When Fish City Grill was founded over two decades ago, co-founders Lovett and Bill Bayne did virtually every job in the small, 12-table restaurant. Even then, the couple was passionate about building a friendly, fun and caring company with a culture that puts all people first.

Now, Fish City Grill has developed a lasting reputation as a friendly, neighborhood seafood joint where customers and team members become family. The restaurant is connected to and involved in its community, giving back to local nonprofits monthly through its First Tuesday initiative. While they have grown from a small 12-table neighborhood joint into a family of restaurants, their focus on community & the neighborhood has remained.

The restaurant opened its 20th location in San Antonio’s South Rim, at the corner of 1604 and Vance Jackson in August 2022. Due to a green space that blocks the view from the road, it can be hidden, but the made-from-scratch menu and personal service are worth the extra effort to find them.

“The South Rim restaurant exemplifies who we are, staffed with friendly team members and long-time General Manager, Rocky Cheek. Rocky is a gregarious guy who you just want to be your next-door neighbor,” Marketing Director Gje Greene-Wallace said. “He’s a great leader, and cares for our Team Members and Customers.”

With its full bar that opens to the patio, the restaurant features a specialty cocktail menu to complement its robust menu where seafood is the star. Customers will also find fresh seafood specials that change daily on the restaurant’s Chalkboard, another way Fish City Grill focuses on their neighborhood.

“The chalkboard specials are created by our managers and offer an opportunity to create something special for their customers,” Greene-Wallace said. “Once we know what they like, we tailor those specials to customers’ wants.”

Customers can view the Daily Specials on the Chalkboard camera here.

Another thing customers may not know? The entire Fish City Grill menu is made from scratch: everything from soups to dressings to sauces.

Green-Wallace said some of her personal favorites include the Chargrilled Oysters, which are cooked New Orleans style with lemon pepper butter and topped with Parmesan cheese; the Garlic Caper Salmon; Crab Cakes; and Gumbo.

“I could eat our gumbo every day,” she said. “It has a dark roux, shrimp, chicken and Andouille—it’s amazing.”

In addition to forever-favorites, Fish City Grill also offers seasonal items. The restaurant serves up various dishes featuring seasonal proteins like Mahi, Texas Gulf Redfish, Wild Alaskan Salmon, Halibut and of course, Louisiana Crawfish.

Greene-Wallace said that the company has been buying crawfish from the same supplier since before Fish City Grill existed. Before Lovett & Bill co-founded Fish City Grill, they worked together at a restaurant and bought crawfish from a crawfish farmer who would drive his product to Texas to sell.

More than thirty years later, the co-founders still buy from the same crawfish farm, Frugé Seafood, in Branch, Louisiana.

“Our tagline says it all; Friendly Folks. Serious Seafood,” Gje Greene-Wallace said. “We are equally proud of our culture and the personal relationships we have with our Team Members, our Customers and our neighborhoods.”

To learn more about Fish City Grill visit their website here or follow them on social media on Facebook and Instagram.

The above story was written by a member of Community Impact’s Storytelling team with information solely provided by the local business as part of their “sponsored content” purchase through our advertising team. Our integrity promise to our readers is to clearly identify all CI Storytelling posts so they are separate from the content decided upon, researched, and written by our journalism department.