Pine Belt residents looking for a taste of Louisiana seafood won’t have to search any farther than Petal for fresh, catch-of-the day fare.
Darrin Robin, co-owner of the popular Robin’s Wharf Seafood Restaurants in New Orleans and Slidell, opened his third location March 20 at 1080 Eveleyn Gandy Parkway in the Friendly City.
“Petal’s one of the fastest-growing areas in the state,” Robin said of his decision to locate there. “In fact, from what I understand, Evelyn Gandy (Parkway) is the fastest-growing highway, as far as commercially, in the state.
“Petal’s a real, real good location for business. If you ride down here, everything’s brand new. You don’t see anything closed or for rent or sale or anything - everything’s up and running. So it’s a real good thriving part of the state, and anywhere in the south.”
Robin’s Wharf Seafood Restaurant offers fare such as boiled shrimp, oysters, crabs, catfish and red beans and rice. Diners also can enjoy items like bread pudding, crawfish, gumbo, pasta and po-boys.
There’s also a seafood market adjacent to the restaurant, where customers can find everything from fresh crabs and shrimp to Cajun spices and tartar sauce.
“Our main meal, the one everybody craves on, is shrimp and grits,” Robin said. “Everything we make is made to order – when you order it, that’s when we start cooking it.
“It’s not out of a microwave. No fast food at all – you order a shrimp pasta, it goes from grilling the shrimp, grilling the onions, making the cream sauce, all as you order it.”
The Robin’s Wharf Seafood locations are the result of a partnership between Robin and his two business associates. Given Robin’s 27 years of restaurant experience, along with his partners’ expertise in oysters and the bar/entertainment side, the trio felt it only natural to consolidate their skills into one business.
“What we did was kind of combine everything,” Robin said. “So three different sections that we all got together and made one.”
Even though the restaurant has only been open a little more than a week, Robin said the new location has already been well-received by visitors.
“A lot of the people that’s been here seem to like it,” he said. “We’re still growing as a company, we’re growing as a location and we’re growing as a business.
“Our business way exceeded what I thought it would when we opened. From day one, we started to where lunch was almost full and dinner was almost full. The next day, both of them were full.”
For more information on the new Robin’s Wharf Seafood Restaurant location, call (601) 554-3088 or visit www.robinswharf.com.
