SEBASTIAN — The cases are in, the ice is set and the fresh-caught fish are lying in repose, waiting to go home to hungry customers at Crab-E Bill’s Indian River Seafood Market inside the newly renovated former Hurricane Harbor on Indian River Drive in Sebastian.
Friends and family of “Crab-E” Bill Tiedge work behind the counter, ready to help longtime customers of the old shop on Old Dixie Highway and newbies alike pick out the piece of fish or steak to serve up once they get home.
“They let me think I’m running it,” Tiedge said, noting it’s his daughter Melissa who really runs the market. “I’m really proud of her.”
The market is a family venture, as it was four the nearly five years the Indian River Seafood Market was located on Old Dixie Highway.
Tiedge’s wife, Suzy, works at the market, as does Billy Jr. and his wife, Cristina, Carmine who is like a son, Carmine’s mother-in-law Jane “Grandma”, and Melissa’s fiancé, Claude.
Melissa said the market stocks mostly Florida Fish, with a few exceptions, and much of which is “day boat” fish. She explained that the fish is caught and brought to market in the span of a day – not netted or caught on long lines.
Two Flounder sitting on display in the case were spear-caught in 140-foot deep water off Cape Canaveral. The Gag Grouper were speared at 80 feet.
Tiedge said they work with a dive team they try to go out with to essentially hand-select the fish to be brought back to market. The last couple weeks leading up to opening the market, though, he hasn’t had the time.
“It’s really so fresh,” he said of the fish.
There is a meat case, too, for those who prefer their food come from land rather than sea. Inside the case are certified Black Angus from Colorado and all natural pork offering. Tiedge plans to add a smaller case of poultry later.
The market is just one part of the larger Sebastian Fisherman’s Landing project that encompasses the former Hurricane Harbor restaurant and the “Dabrowski” property next door – a commercial fish house.
Later this month, a casual eatery is expected to open within Hurricane Harbor, offering a small menu of fried and grilled fish items.
The McManus family from Ft. Pierce is in place to run the restaurant and offer up “Old Cracker style” grub.
“It’s our heart,” said Debbie McManus, the matriarch of the family. “It’s what we do. It’s what we know.”
The McManus are fifth-generation Florida Cracker and are prepared to dish up catfish, mullet, grouper and snapper.
“Things the locals eat – we want to have,” she said.
She and her daughter Brittney Keane are the main operators, with the support of their husbands, Brant and Eddie, respectively.
McManus’s grandchildren, David Keane and Ashley Carlton, will also be working at the eatery, as will be Brittney’s sisters.
“She’s been waiting a long time to boss her sisters around and get away with it,” McManus said.
McManus said diners won’t see bright, vibrant colors or other such hallmarks of the Keys at the eatery.
“This isn’t Key West,” she said.
The goal is to have a soft opening the last week of August and a grand opening around the Labor Day holiday.
Along with the market and diner, a tree house out front serves to provide a bird’s-eye view of the property and waterfront and a clamshell doggie fountain provides cooling relief to thirsty pooches on a walk along Indian River Drive.
The second phase of the redevelopment and creation of the Sebastian Fisherman’s Landing includes creating a touch pool filled with all manner of sea creatures for visitors to interact with, along with rebuilding the adjacent fish house.
Currently, the plan is to rebuild with a second story, allowing visitors the opportunity to watch from above the work the commercial fishermen do, unloading their catches and preparing them for sale.
The Fisherman’s Landing project was possible through a $2 million grant the city and its partner non-profit received through the Stan Mayfield Working Waterfront Program, which the city matched with $500,000. The funds were used to purchase the properties and help get renovations going.
Crab-E Bill’s Indian River Seafood Market is open five days a week – Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call (772) 388-2727 or visit 1540 Indian River Dr., Sebastian.
