chuckwagon. That would be…a little bit of heaven right here on earth.
I hope that the Milledgeville store still has the chuckwagon sandwich, Nia! Give ’em a call and find out before you make the drive. Thanks for visiting and leaving us a comment!
In early ’50s, the original Shrimp Boat in Warner Robins, GA was in a trailer shaped like a boat. My parents and I would go there often for a take home meal. In 1953, I was 10 yrs of age and I remember it fondly.
i worked my first job in Atlanta ga as a delivery boy for Shrimpboats in east point on cleveland ave 1971 , i eventually became their roving manager , there were only 13 company stores the ones in sc and nc were the only francises , there were none in florida , The company was owned by AE Barnes the 3rd , there was a processing plant for all the seafood in forsyth Ga . Vice president of the company was joseph Smaha . various supers were gary peterson , Phil Hogan , director of operations was Joey Hair , the company tried to expand from a fast food restaurant to inside dining with watresses and full service , it killed itself .
4 piece chicken dinner with cole slaw and 2 biscuits only .99 cents , tea was .25 and thats where you made up for the chicken sale !!!
delivery was .50 added cost
just a memory , the shrimpboat on memorial drive was down at the botton of the parking lot , the previous manager who was fired for putting wine in the coleslaw dumped all his grease in the drain when cleaning fryers , it came a flood the day i was sent there to run it , about 7 pm when someone would flush the comode , the water would start coming up through the drains , with all the rain we were eventually walking around in about 6 inches of water , the company wouldnt allow me to shut the store .
Thanks so much for all the memories you’ve contributed, Donnie!
Grant heres a funny one for you , after i got married my wife and i were going thru photos later in life and theres a picture of her older sister in 67 or so as Ms shrimpboat in some pageant in Atlanta , they sponsored her
Bad Memory The processing plant was in Monticello Ga not Forsyth Ga
valdosta shrimpboat was probably highest monthly sales store , ran by Bud Carrol who became a supervsior . I learned to mop floors and clean from a retired marine mess sargent who ran kitchen at Cleveland ave store Howard Swofford . he would ask if floor was clean and if you said it was , he would drop a spoonful of coleslaw on it and tell you to eat it !!! if it moves throw it in the trash , if it doesnt move clean it !!! the first week i moved to atlanta and went to work for Shrimpboats on clevland ave , someone robbed the arbys up the street , put the manger and two other workers in the cooler and killed them , the jim wallace station across the street was also robbed , welcome to Atlanta !!!!!
There was also a company owned shrimpboat in Statesboro Ga , building is gone now
another bad memory , building in statesboro is still there but has been modified
Do you have the address of that building, Donnie? Or what street it is/was on?
468 S Main St, Statesboro, GA 30458 Southern Crab House
Thanks! I’ll add it to the next update. If you know of any other locations that we’re missing, please let us know.
The one in Gainesville, GA was locate on Broad Sreet S.W. across from McDonald’s and the franchise was purchased by Mr and Mrs Lee Harold Grissom. The Longstreet Clinic is on Broad Street S.E. near the Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Thank you for the correction! I appreciate it.
Hate to bust your balloon, but the Milledgeville location was built sometime in the late 80’s or early 90’s. The original location was on S. Wayne St.
Interesting. The next time I’m in Georgia, I’ll try to look at that city directory again and determine the first year it was on Elbert Street.
Did a little more of my own research and it seems the story may actually get MORE interesting… for their current address, the tax rolls give Milledgeville Shrimp Boats an “Effective” year of construction as 1985, but the “Actual” year of construction as 1965…
http://qpublic7.qpublic.net/ga_display.php?county=ga_baldwin&KEY=M63%20%20%20%20014
Checking their previous address @ 741 South Wayne St. reveals that it was once a BURGER CHEF restaurant! That building is now demolished, I think I remember it was a thrift store or something like that after Shrimp Boats moved out of it.
http://qpublic7.qpublic.net/ga_display.php?county=ga_baldwin&KEY=M43%20%20%20%20066
I have lived in the area for many years, but I’m not from here, so I guess we really need to find out from someone who knows more history. It’s possible the Elbert St. address WAS the original Shrimp Boats store, and Mr. Leslie moved out then moved back. The southside of Milledgeville has been in decline for many years, but I know it used to thrive, as it served the employees and staff of one of the largest mental hospitals (if not THE largest) in the SE, Central State Hospital, which is now effectively closed. The southside Dairy Queen was at one time, I’m told, one of the world’s two busiest Dairy Queens. When I came to Milledgeville in the early eighties, there was still an original Kentucky Fried Chicken on South Elbert St. Near where the current Shrimp boats is located with the spinning bucket and all! It’s possible it was at the same place as Shrimp boats is now, I honestly can’t remember – it does seem like there were some fast-food “musical chairs” here though! More research is in order!
I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this, but there was a Shrimp Boats on West Broad Street in Richmond, VA. I don’t know the complete period of operation, but it was operating in the 1970-71 time frame.
That’s a new one to me! Thank you for letting me know.
The Durham Shrimp Boats closed in early 2017. (very sad sadface)
http://www.newsobserver.com/living/food-drink/mouthful-blog/article133853029.html
I worked at the Shrimp Boat in Athens Ga late 80’s – until they sold to the Chinese chain in the early 90’s. The owners name was Robert Hayes (not Jack) they were a husband and wife team and great bosses. She had a side business making hair bows and accesories for Bulldog fans. Robert used be famous for saying “there aint but one school…University of Georgia!” Great memories!
My dad owned the Shrimp Boat by the university. I was only six, 1960s. It was the trailer looking like a Shrimp Boat, we grew up eating seafood after he sold it and we moved North. H e also owned the Hideaway (Pizza) by campus. Dick Van Curen.
I worked at ShrimpBoat #51 (I think) when I was in high School in Fairfax, VA. The owner was a retired Navy guy named Karonis — later bumped into one of his son’s who was active duty military (as I was). It’s now Anita’s Mexican, and part of a row of restaurants…used to be BK etc. at best. The Restaurant was top-notch – military standards…clean enough to eat off of the floors. Haf a co-worker who became an astronaut…totally cool.
I worked at the Shrimp Boat on Baxter in Athens in 1969. The food was very good
There was also a Shrimp Boat in Augusta on Walton Way in the 1960s. It was the original design
that was a trailer with the boat cot out in front.