Phillips new Bayside Cantina opens with mix of tacos, tequila and seafood in Ocean City

It may have been a shock to old-school Phillips Seafood House lovers — famous buffet no more — but Bayside Cantina has officially opened its doors as a Mexican eatery.

The kickoff came just before Cinco de Mayo, when the new restaurant planned to host a happy hour with live entertainment, food samples and of course, tequila. 

Bayside Cantina has the slow-roasted, three-day marinade roots of Mexican cuisine with a bit of flourish: think chorizo-spiked queso, chipotle aioli and fat surf-and-turf burritos. 

Executive chef John Degges re-imagined tortilla chips by using crispy pork skin, called chicharron, as a nacho base and topped it with seasoned beef, pico de gallo and queso. 

Also, there is a permanent, complimentary nacho bar — a deconstructed approach to the usual chips and salsa starter.

Still flecked with remnants of Phillips Seafood — stained glass and brass fixtures here and there — Bayside Cantina's origins are more pronounced in its culinary experience and hospitality, marketing director Michelle Torres said. 

"You do create traditions in various ways when you’re eating," she added.

Torres wants guests to feel the restaurant's familial vibes, to gather around the dinner table, even share the queso.

There is the sweet char of carne asada, the street food vibe coming off grilled corn with cilantro crema and cotija cheese, the kick of a jalapeno watermelon margarita. 

Yes, the rebranded restaurant is unequivocally "tacos, tequila and more."

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But Bayside Cantina's most blatant rule of thumb is written between the menu's lines: Mexican cuisine and seafood are not mutually exclusive. 

The beer-battered white fish and chili-dusted chips with cilantro slaw prove it. So too does the chargrilled salmon, topped with chipotle lime butter and black bean and corn salsa. 

There is plenty to eat for the seafood-averse, too. Degges brings in whole brisket and pork shoulder for the tacos, and lets the chili-rubbed meat soak into its own taste for a few days.

“If we run out of some things, it’s going to take us a few days to make it,” joked Chris Harter, vice president of restaurant operations.

Only one dish is over $20, and it comes with chicken, beef and shrimp. 

Like breadcrumbs to crab cakes, the cantina doesn't use a slab of refried beans or iceberg lettuce mounds as filler for its tacos, Harter said.

Each taco plate comes with three meat-stuffed flour tortillas, or mushroom and roasted peppers for veggie lovers. 

While some may see the seafood-to-Mexican rebranding as incompatible, Phillips Seafood has embraced the one-off concept for years. It opened a sushi place in Atlantic City in 2006, as well as a sports bar and a world cuisine/fusion restaurant. 

"A part of our brand is the diversity," Torres said. "Phillips will always be our roots, what we continue to grow with, so we’re not looking to move away from the seafood and our heritage."

And people can still enjoy the seafood buffet and carryout at Phillips Crab House on 21st Street. 

"It just won't be on 141st Street," Torres said. "On this side of town, we have another option for them."

The still-wary can eat at the crab house then venture north for a margarita, to start.

And maybe build their own nacho plate.

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