Sixty Years - Sixty Cheers 1965

The Story of Sea Island Shrimp House

As a family-owned restaurant with deep roots in San Antonio, we’re passionate about making delicious, high-quality seafood that’s affordable for everyone. Before there was Sea Island Shrimp House, there was a Tom Anthony, a man passionate about serving his community. In 1912, he opened the iconic Manhattan Café in downtown San Antonio before his son, Dan, took over the thriving restaurant which set into motion the future of Sea Island.

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1960's 60 Years and Counting Sea Island Shrimp House wasn’t the first restaurant the Anthony family operated. In 1912 Tom Anthony, Dan Anthony’s father, opened the landmark Manhattan Café downtown on Houston Street to notable clientele, including Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. It became the essence of fine dining and extraordinary pastries in San Antonio for the next six decades.
 1963 - Dan Anthony joined his father and worked alongside him at the Manhattan Cafe, which opened in 1912. He bought it in 1963. He had worked with community activists to turn the Manhattan Café into one of San Antonio’s first desegregated restaurants that same year.

1965 - Dan Anthony, with his wife, Chrissy, and his friend Henry Reed, opened the first Sea Island Shrimp House, one of the country’s first “fast-casual restaurants specializing in wild-caught, sustainable seafood on Rector Street in the heart of San Antonio, adjacent to North Star Mall. 1970's 1977 - The iconic Manhattan Café on Houston Street closed in March 1977 after 66 years of continuous operation. Downtown started becoming less populated and the café was no longer located in a prime area for their fine dining style. 1980's This decade was filled with growth, family and fun. Dan and Chrissy Anthony enjoyed their time at the original Rector location. They rocked along, cooking up great seafood and creating memories to last a lifetime for their family and their customers. 1990's 1991 - As the population of San Antonio grew, much of it migrated west and north of the 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's 2000 - Dan Anthony was named Outstanding Restaurateur by the San Antonio Chapter of the Texas Restaurant Association.

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; 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 around the outer loop of San Antonio, Loop 1604, especially to the west, increased. Sea Island opened its sixth location off Bandera Road in the Bandera Pointe Shopping Center to accommodate this new growth.

 2010's 2013 - Sea Island remodeled its Ingram location to include a cleaner, more contemporary look that appealed to the next generation of guests.

January 2016 - Sea Island opened its Creekside location in New Braunfels, Texas

 2020's 2022 - Chrissy and Barclay, as well as two Sea Island recipes, are featured in San Antonio Cooks, which includes some of the city’s most well-known restauranteurs.

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. Beloved Co-Founder passes away

Mrs. Chrissy Anthony, co-founder of Sea Island Shrimp House with her late husband Dan and friend Henry Reed in 1965, 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, both in involvement 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 in guests, chatting up families in line 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 giving back to our community with the same values she shared. 2023 A colored photo of Dan Anthony and Henry Reed, cofounders of Sea Island Shrimp House A black and white photo of Dan and Chrissy Anthony, the founders of Sea Island Shrimp House

1963 - Dan Anthony joined his father and worked alongside him at the Manhattan Cafe, which opened in 1912. He bought it in 1963. He had worked with community activists to turn the Manhattan Café into one of San Antonio’s first desegregated restaurants that same year.

1965 - Dan Anthony, with his wife, Chrissy, and his friend Henry Reed, opened the first Sea Island Shrimp House, one of the country’s first “fast-casual restaurants specializing in wild-caught, sustainable seafood on Rector Street in the heart of San Antonio, adjacent to North Star Mall. 1960's 1970's 1977 - The iconic Manhattan Café on Houston Street closes in March 1977 after 66 years of continuous operation. This decade was filled with growth, family and fun. Dan and Chrissy Anthony enjoyed their time at the original Rector location. They rocked along, cooking up great seafood and creating memories to last a lifetime for their family and their customers. 1980's 1991 - As the population of San Antonio grew, much of it migrated west and north of the 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.
 1990's 2000's 2000 - Dan Anthony was named Outstanding Restaurateur by the San Antonio Chapter of the Texas Restaurant Association.

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; 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 around the outer loop of San Antonio, Loop 1604, especially to the west, increased. Sea Island opened its sixth location off Bandera Road in the Bandera Pointe Shopping Center to accommodate this new growth. 2010's 2013 - Sea Island remodeled its Ingram location to include a cleaner, more contemporary look that appealed to the next generation of guests.

2016 - In January Sea Island opened its Creekside location in New Braunfels, Texas 2020's 2022 - Chrissy and Barclay, as well as two Sea Island recipes, are featured in San Antonio Cooks, which includes some of the city’s most well-known restauranteurs.

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. Beloved Co-Founder passes away

Mrs. Chrissy Anthony, co-founder of Sea Island Shrimp House with her late husband Dan and friend Henry Reed in 1965, 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, both in involvement 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 in guests, chatting up families in line 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 giving back to our community with the same values she shared. 2023 60 Years and Counting Sea Island Shrimp House wasn’t the first restaurant the Anthony family operated. In 1912 Tom Anthony, Dan Anthony’s father, opened the landmark Manhattan Café downtown on Houston Street to notable clientele, including Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. It became the essence of fine dining and extraordinary pastries in San Antonio for the next six decades.

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