Phillips Seafood House renovates, debuts new menu in OC
More than a few changes will greet customers this summer at Phillips Seafood House on Coastal Highway.
The iconic Ocean City restaurant is practically unrecognizable from its earlier days.
Outside, the building features a fresh coat of paint, a new sign board and windows. But the real transformation is inside.
Located on 141st Street in Ocean City, Philips Seafood House was built in the early 1970s.
The building embodied everything the family-owned empire is famous for — cozy, seafood restaurants with dark ceilings, dark carpets, colorful hanging Tiffany lamps, stained glass windows and, of course, a heavy focus on a monstrous buffet.
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But this spring, the company brought the building into the 21st century.
The recent renovation project took nearly five months to complete, which included dramatically altering its interior.
The wood paneled walls have been painted white, giving the space a fresh, rustic look. The ceiling is now also white, allowing the building's dark wood beams to command attention. The Tiffany lamps have been replaced with modern, wrought iron chandeliers. Stained glass has been swapped for farmhouse windows, allowing natural light to flood the building.
"It looks like a brand-new restaurant," said Michelle Torres, corporate director of marketing of Phillips Seafood Restaurants.
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The paper placemats are gone to boast a more elegant dining experience, she said. Now the wooden tables and booths feature white and blue cloth napkins, candles and of course, a small shaker of Phillips' seafood seasoning.
Three large glass oceanic murals, evenly installed to break up the long row of tables and booths, give the restaurant unique dimension and help to create separate dining sections.
"The space is chic and modern, but still has the old Phillips charm," she said.
Humble beginnings
The story of Phillips Seafood is an American tale of humble beginnings, hard work and the courage to take risks to achieve one’s vision.
Brice and Shirley Phillips grew up on Hoopers Island, a small community where most residents worked on the water. Early on in their married life, they managed Brice’s father’s seafood packing plant.
Faced with surplus crabs one season, the couple decided to open a small crab shack in Ocean City — the original Phillips Crab House on 21st Street in 1956.
What began as a one-room carryout, grew dining room by dining room, over the years until it could seat 1,400 guests. Business grew quickly from there, as the family expanded into new locations and markets.
Phillips Seafood House and Phillips Beach Plaza Hotel were built in the 1970s, Phillips Harborplace in Baltimore and Phillips Flagship in Washington, D.C., came in the '80s.
The fourth generation, family-owned company, moved into franchising and now owns more than 10 airport, casino and travel locations, as well as retail divisions which offer a full range of crab cakes, seafood appetizers, soups and entrees.
The dynamic company is ever-evolving and expanding to meet the needs of its customers, Torres said, such as implementing the recent renovation at Phillips Seafood House.
"We believe the changes will be warmly received," she said.
The new look and feel was too much of a departure from the original Crab House, though, which Phillips has decided will remain the same.
What about the buffet?
Craig Roberts, general manager at Phillips Seafood House, hopes the recent changes will spearhead the restaurant's new direction.
"We are so much more than a buffet here," he said. "We will always feature Phillips' classics, but the new highlight of this property will be happy hour and an la carte fresh catch menu."
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Guests can check out the bar renovations while enjoying the new happy hour menu which includes $2.50 domestic drafts and bottles, $3 house wines, $4 craft beers and $5 crushes. Featured happy hour items are crab cake sliders, fish tacos, mussels, calamari, wings and cheeseburgers with hand-cut fries.
Happy hour special will be offered Monday through Saturday until 7 p.m. and Sunday until close.
Phillips Seafood House's newly debuted Catch of the Day menu is created daily and sourced by local fisherman. Guests can expect to see features like Chincoteague oysters and soft-shell crabs brought in by Snow Hill resident John Harvey.
Local tuna teriyaki and fresh day-boat scallops from West Ocean City are also likely to be featured.
"The fresh catch menu changes every day, depending on what we receive," he said. "We are keeping it local and we are keeping it fresh."
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And keeping with the theme, the restaurant will utilize local produce sold at a farmers market, held in front of Phillips Seafood House from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday during the summer.
"It's a lot to take in," he said. "But we feel our customers can handle these adjustments, these improvements, and will embrace them."
Despite all of the changes — fresh paint, new floors, new menu — the buffet, he promised, will always remain.
"We would never let that go," he said, smiling.
The famous Phillips buffet is featured in the back of the restaurant. The area received a few upgrades during the renovation but, for the most part, was left untouched.
The buffet will be available every day until at least Labor Day weekend and features a new blackening station with soft-shells, tuna, salmon, mahi and scallops.
"Few family-owned restaurant companies have been around for 100 years and achieved the levels of success of Phillips Seafood," he said. "And that's because they took care of their customers. They listened. They were consistent.
"All of the changes made were to improve the experience here at Phillips Seafood House but we know the majority of our customers will still want to order from the buffet," he said. "So we've made it even better than before but kept all of the good stuff back there — paper placemats, Tiffany lamps and all."
For more information, visit phillipsseafood.com.
Phillips Seafood House
Where: 14101 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City
When: Monday through Friday open at 4 p.m.; Saturday through Sunday open at 3:30 p.m. until
Call: 410-250-1200
Visit: phillipsseafood.com/locations-and-menus/ocean-city-seafood-house
TIDES: The spectacular life cycle of a crab
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