Page 6 - BreakwaterSeafoods&Chowder.Menu.Final

History

Still Waters Run Deep

360-533-1902 A seafood company turns their passion for local food into a popular riverfront eatery.

There is a lot of water around Grays Harbor – but only one restaurant where you can actually
sit on top of it: Breakwater Seafood and Chowder House, which, since 1987, has been serving
fresh, local seafood and from-scratch chowder in its restaurant, and local seafood from its
fish market located in the same building
Throughout the year, the downtown Aberdeen spot is a great place to sit and watch the
Wheel Alignment • Trie Installation • Suspension Lift Kits wildlife, from birds to seals, and the boats that ply the Chehalis and Wishkah rivers. In the
Seasonal Changeover • Oil Change • Lift/Level Kits winter there’s a counter by a window, in the summer there’s a long deck out over the Wishkah
Headlight & Taillight Repair • Fuel Systems • Engine Repair River, with ample seating to fit the hungry crowds that gather for lunch.
Electrical Systems • Diagnostics • Coolant Flushes & Leaks
And this summer the Breakwater is poised to capitalize on its riverfront location like never
Car Belts & Hoses • Brake Service • Batteries. before. It recently remodeled, replacing all its equipment and cupboards, installed beer taps,
Monday-Friday: 8AM - 6PM • Saturday: 8AM - 2PM and is planning a full-service bar in time for the summer, so you can enjoy a martini with your
1400 W Wishkah crab cocktail.
PO Box 64 • Aberdeen, WA 98520
“It’s fresh from top to bottom,” said Roberta Timmons, one of the owners.

Breakwater Seafood has a tradition that stretches bad: to the 1940s, when a group of
fishermen decided to form their own market to sell their catch. Their business was purchased
in 1987 by Sonny Bridges, a local restaurateur, and a few other investors. The move was part
of an overall effort to redevelop F Street, which is redolent with Aberdeen’s industrial history.
24 HOUR TOWING • Est 1950
1 MILE FROM ABERDEEN CITY LIMITS Bridges and his fellow investors moved market a block north on F Street to its current
ON WESTPORT HWY. location and added the restaurant. They painted it with its signature bright colors and drew


 up a basic menu that would fit the small space and most people’s tastes – fish and chips

plus chowder, in a nutshell – and boom, history was made.

144 SR 105 • ABERDEEN, WA 98520 And Breakwater chugged along, turning out its hand-battered cod and halibut, Sonny’s
grandmother’s chowder recipe, and fried local shrimp and crab cocktail – until April of 2012,
when the longtime manager decided to retire and a new ownership group was formed.
Since then, Timmons said, the venerable institution has been steadily capitalizing on its
fresh seafood’s appeal with some new recipes and preparations, particularly salads like the
 former Bridges’ Seabreeze Salad – a concoction of lettuce, shrimp crab and Goldfish crackers
PHONE: 360-532-7351 • FAX: 360-533-4385 tossed in bleu cheese dressing.
24 Hour Towing • Est. 1991
We Cuddle Your Car “We used to go through five gallons of lettuce a week,” Timmons said. “Now we go through
five five-gallon containers a day.”
144 SR 105 The restaurant has added an oven so that people who want their fish prepared without frying
Aberdeen, WA 98520 have that option. There are side salads for those who want to skip the fries, and the majority
of the dressings are made on site from scratch.

NEW GLASS, LLC But there’s no messing with the foundation of Breakwater’s success – the fish and shellfish
caught in nearby waters, and the consistency of the success of its popular hand-breaded
fried offerings.

“We get our fish as local as possible, We use Quinault Pride, Brady’s Oysters, Washington
360-593-0577 Crab, Merino’s and Nelson’s,” along with other companies that fish the Columbia and raise
shellfish in the nearby Willapa Bay. Breakwater does this not only to support local businesses,

but to show its sense of pride in place.


 
 Having local connections has paid off, too. When the crab season opened late this year,
Licensed * Bonded * Insured Breakwater kept it in stock thanks to years of buying locally-fished Dungeness crab.
WA Contractor #NEWGLGL782D3 www.newglassllc.com Countless Harborites were able to save their Christmas suppers with this local holiday staple.
And the retail side also sells platters of seafood, custom-built, for customers throwing a
party.

“We’re just so excited at all the things we have going on” Timmons said. “We’re so happy we
can share it with our customers.”
GRAYS HARBOR
RENTAL CONNECTION With fresh paint, a fresh air view and fresh seafood, this summer is shaping up to be the time
RESIDENTIAL RENTAL to get to know Breakwater.
PROPERTIES Story by Gail Greenwood Ayres Published in the Summer 2016
(360) 533-4708 Washington Coast Magazine