Growing up in New England, seafood shacks were a normal part of Sean Neal’s life, he said. When he came to San Marcos in 2001 he noticed maritime fare was missing from many menus.
In 2013, Neal partnered with local restaurateur Allen Shy and their mutual friend, Hank Lewis, to open Louie’s Oyster House and Beer Garden, 119 E. Hutchison St., San Marcos. The restaurant serves a variety of seafood dishes, including oysters, shrimp, fried alligator and crawfish, as well as more than 100 beers and a full bar.
“There are burger places everywhere,” Neal said. “There are sandwich shops everywhere. There are pizza places everywhere. But no one had seafood.”
In the 2 1/2 years since the restaurant opened the menu has changed quite a bit, Lewis said. The trio tries to update their menu about three times a year, he said. The newest additions to the menu have been aimed at attracting a more diverse dining crowd.
Burgers, quesadillas and nachos are recent additions that have resonated with restaurant patrons.
“That was one of our hiccups at the beginning: We were all seafood,” Lewis said. “When a big group comes in, not everybody wants seafood.”
With the menu regularly receiving tweaks, the trio recently decided their building could use some work, too, so in 2016 the restaurant’s patio will be enclosed, and additional televisions will be set up to better serve customers during sporting events such as Texas State University football games.
In February the restaurant began hosting biweekly crawfish boils with freshly caught crawfish from Louisiana. Crawfish is sold by the pound at the market rate, usually $8-$12.
Lewis and Neal said they are optimistic about the future of their downtown San Marcos business. With new single-family developments such as La Cima, a neighborhood off Wonder World Drive in San Marcos planned to include more than 2,000 residences, the group sees their customer base expanding in the future.
“[Those new residents] are going to have to come [into San Marcos] for food because Wimberley can’t support that many people, and, of course, they’re closer to San Marcos,” Lewis said. “They’re going to be venturing into San Marcos for their food needs and entertainment needs.”
To that end, Lewis and Shy are planning to open Crafthouse Urban Kitchen & Tap less than a block from Louie’s. Slated to open in March, the restaurant will feature a rotating menu of seasonal game meats and dishes that they hope will further expand the city’s dining options.
“What they’re doing at [Crafthouse Urban Kitchen & Tap], no one has that kind of menu,” Neal said. “Bison and duck … they’re going to have some interesting stuff.”
