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A spread of menu items at Island Shrimp Co., including the Calypso Cobb salad, jerk skewer, conch fritters, spam fried rice and edamame hummus
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Island Shrimp Co. is located at 11500 Midlothian Turnpike at Chesterfield Towne Center.
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View from the second-floor mezzanine
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Part of the lower dining area inside Island Shrimp Co.
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An outdoor dining area on the first floor
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HOUSEpitality Family Chief Creative Officer Paige Healy says Island Shrimp Co. is the only rooftop bar and restaurant in Chesterfield. On weekends the rooftop will feature live music.
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The view from the rooftop bar of the forthcoming Casa del Barco location in the mall
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The "Aloha Bridge" will connect Island Shrimp Co. to the forthcoming Casa del Barco, which is expected to open within a month. It will mark the third Casa del Barco location in Richmond.
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A pulled pork sandwich with a mango habanero barbecue sauce and pineapple slaw served on a King's Hawaiian bun
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The drink menu includes a variety of nonalcoholic offerings, such as this mango "faux-jito."
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Tacos with fish fried in a Red Stripe beer batter topped with jicama slaw, tropical salsa, coconut lime cream and Sriracha
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A "skewers" section of the menu includes guava shrimp, jerk chicken (pictured above), teriyaki tuna, and pineapple and pepper.
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Calypso Cobb salad featuring Schuyler greens, mango, sweety drop peppers, cucumber, avocado, red onion, smoked bacon and avocado ranch dressing
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The chicken curry bowl was inspired by a trip to the 3 Dives restaurant in Jamaica and features coconut jasmine rice, braised red cabbage, curry chickpeas and fry bread.
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Desserts include a coco loco cookie, a white chocolate-chip macadamia nut cookie, coconut ice cream cone, salted coconut caramel and whipped cream, as well as a trio of ice cream cones and malasadas doughnuts. Charm School will provide the ice cream for Island Shrimp Co.
Vibrant colors, cascading palm trees, a spacious rooftop bar and drinks served in coconuts await patrons at Island Shrimp Co. — the newest project from the HOUSEpitality Family, the umbrella company for the Boathouse and Casa Del Barco restaurants — which opened yesterday at Chesterfield Towne Center.
Upon entering the 7,500-square-foot space, images of the asphalt parking lot and the adjacent shops immediately dissipate. Island Shrimp Co., aka ISCo, evokes the feeling of a modern tropical getaway, the concept drawn from the collected memories and travels of Paige Healy, who is the daughter of HOUSEpitality Family founder Kevin Healy and the group’s chief creative officer.
Although Healy has been a part of numerous restaurant openings, ISCo is her baby, a project that she has been working on bringing to fruition for the past three years.
“It’s been a long time coming, but this all makes it worth the wait,” Healy says as we stand inside the restaurant days shy of opening.
Perhaps most noticeable about the space is that its exterior is made up of 13 large shipping containers.
“I love the idea of shipping containers telling the story of traveling from port to port, the dings they pick up, the history they tell, and [how] they’ve been on the seas and seen so much,” Healy says. “We’re bringing that vibe and history to what we do here.”
The shipping containers were purchased used and then embellished with small details: the phone number to the original Boathouse location at Sunday Park that opened over 30 years ago, coordinates to a port in Hawaii the HOUSEpitality Family visited or to 3 Dives Restaurant in Jamaica, which inspired the recipe for ISCo's chicken curry bowl.
In order to transport diners and connect them to the places that heavily influenced the restaurant's concept, attention to detail was key — Healy and team left no element unconsidered. Natural light pours in the space, and muted pink and strikingly white tabletops scream, “Instagram me now” when food arrives. The effect was intentional.
“It’s about having your picture be representative of how awesome your experience is,” Healy explains.
Phrases such as “Run Away With Me” light up a ceiling, “No Bad Days” is stamped across a multicolored mural on a shipping container, and the mood lighting in the mezzanine makes it feel like an open yet cozy private area. The goal is to put diners at ease, have them sit back and relax, and, even if just for a moment, make them feel like they're on a dream vacation.
The menu, drawing from the flavors of island port cities, matches the atmosphere of the beachy enclave. The kitchen is headed by HOUSEpitality’s veteran executive chef, T.J. Borawski, who, along with Beverage Director Michael Avery, has been with the company for 20-plus years. Both traveled prior to the restaurant's opening to gain inspiration for their menus.
Staying true to its namesake, at ISCo four varieties of shrimp are offered: coconut fried, garlic, jerk and habanero. Appetizers, or “snacks,” include British Virgin Island-style conch fritters; poke nachos with tuna, radish, tropical salsa, Sriracha cream and furikake; and Cuban spring rolls.
Vegetarians can nosh on a mushroom banh mi served on a Flour Garden baguette, and for those ready to go big or go home, the surf and turf burger beckons, with two Seven Hills beef patties joined by garlic shrimp and awesome sauce, complete with a King’s Hawaiian bun. Other items include a grilled fish sandwich, green papaya salad, kimchi pork fried rice and the chicken curry bowl.
On the "sweet treats" portion of the menu, guests can find malasadas, Portuguese-style doughnuts served with dipping sauces from Nutella to coconut custard. Island Shrimp Co. has partnered with Charm School for its vanilla, coconut and ube, aka purple yam, ice creams, which can be served in a single cone or a trio of cones. The ube ice cream also appears in the caramelized banana split, accompanied by grilled pineapple, coconut, peanuts and strawberries and finished with a chocolate "magic shell" and whipped cream. There is also a kids' menu available.
Avery has created a libations list designed to appeal to drinkers and nondrinkers alike, drawing influences from areas such as Hawaii and Southeast Asia. Booze-free offerings include the popular Caribbean grapefruit soda, Ting; virgin piña coladas; mango, passionfruit and lime "faux-jitos"; and an assortment of fresh-pressed juices.
The rooftop deck, complete with a separate bar, is home to an “Aloha Bridge” that will connect Island Shrimp Co. to the forthcoming Casa Del Barco location at Chesterfield Towne Center and allow patrons to travel easily between both restaurants.
“We’re the only rooftop patio restaurant and bar in Chesterfield, and we’re very excited about that,” Healy says. “This is an opportunity for the Chesterfield area and the whole country to have something unique and vibrant and fun and professional all in one place. What we’re bringing is new to the area.”
And how does Healy feel after finally seeing her dream restaurant open its doors?
“This is exactly how we imagined everything," she says with a smile.
Island Shrimp Co. will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Brunch will be served Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch service will begin Sept. 23 and brunch Sept. 28. Visit the restaurant's Facebook page for opening-week hours.
