The following is an extended version of the article that appears in our July 2025 issue.
Tuckahoe Seafood owner Drew Lucas with Alaskan sockeye salmon and Georgia shrimp
Tucked away in a tiny shopping strip off Patterson Avenue is family-owned Tuckahoe Seafood. The local market has been around since the 1970s, supplying customers with fresh fish and classic cold-case staples like their signature shrimp salad. Richmond native Drew Lucas previously worked for the business as general manager before becoming its owner along with his wife, Stephanie.
Richmond magazine: How did you get into this line of work?
Drew Lucas: I did restaurant [jobs] for a while. I always knew I loved cooking, and I loved working with food, and I loved working with people and the interactions at the counter and talking with customers. I applied here [at Tuckahoe Seafood] and got a job. I worked for the owner for about four years and looked at buying it from him when he was ready to sell, but it didn’t make sense at the time. I carried on helping with the new guy, and then I got laid off and bounced around a few more places. When I heard that he had closed, I bought the rights to the business. We came here and did this, and that was seven years ago in May.
To have a chance to have a vision for this place and to bring it back from literal closure, and not necessarily keep it reminiscent of its youth, but just to revitalize it, is special. I feel like we’ve been pretty successful.
RM: How is it operating as a niche food shop in the region?
Lucas: It’s pretty awesome. I can tell you as somebody who has worked in a major grocery store, where the seafood is a complete afterthought, here we are able to take such care with everything we do because it’s all we do, and that’s why people come to places like us. It’s nice to have the trust of clients and customers, and we know them by name, and we talk with them about how they cook their food. It’s just a community; I love it.
I feel like we have a pretty good commitment to our employees, too. Todd Hunt has been with us for seven years now, and he started two weeks after we opened. We have a young man who just finished his junior year at Virginia Tech, and he’s been helping us seasonally since he was a junior in high school. Little things like that. Our crew is important and as cliché as it is, we’re like family.
Chesapeake Bay soft-shell crabs
RM: What are the pillars of Tuckahoe Seafood and its underlying mission?
Lucas: One of the biggest things is a focus on stewardship, sustainability, the oceans, the animals. We want to know where every single thing comes from and if it’s wild-caught, if it’s farm-raised. There are a lot of things that don’t meet our criteria. We’ll send fish back; if I wouldn’t want to eat it, I’m not going to sell it. So, responsible and sustainable aquaculture, no chemicals, [no] antibiotics. And with wild-caught stuff, anywhere we can source from MSC (Marine Stewardship Council)-certified fisheries, we will, and they do great work. And that’s incredibly important. A lot of our customers are willing to be educated, and that’s part of what we’re here to do. [We also offer advice on] what to buy, what to avoid, what to substitute, things like that, just increasing the standard. We also donate all our oyster shells to VCU Rice Rivers Center. That’s another part of it, the inclusion of a ton of local products. Supporting the local economy is really important.
RM: How did you get connected to seafood and this field in general?
Lucas: My grandparents had a cottage down in Rivanna that we go to incredibly frequently. I grew up on the water, fishing a lot and hanging out. My grandmother on my mom’s side was an incredible old country lady, wonderful at cooking. My mom loved cooking, and then Stephanie taught me a lot about cooking, too.
RM: In terms of summer, what fish can people expect to come in?
Lucas: Crabs are the biggest thing, and we’re hoping this crab season will be awesome. Last year was the best one we’ve seen in a while. By midsummer and through fall is the best. Tuna, flounder, North Carolina shrimp — that’s more local or regional stuff.
RM: What's a typical day like for you here?
Lucas: We get in around 9. Our big delivery, the vendor that we work with the most, is usually here right around 9 o’clock. We receive product every day, and we work through that receiving and then process and reload out here, pulling anything that’s not suitable for sale.
We kind of brainstorm what we think we want to do for the prepared case, which is mostly Todd and Stephanie. We kind of look at what we have on hand, what needs to be used, what we’re gonna do, and we roll with it. It’s always something different, which is kind of fun. We have our staples. We’re very mindful of the ingredients. People love our shrimp salad, [and] we do a grilled elephant tuna salad that people go nuts for, it’s really good stuff. People rave about our coastal potato salad and our crab toast. Yeah, we have like eight or 10 things that we do.
RM: I know you have a big tinned fish collection. How many different types do you carry and what are some standouts?
Lucas: When we’re fully stocked, we have over 200 [varieties]. We have people that travel here to come and get tinned fish. This tuna belly is absolutely outstanding. Okay, the barnacles are really, really cool. I mean, everything’s good in its own right. My favorite brand overall is the Le Gourmet Central. Also, the Great Lakes Tinned Fish smoked white fish; it’s an independent woman producer.
RM: Outside of the shop, what are your interests?
Lucas: I like to play golf; I played on a golf team in high school. I try to go to as many concerts [as possible] and play music a lot, specifically guitar. I played a lot of punk rock back in the day and was part of an acoustic-country thing.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
