Costa Mesa-based restaurant operator King’s Seafood Co. plans to put a minimum of $5 million into an Orange County location of its high-end Water Grill.
Business Journal sources indicate an address at South Coast Plaza could be in the offing for the new restaurant, which is expected to join the long-standing Water Grill in downtown Los Angeles, a more recent location in Santa Monica, and one in the works in the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego.
King’s Seafood President and Chief Operating Officer R.J. Thomas said the company has signed a letter of intent on a new lease, but he declined to disclose a site.
The Costa Mesa-based company is best known for its King’s Fish House, which has 11 locations.
The Water Grill—the most expensive of its six brands, with an average check of $50 to $60 per person—has seen sales jump 70% in recent years. The gains followed a 2011 renovation of its flagship location on the ground floor of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, and last year’s switch of a location in Santa Monica to the Water Grill concept.
The Santa Monica restaurant—next to Pier Burger, a casual spot owned by the company—got off to a fast start, with close to $1 million a month in sales in its first couple of months.
The company has also committed $5 million to the Water Grill slated for San Diego, where the company already has a steakhouse called Lou & Mickey’s. It said it expects to spend that much or more on the OC location.
Major Markets
Thomas said there will generally be one Water Grill per major market—with Los Angeles an exception based on the difference between downtown and coastal Santa Monica.
“They’re only 17 miles apart, but they’re completely different cities,” he said.
Thomas said the company is looking in San Francisco and Seattle and may venture further inland to Dallas and Las Vegas.
It plans as many as 15 Water Grill locations, according to reports.
King’s looks for 9,000 to 11,000 square feet with seating for several hundred, as well as space for a second bar and private dining for groups and corporate business.
Reorganization
The expansion plans follow a reorganization of the management team of King’s Seafood, with cofounder and Chief Executive Sam King being named chairman and relinquishing the title of president.
Thomas added the president’s title to his duties as chief operating officer, while Vice President of Operations Heath Bumgardner has been assigned to oversee the company’s King’s Fish House chain and its fast-casual sister concept Fish Camp, which has a single location in Huntington Beach.
New hire Mark Augarten joined the company July 3 to oversee the company’s Signature division line, which includes single-location steakhouses 555 East Steakhouse in Long Beach, Lou & Mickey’s, Pier Burger and the Water Grills.
Expansion plans led to the reorganization, Thomas said.
“Six brands is too much growth for just one person,” he said.
