Anaya’s Seafood Scratch Kitchen is now open at 4621 West Park Boulevard, Suite 100. The restaurant hosted a grand opening celebration last Saturday to mark the occasion in the spot formerly occupied by Fuzzy’s Tacos. Before that, it was home to Kostas Greek restaurant for many years.
This will be the third Anya’s restaurant, which also has locations in Richardson and Addison. They are all run by a team of four brothers who boast years of seafood restaurant experience. Oldest brother Miguel Anaya came to the United States from Mexico when he was 15. His brothers would later follow his lead. Together, they’ve held just about every job in the seafood restaurant business from dishwasher to restaurant manager. With that level of knowledge and experience, they knew they were ready to venture out on their own.
“We realized that we could do this ourselves,” Miguel recalls. “We’d rather make our own money and work for us.”
The brothers initially had their eyes set on an Addison site near the intersection of Arapaho Road and Knoll Trail Drive. At the time, the landlord had reservations about working with a group starting their first restaurant, so they instead opened in Richardson. Six months later, the Addison landlord reached back out to them, paving the way for their second location.
While the business has proven to be a quick success, the early days were a little hairy. Brother Alfredo Anaya recalls how their December 2020 opening coincided with increased pandemic-related capacity restrictions. The money they made in their first week was about what they make on a very slow day now.
“We were looking at each other saying, ‘how are we going to do this,’” he says. “It was scary.”
But the business quickly grew as people came to discover what was on the menu. Miguel describes it as American seafood with Mexican spices or Tex-Mex seafood. Popular items like fish and chips, salmon and flounder are familiar but made with a unique twist. Appetizers like fried calamari and grilled oysters have also proven to be big hits.
Those who come to the restaurant are treated to a complimentary soup sampler. Miguel says it’s a great way of introducing new customers to the menu.
“I always believe that if a restaurant has good soups and salads, you don’t have to worry about the rest of the menu because you know it’s doing to be good,” he said.
That spirit of preparing items in a unique way extends to the craft cocktails. Alfredo, who has bartended for years, put together the drink menu. He says the key to making it a success is using good booze and fresh fruits. That includes the popular margarita with Cointreau and Patron and the signature Paloma with a chargrilled grapefruit.
“We want everything to be something different to make people want to come back,” he says. “We have some really good cocktails that you cannot find anywhere else.”
