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Tuesday, Mar. 9, 1999

Morgan Street Seafood offers meals to go

`You buy, we fry' concept available for pickup or delivery; store looking to add seating

By JEFFREY TOMICH
Staff Writer

   Morgan Street Seafood, 1602 Morgan St., is now offering freshly prepared fish, shrimp and other Gulf delicacies from its new, open-air seafood kitchen.
   The setting allows customers to see the catch-of-the-day filleted, fried and fixed while they wait, owner Charlie Alegria said.
   Alegria introduced the "you buy, we fry" concept a few weeks ago, offering freshly prepared seafood to go and for delivery. He also provides catering.
   Offerings include fish, shrimp, oysters, crab and frog legs. Alegria said he'll debut a new menu next week that includes shrimp and crab salad.
   Morgan Street Seafood doesn't have a dining area, but Alegria is searching for an investor or financing to build one.
   He opened the seafood market in February 1997. Seafood is purchased from boats along the Texas coast, mostly from the Coastal Bend, he said.
   

Natural foods at H-E-B

   H-E-B has opened a 2,500-square-foot Nature's Harvest natural foods store within its grocery store at 4737 Saratoga Boulevard.
   The Nature's Harvest store offers dry, natural grocery items in bulk; natural frozen and dairy products; natural vitamins, herbs and homeopathy; natural skin and body products and aromatherapy products. There's also a computer station where shoppers can access nutrition programs and natural protocols.
   Employees of the Nature's Harvest store are specially trained to help and educate customers about natural, organic and herbal products.
   

Rise in restaurant pay

   A study by the National Restaurant Association shows annual pay for salaried restaurant employees grew sharply last year.
   According to the report, which looked at more than 21,500 salaried restaurant workers at 14,000 different locations, the median annual salary for all managers was $32,495, not including a $4,000 bonus.
   For executive chefs, the median salary was $40,000 with a $4,000 bonus. Regional managers earned a median salary of $52,962 with a $12,000 bonus and district managers got $45,000 with an $8,000 bonus.
   A separate analysis of new federal data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the trade association indicates median earnings of food service and lodging managers grew by 8.3 percent from 1997 to 1998. That's more than double the 4.1 percent median growth in earnings for all employees in executive, administrative and managerial occupations.
   

Shrimp House to open

   After sitting vacant for almost two years, the former Shoney's on the southwest corner of Staples Street and South Padre Island Drive is getting a new restaurant: Sea Island Shrimp House.
   The building is being remodeled now. The San Antonio-based seafood chain hasn't announced an opening date.
   

Restaurants to deliver

   Ten Corpus Christi restaurants have signed up with Dial-A-Waiter, a new restaurant delivery service that proprietor Christoph Wenger calls "the great alternative to pizza."
   It works like this: call-in an order and a driver is dispatched to the restaurant to pick up the meal and deliver it.
   Participating restaurants include: Gallagher's Steak & Seafood Grill, Marco's at Lamar, Chili's Grill & Bar, the Black-Eyed Pea, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Taiwan Restaurant, El Chico, Marbella, EZ's Brick Oven & Grill and Coffee House Istanbul.
   Meals are generally delivered in 45 minutes to an hour. Delivery cost is $5 for the first restaurant and $4 for each additional restaurant, not including tip. Delivery to Flour Bluff and Padre Island is $1 extra.
   To reach Dial-A-Waiter, call 814-3425.
   

Stride-Rite opens

   Stride-Rite, the Lexington, Mass.-based manufacturer and retailer of children's shoes, has reopened its store at Padre Staples Mall.
   The location is one of a number of Stride-Rite's new concept stores that carry a wider selection of shoes and are designed to be appealing to children.
   On Retailing is published every other Tuesday in the Staff Writer business section. The column includes news of new, relocated and expanded businesses in the Coastal Bend, plus retailing trends and profiles. Ideas may be submitted to: On Retailing, Corpus Christi Staff Writer, P.O. Box 9136, Corpus Christi, Texas 78469; e-mail Jeffrey Tomich at tomichj@caller.com; fax items to (361) 886-3732; or call (361) 886-4316.

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