From the Bay Area Citizen: “As far as Seabrook culinary institutions go, Tookie’s is an icon. The burger stand will soon have a new neighbor as Tookie’s Seafood officially broke ground at 1102 Bayport Avenue on March 6, right next door to Seabrook’s popular burger haven.

“It’s a big day for Seabrook,” said Seabrook Mayor Glenn Royal. The restaurant will be built on the former lot of the Seabrook United Methodist Church, so it was appropriate to begin the groundbreaking ceremony with an invocation and some words from the church’s current pastor, Tony McCollum. “We’ve seen all kinds of miraculous things happen as God has worked through the lives of people here and one of my hopes is that we see the multiplying of fishes and loaves for you guys with Tookie’s Seafood,” he said.

Tookie’s owner Barry Terrell talked about his vision for the new restaurant: an open kitchen for patrons to watch cooks prepare on a mesquite wood grill; New Orleans-style grilled oysters and fresh gulf seafood.

The original Tookie’s opened in 1975, and was a staple for years before being destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Terrell and his wife, Melissa, took ownership of the burger stand after the original owner was forced to close for good. Reopened in 2011, Tookie’s regained its footing in the community, and now with Tookie’s Seafood, the Terrells hope to start a new Seabrook tradition.

Terrell pointed to an office that has been a taste-testing lab for a year. “We’re kind of sick of tasting food, we’re ready to start building a restaurant,” he said. He also talked about the long journey to make the project happen and thanked the city for support. “This has taken a long time to get going, and the city of Seabrook has done everything it can do to get this going,” Terrell said. “The delay has not been because of them, it’s been a little bit of everything. We’re just glad to be here and get it off to the next step.”

That next step is to create a thriving business in the community. “You see these restaurants have these big ground breaking events and a year later, they’re out of business,” he said. “We’re going to try not to let that happen.” Tookie’s Seafood is expected to open this fall. For more information, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TookiesSeafood.

By Pamela Moore, Feature Blogger for Brockway Realty, LLC.

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