Seafood, à la Moe
By Jon Busdeker on Jun. 28, 2007
At Captain Moe’s Seafood, you might expect a parrot-wielding, wooden-legged, “arrgh me maties” ragamuffin working in kitchen.
But Captain Moe wears jeans, an aquamarine colored collared shirt and is friendly with every customer who enters the door.
And Captain Moe is a woman.
Two years ago, Brandi Moore, 26, along with her father Kelvin Moore, took over Bennie’s Seafood restaurant located on 12th and Pierce streets.
When thinking of a name, Moore’s dad suggested “Captain Jack’s Seafood.” Moore said the name didn’t make any sense because no one in the family is named Jack.
But lots of folks shorten the name Moore to Moe, and Captain Moe fit the whole family.
“We’re all Moe,” Moore said.
When Brandi Moore took over the restaurant as the day-to-day manager, she didn’t know how to cook fish, dress fish or the difference between fish.
“I knew very, very little,” Moore said. “I really learned the bulk of my cooking here.”
Now, Moore knows her seafood so well, schools of people come into the restaurant looking for food that’s dubbed “The Taste of the Town.”
The menu is one page, brightly colored and boasts enough fish choices to fill an aquarium. Captain Moe’s Seafood offers catfish, whiting, trout, flounder, ocean perch and tilapia. All the fish sits in an ice-filled display case at the restaurant, and after a customer orders, the fresh fish is taken to the kitchen, breaded and fried.
“We cook it in the thickest possible grease you can buy,” Moore said.
But, oddly enough, when the fish makes it to the table, it’s not greasy.
For people looking for a “delicacy plate,” Captain Moe’s also has clam strips, frog legs, oysters and scallops. For the landlubbers, there are chicken wings.
Moore recommended the half-pound of steamed shrimp, which comes with two sides and a slice of homemade corn bread.
When the picnic-style Styrofoam plate arrived at the table, each section was filled with food. The 15 freshly steamed shrimp — seasoned with Old Bay — tasted like Moore caught the shrimp in a secret ocean inside the restaurant. No cocktail sauce is needed for the flavorful crustaceans.
The generous portions of baked beans had a few extras mixed in, like green peppers and onions. And the collard greens taste like homemade. Top the meal off with a slice of cornbread that sticks to the roof of your mouth, and you got a lunch fit for a captain.
If you think any of the seafood selections need a little flair, each table has the seafood essentials: vinegar, ketchup and hot sauce. Cocktail sauce and tartar sauce are in the back, so just ask for them if you need it.
There aren’t any daily specials at Captain Moe’s because, “we think our menu is special,” Moore said.
From the outside, there’s no mistake the place is a seafood restaurant. Steering wheel decals decorate the windows and the wooden planked patio gives the place the look of a coastal town’s docks.
Inside the restaurant are a half-dozen tables covered blue vinyl tablecloths. The dining room is small, but what the restaurant lacks in size, it makes up in hospitality.
Customers at Captain Moe’s Seafood are greeted with a “hello” from Moore, and then invited to sit down. Moore and her employees try to learn all of their customers’ names, Moore said, so everyone who enters the restaurant feels like a regular.
Moore said lots of first-time customers say they never knew the place existed.
“I’ve never seen the place” is a typical for first-time customers, Moore said.
But, after the first visit, Moore hopes people won’t forget Captain Moe’s Seafood and her warm welcomings.
Moore is a Heritage High School graduate who later attended Radford University and earned her degree in business administration. After college, she moved back to Lynchburg, and worked at a dentist office.
When her dad asked if she wanted to own and run a restaurant, she jumped at the chance.
“I never thought I would own my own restaurant,” she said.
COMMENTS
As a father, I am infintely proud of my hard working and committed daughter, whom has exceeded all expectations in operating one the most friendliest and best tasting seafood establishments in Region 2000. Her exhuberant personallity touches all that come to experience dining with an “at home atmosphere”. Captain Moe’s, “The Taste of the Town”, prides itself with “Fast Service, but not Fast Food”. Brandi, keep up the good work with dedication and perserverance. You are definitely on you way!
“If you get a chance, take it...if it changes your life, let it...nobody said that it would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.” I had the very fortunate opportunity to taste the fresh catches of Captain Moe’s. The fish, the seasonings, the sauces created such a perfect union of flavor, that I didn’t want the meal to end. The next day, I was hoping we had something left over. Now, I wait with great anticipation to visit Captain Moe’s; because, truly, it is the Taste of the Town. And, I find it most impressive that such a young, lady captain is sailing that ship; and that the father, like the wind, helped her to sail. Best wishes for Moe continued success!
Dinning with a pirate? Sounds like one of those adventures I used to read as a child. Oh, is there a treasure?