LA Eats

Options expand for Leland-area restaurants

Residents of Leland-area communities have more food and drink choices than ever before, from fine dining to coffee and pastries to Calabash-style seafood. And, even more are in the works for the growing northern Brunswick County area.

Business leaders say the additional restaurants, pubs, diners, and the like build up the local economy while providing an increased variety of food and drink choices to residents and tourists from both sides of the Cape Fear.

This year, restaurateur Evans Trawick opened CAPE FEAR SEAFOOD COMPANY (pictured) in the Waterford community at 143 Poole Road, the popular eatery’s third location. Trawick says the restaurant’s reputation for quality seafood in a comfortable atmosphere has translated to a solid customer base in the new venue.

“We’ve been in the Monkey Junction area for almost ten years now, and we opened the Porters Neck location about two years ago,” he says.

Trawick says he realized the bustling northern Brunswick County area was “an underserved market.”

Last September, Trawick paid $394,000 for the 1.28-acre property, according to a Brunswick County deed. The restaurant encompasses about 40,000 square feet.

Cape Fear Seafood Company has been consistently recognized for its high-quality menu offerings, ranging from the Fresh Catch Saltimbocca to a Calabash-style fried shrimp basket. Our State magazine called the restaurant one of the best places in the state for shrimp and grits, and Trawick says the “fresh catch” of each day is always a favorite.

“I grew up in restaurants. I’ve been working in the business since I was seventeen or eighteen,” Trawick says. “I’ve owned a restaurant for fifteen years. I worked primarily in the kitchen. I’m not a trained chef, but I’ve been recognized a number of times.”

These days, Trawick is focused on overseeing the Cape Fear Seafood Company’s growing day-to-day business.

“We’re a fairly large organization, and I have about 120 employees in the three locations,” he adds.

Trawick’s strategy is to concentrate on building the business around the locals, the number of which continues to grow.

“Customers now have a location within twenty minutes of their home, no matter where they live in the region,” he says. “There is enough local traffic to keep us busy year-round. The tourists are a welcome addition, but we like to consider ourselves a local place.”

Apparently, it’s working. All three restaurants are seeing healthy revenue growth from year to year.

“Consistency is the key with us,” Trawick says. “We’ve developed recipes that most everybody enjoys, and we try to consistently execute those recipes at all the locations.”

At the nearby Brunswick Forest community, two new restaurants are slated to open in the next few months in the Brunswick Forest Villages town center: A.M. DINER and SHUCKIN’ SHACK, joining BESSIE BURGER, FLIGHTS CRAFT BEER AND WINE, THE JOYCE IRISH PUB, PIZZETTA’S PIZZERIA, and PORT CITY JAVA.

Brunswick Forest officials recently broke ground on a new building on Evangeline Drive in April, and the two new restaurants are expected to open late this year or early 2018.

Shuckin’ Shack will provide local seafood in a variety of styles, while A.M. Diner will serve breakfast all day as well as deli sandwiches and homemade desserts.

“This will give our residents seven different options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, not including the convenience of Lowes Foods with its newly added Beer Den and fresh deli selections,” points out Beth Burgee, Brunswick Forest’s marketing manager. “Our residents are thrilled because these pubs and diners are so close they could easily ride their bikes to them.”

Brunswick Forest residents are receptive to new choices for dining out, she adds.

As a member of the Leland Tourism Development Authority, Burgee says she is encouraged to see all the growth in the northern Brunswick County region.

“Residents of Leland no longer have to travel to Wilmington for local pubs and fine dining and date night,” she says. “We have it all here.”

North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dana Fisher agrees.

“We’re not in competition with Wilmington; it’s just a matter of more choices for everyone,” Fisher says. “For instance, people in downtown Wilmington might want to come here to eat great food, because it’s closer than Monkey Junction or Mayfaire.

“We’re so happy to have all these great choices for residents and visitors.” 

To view more of photographer Erik Maasch’s work, visit ejmphotography.org.