After opening Bluewater Grill in Newport Beach almost 30 years ago, founders Jim Ulcickas and Rick Staunton are starting a brand-new concept called Mia’s in Solana Beach this fall.
Set to open later this month, Mia’s will feature a menu with flavors from Baja California and Mediterranean influences. Dishes include street tacos, hibiscus Hamachi crudo, crispy Spanish octopus and ancho rubbed skirt steak cooked with the same sustainable, organic and hyper-local ingredients at Bluewater.
The co-founder said their inspiration for the new restaurant came from his time on Staunton’s boat where they travel with their families down to the Gulf of California.
“There’s a whole cuisine out there that is just fantastic. And it’s really farm-to-table, Baja cuisine,” Ulcickas told the Business Journal.
As part of its cocktail program, Mia’s will also serve rum from the founders’ brand Catalina Rum Company, which launched last year and is also served at Bluewater Grill.
The space, previously occupied by Alce 101, has been redeveloped in collaboration with the San Diego office of design firm PGAL.
“It just seemed like the perfect coastal community to do something in,” he said of finding the venue.
PGAL and the Bluewater founders have been working on the redevelopment for the past year. They aim to open Mia’s in Solana Beach, about 17 miles south of Oceanside, by October.
“If Mia’s is successful in Solana Beach, then we would look to other Orange County locations,” Ulcickas said.
“It all comes down to blocking and tackling,” he added. “If you have an intense focus on the basics of the business – which are obviously, great food by design, all the technical execution and then you deliver the hospitality with your management and ownership—if you over deliver on all those basics: you’re going to beat the other people that aren’t as committed.”
Bluewater to Celebrate 30 Years
Ulcickas first arrived in OC upon joining American Restaurant Group Inc. in 1989. Before joining the Newport Beach firm, he worked in operations at W. R. Grace & Co. in New York for six years at portfolio brands such as Coco’s, El Torito, Carrows and Baxters.
Ulcickas started at American Restaurant Group as the controller of Spoons, a $35 million restaurant division that he grew from about six restaurants to more than 20.
He ventured out on his own in 1996 to start Bluewater with Staunton, who had married into the family that owned The Fish Market franchise. The outpost they acquired was previously Delaney’s before the business duo took over.
Ulcickas said that at the time, the city had lost focus on the Lido peninsula, and he saw an opportunity to open a restaurant on the water. Then, he and Staunton decided to serve sustainably caught or farm-harvested seafood to help “impress a discriminating local clientele.”
The seafood restaurant has since expanded to eight locations in California and Arizona, in places such as Santa Barbara, Temecula and even Catalina Island. They also acquired Catalina’s El Galleon restaurant in 2019.
According to the owners, the original Bluewater “has served more than five million meals, ladled more than one million pints of housemade New England or Manhattan clam chowder, given away 750,000 loaves of fresh-baked sourdough bread and shucked 250,0000 oysters.”
There will be events held at all eight locations throughout 2026 for the anniversary.
Ulcickas will also release a Bluewater-inspired cookbook.
When considering a future Bluewater location in Orange County, the business duo is looking for another spot on the water in towns such as Dana Point or Seal Beach.
“The Orange County diner has become more sophisticated. But so have we,” Ulcickas said.
