03/18/2026
The Deep Water Red Shrimp Situation.
We started offering Royal Reds Shrimp every Saturday & Sunday 16 years ago.
There are 3 primary deepwater red shrimp that we have used: Royal Reds (pleoticus robustus) Patagonia Reds/Argentine Reds (pleoticus Muelleri) and Stonington Reds (pleoticus robustus).
These are all three deepwater red shrimp. The biggest difference between them is thier geographic location. Regardless of which reds we have to use at the time, if we were located in Connecticut, we would be calling them Stonington Reds, because that is what people in that region know a deep water red to be. If we were in Rio De Janeiro, we would call them Patagonia Reds, or Argentine Reds.
They are all 3 very expensive shrimp and are all of very high quality. They all thrive in water between the upper 30's - 40's fahrenheit. They have to go deep to reach those temperatures. While all 3 are found in very deep water, royal reds have to go a bit deeper because the gulf water is warmer than the Atlantic, or the Patagonian shelf waters. I will attatch a Chat gpt explanation below, of why these shrimp have the sweet "lobster like" taste they have.
With all of that being said, in order for us to offer what people know as deepwater red shrimp in this area, we have no choice but to get what is available at the time. We simply cannot get local Royal Reds year-round. I have tried many, many times-just like many other restaurants-and that is what we have to do.
Years ago, many restaurants were told to stop selling Swai (Pangasius fish) as "Grouper". Theres a big difference there. Swai is a much cheaper fish that was being sold as a more expensive species. That is not at all the case here.
In fact, we do not profit on the sale of our Red Shrimp at all. It's what is called a "loss leader". It brings more people in and helps geneate more bar sales. It's $15.99 for all-you-can-eat! We could very easily go way up on the price if profit were our goal.
So why am I explaining all of this?
A local fishery, whom I have tried many times to buy Royal Reds from, has decided to make us a target by constantly posting on FB and trying to make us out as false advertisers. Yes, they sell Royal Reds-- when they have them. But so far, all six times I have attempted to buy from them, they have never gotten back to me. That's because they simply can't supply what we need.
I will not name this company, as I don't do business in that manner. But they just would not let it go.
After this latest round of Facebook attacks by this particular fishery I spoke of, I called the gentelman who runs the business. I told him I had seen their posts. I once again explained how much I respect the work they do and that I would genuinely like to buy Royal Reds from them.
He quoted me a price that was actually lower than what I am currently paying for the Reds we are buying. I then asked if he might be able to get me head-off Reds. He said he thought he had some he could get for me. He said he would call me back that evening, or the next day.
That was a week ago. Once again, no reply.
So many of our customers are already very familiar with what we have to do in order to offer what we offer year-round. As I said earlier, we have used all 3 of these Red Shrimp. It has never been about price-It has always been about availability.
A very good friend of mine, Joe Coe, posted a very nice message, standing up for us, and I appreciate that very much. Joe worked here for the past 3 years and did a helluva great job getting our kitchen in good shape. He helped with so many things here. He was our General Manager.
From his post, I could tell he was under the impression I was negotiating price with this particular fishery. But no, it was strictly about availability. If this were about price, we could simply raise our own price. That would be an easy fix.
So I will end with thanking all of our customers for being here! We love all of you!
And we will continue for years to come, offering our Deepwater Red Shrimp, whichever of the 3 varieties we are using at the time!
