The Story of Sea Island Shrimp House
Since 1965, Sea Island Shrimp House has been a family-owned institution in San Antonio, delighting families, military personnel, and friends with its fresh, superior seafood and genuine down-home hospitality. It all dates back to 1912, when Manhattan Café opened in San Antonio, where owner Tom Anthony established a reputation for quality and reasonable prices.
Later, His son Dan took over this family-owned seafood restaurant in San Antonio with his wife Chrissy and carried that vision forward with a fresh twist: a welcoming, everyday place proving extraordinary seafood never has to come with a remarkable price tag.
1963 - Dan Anthony joined his father and worked alongside him at the Manhattan Cafe. He bought it in 1963 and worked with community activists to turn the Manhattan Café into one of San Antonio's first desegregated restaurants that same year.
1965 - Dan Anthony, along with his wife Chrissy and his friend Henry Reed, opened the first Sea Island Shrimp House on Rector Street in the heart of San Antonio, adjacent to North Star Mall. It became one of the country’s first “fast-casual restaurants” specializing in wild-caught, sustainable seafood.
1992 - Barclay Anthony, a third-generation restaurateur and Dan and Chrissy's youngest child, joined Sea Island.
1995 - Sea Island opened its third location on Loop 410 near Ingram Park Mall. This well-populated area near a large shopping center became one of the company's most popular sites.
2000 - Nestled among military installations, the location on S.W. Military Drive continues to host many men and women in uniform as well as shoppers from nearby South Park Mall.
2002 - The city continued to develop east and north following IH-35, and Sea Island opened a location on Agora Parkway in the Forum Shopping Center off this major highway. This restaurant continues to be one of the company's busiest locations.
2004 - The population increased around the outer Loop 1604 of San Antonio, especially to the west. Sea Island opened its sixth location off Bandera Road in the Bandera Pointe Shopping Center to accommodate this new growth.
January 2016 - Sea Island opened its Creekside location in New Braunfels, Texas.
2023 - News 4 San Antonio awards Sea Island with yet another blue plate in 2023.
Sea Island has been voted "Best Seafood" in San Antonio by the Readers' Choice Awards presented by the San Antoino Express-News each year since it began in 2000.
Mrs. Chrissy Anthony, co-founder of Sea Island Shrimp House in 1965 with her late husband, Dan, and friend Henry Reed, passed away at the age of 89 on November 30, 2023, surrounded by her loving family after a courageous battle with cancer.
She spent her career building a legacy of service to the local community, including with her church, several nonprofit organizations, and in her mission to provide a place where anyone could afford to bring their family and have a really good meal.
If you've visited Sea Island or been a regular at the original location on Rector, you would have often seen her at the hostess stand on Friday nights, welcoming guests and treating everyone like family.
Chrissy has always been the heart and soul of Sea Island and will be greatly missed by those closest to her and her large network of restaurant family. We will continue to honor her legacy with the great recipes that began in her kitchen and give back to our community with the same values she shared.
We’ve had a seat at life’s biggest moments for more than 60 years.
What began as a small family’s dream grew into six decades of shared meals, celebrations and memories. We’re honored to have served generations of our community and watched them grow up around our tables. This milestone belongs to our team and to our guests who made it possible. Cheers to another 60 more!
1965 - Dan Anthony, along with his wife Chrissy and his friend Henry Reed, opened the first Sea Island Shrimp House on Rector Street in the heart of San Antonio, adjacent to North Star Mall. It became one of the country’s first “fast-casual restaurants” specializing in wild-caught, sustainable seafood.
downtown. Sea Island opened a large, free-standing restaurant located on IH-10 West near Wurzbach Road.
1992 - Barclay Anthony, a third-generation restaurateur and Dan and Chrissy’s youngest child, joined Sea Island.
1995 - Sea Island opened its third location on Loop 410 near Ingram Park Mall. This
well-populated area near a large shopping center became one of the company's most popular sites.
2000 - Nestled among military installations, the location on S.W. Military Drive continues to host many men and women in uniform as well as shoppers from nearby South Park Mall.
2002 - The city continued to develop east and north following IH-35, and Sea Island opened a location on Agora Parkway in the Forum Shopping Center off this major highway. This restaurant continues to be one of the company's busiest locations.
2004 - The population increased around the outer Loop 1604 of San Antonio, especially to the west. Sea Island opened its sixth location off Bandera Road in the Bandera Pointe Shopping Center to accommodate this new growth.
2016 - In January Sea Island opened its Creekside location in New Braunfels, Texas.
2023 - News 4 San Antonio awards Sea Island with yet another blue plate in 2023.
Sea Island has been voted "Best Seafood" in San Antonio by the Readers' Choice Awards presented by the San Antoino Express-News each year since it began in 2000.
