The owners of the Krabby Daddy’s seafood restaurant that recently opened in Festus hope to soon have franchises across the country.
Krabby Daddy’s opened March 8 at 102 Pine St. in Festus, which is the headquarters and training store for an operation owners Mike Perez and Don Bolinger plan to turn into a chain of restaurants.
“The Festus location is the headquarters of Krabby Daddy’s corporation, and it will be franchised across the country. It is a new concept, from the fast-casual atmosphere to the (selection of) sodas, to having a little retail shop inside. It is a cool deal,” said Bolinger, who also owns Pasta House restaurants in Festus and Union, as well as ATG Sports, a company that sells and installs RamTurf, an artificial turf for athletic fields.
Krabby Daddy’s initially opened in September 2019 at 120 Mississippi Ave. in Crystal City. That location has been closed since October 2020, but another location opened in July 2020 at 305 E. Karsch Blvd. in Farmington, which Perez and his wife, Heather, own.
Perez said the Festus location is about 1,000 square feet larger than the Crystal City restaurant and will be used as the training store for those who purchase franchise rights to open their own Krabby Daddy’s restaurants.
“This is a model for our corporate store,” Perez said. “This is a better building fit and can be used to train franchisees.”
Grand opening
Krabby Daddy’s is slated to hold a grand opening May 1 at its Festus location, which is off Truman Boulevard.
As part of the event, tickets will be handed out, starting at 6 a.m., for the chance to be one of the location’s first 10 customers that day. At 11 a.m., which is when the restaurant opens, a drawing will be held, and the 10 people selected will receive free crab legs for a year.
For more information about the drawing and the restaurant, go to krabbydaddys.com.
“Each week, they can redeem it and get free crab,” Perez said. “The winner will be able to get free crab at any location, and we believe there will be more locations opened this year.”
Krabby Daddy’s is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
The menu features crab legs, shrimp and lobster tail as well as non-seafood dishes like sausage, brisket, pulled pork, buffalo chicken and pulled chicken.
Bolinger said a unique menu feature is the soft drink selection, which includes pure cane sugar fountain soda and about a dozen bottled soda selections.
“They are all-natural sodas,” he said. “The sodas are amazing.”
Just the start
Bolinger said by mid-July he and Perez should begin to sell franchise rights for the restaurant and already have interest from people who want to open locations in Missouri, Georgia, Kansas and Tennessee.
“I believe in the concept and the food is so good,” Bolinger said. “The fast-casual model will have customers order food at a counter and then find their own seat. The food will then be taken to them at a table, and employees will come by to check on people’s dining experience and bus tables, Bolinger said.
Bolinger said another feature that makes Krabby Daddy’s unique is its state-of-the-art online ordering system that features delivery, in-restaurant pickup and curbside delivery.
The Festus location has a delivery radius that stretches about 25 miles and goes into the Jefferson R-7, De Soto, Hillsboro and Pevely areas, Bolinger said.
He said each franchise will set its delivery radius, but a $7.95 delivery fee will be charged no matter how much food is ordered.
“Other restaurants can have a 22 to 30 percent markup for delivery,” Bolinger said. “We are the first place in Missouri that has tried this concept (of a set delivery fee).”
The Perezes started Krabby Daddy’s, at its former location next to Crystal Tavern, which they also previously owned. But, the couple sold Crystal Tavern in October 2020 to Christa Webb and Paul Karez.
The tavern has been closed since the sale was finalized, and Webb said the plan is to reopen in mid-fall after the completion of a renovation project that will reshape and add to the bar.
“It is a huge remodel job,” Webb said. “We are working hard to open.”