Mrs. Chrissy Anthony, co-founder of Sea Island Shrimp House in 1965 with her late husband, Dan, and friend Henry Reed, passed away at the age of 89 on November 30, 2023, surrounded by her loving family after a courageous battle with cancer.
She spent her career building a legacy of service to the local community, including with her church, several nonprofit organizations, and in her mission to provide a place where anyone could afford to bring their family and have a really good meal.
If you've visited Sea Island or been a regular at the original location on Rector, you would have often seen her at the hostess stand on Friday nights, welcoming guests and treating everyone like family.
Chrissy has always been the heart and soul of Sea Island and will be greatly missed by those closest to her and her large network of restaurant family. We will continue to honor her legacy with the great recipes that began in her kitchen and give back to our community with the same values she shared.
We’ve had a seat at life’s biggest moments for more than 60 years.
What began as a small family’s dream grew into six decades of shared meals, celebrations and memories. We’re honored to have served generations of our community and watched them grow up around our tables. This milestone belongs to our team and to our guests who made it possible. Cheers to another 60 more!
2025
How Family Ownership Shapes Everything We Do
Being part of a family-owned restaurant means every choice matters. Sea Island retains its family ownership for a reason: accountability. Not to stockholders and publicity, but to what’s placed before customers and what happens when they enter the restaurant.
Here’s what family ownership means in real life:
Decision-making
We protect what works and improve what doesn’t, without having to answer to shareholders every quarter. With Dan as the recipe creator and Chrissy as the operator who brought them to life day after day, that standard still guides everything we do.
Menu Consistency
Barclay, the youngest son of Chrissy and Dan, understands how important it is to get it right every single time. Customers keep coming back because they know exactly what to expect, and we never disappoint.
Guest Experience
Customer service is at the heart of who we are. We go the extra mile, whether that means remembering your regular order, asking about your family, or making you feel genuinely welcome every time you walk through the door. With three generations of the Anthony family involved so far, we bring those traditions and values straight to the plate.
The Anthony family has been part of the San Antonio community for generations, building lasting relationships through food and service. From Tom Anthony’s Manhattan Café, to Dan’s vision for Sea Island, Chrissy’s warmth at the hostess stand, and Barclay leading the brand today, the family has remained deeply rooted in this community and committed to growing alongside it.
Hip-Hip-Filet!
We’re rolling out 60 special offers for guests to enjoy throughout the year.
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Hand-Breaded Daily: Preparation Standards That Matter
Something that sets our San Antonio family-owned seafood restaurant apart is our hand-breaded fish and shrimp, prepared fresh daily.
We hand-bread every fish fillet and every shrimp every morning. We use breadcrumbs and crackers that we’ve crushed by hand to the consistency we want. The fish is never frozen and never sits in the walk-in freezer. The shrimp isn’t pre-processed, either—it’s done just right for optimal taste.
The process has everything to do with texture, taste, and consistency, achieving a perfect crispy exterior with well-cooked seafood inside. This just can’t be done with pre-breaded and pre-fried seafood.
But it’s more than just taste: it’s the family pride and accountability. When we take Gulf shrimp caught in the wild and bread it in-house, we put our reputation on every single plate we send out. And we make no compromise over it!
Sourcing & Seafood Quality Philosophy
Sea Island partners with selected suppliers who share our commitment to wild-caught seafood. It’s the taste, texture, and sustainability that simply can’t be achieved through farmed alternatives. When you indulge in our fried shrimp or grilled fish, you get the best wild-caught Gulf seafood available across our menu.
Our long-term supplier partnerships indicate consistency and dependability—we’re not looking for the lowest price every week. We’ve been with the same trusted suppliers for years. They understand our standards and match our commitment to excellence.
Sourcing decisions at our family-owned seafood restaurant in San Antonio aren’t taken lightly. We don’t get caught up in the buzz and don’t just go with what works best. We’re about relationships, not quick business decisions. You can taste the difference in every bite!
Community Roots Run Deep
Sea Island Shrimp House is not just another family-owned seafood restaurant in San Antonio; it’s part of the fabric of the community. For 60 years, we’ve served military families and loyal customers across the neighborhoods we call home, providing places where our nation’s heroes feel at home. We’ve seen generations of families grow up eating with us.
Our dedication extends well beyond the kitchen. The legacy of service that Chrissy Anthony embodied her entire life with churches, nonprofits, and seasonal traditions like Lent is what we continue to live out to this day. We support local causes because this is home for us and not because it makes for a great marketing pitch.
From our very first Rector commercial to the seven neighborhoods we support today, we have celebrated with them, stuck with them through hard times, and made actual relationships based on being there and caring deeply.
Come taste the
Difference!
With seven locations serving the San Antonio area, we’re always in the neighborhood.