Saltbox Seafood is retiring the original location. It’s going out with a shrimp burger
After nearly 10 years, Saltbox Seafood Joint in Durham is retiring its original location, a 205-square-foot shack that’s fried up some of the most beloved seafood in the South.
Saltbox owner Ricky Moore said the lease on the 608 N. Mangum St. location is set to expire and won’t be extended.
For one final meal, Saltbox is serving shrimp burgers and “hush honeys” at the original location Sunday, Aug. 22, starting at noon.
“It’s a last supper, a ride out into the sunset,” Moore said. “We’re retiring that location.”
The second Saltbox location, which Moore opened in 2017 at 2637 Durham-Chapel Hill Blvd. in Durham’s Rockwood neighborhood, will remain open. Moore said it’s not going anywhere.
“I own the concrete, I own the rocks, nothing is going to happen,” Moore said.
Opening the shack
With Moore doing the grilling and frying and a cashier taking orders, Saltbox opened in 2012. Moore was two decades into a restaurant career that included the Culinary Institute of America, some of the finest kitchens in New York City and chef jobs in the Triangle.
In Saltbox, Moore worked with coastal fishermen and showcased the bounty of North Carolina’s waters — familiar seafood like shrimp, oysters and catfish, and flavorful catches like mullet, grouper and bluefish.
It wasn’t the typical fried fish joint. The fish were barely breaded and heavily seasoned, with sandwiches topped with slaw. Downtown diners sat out on picnic tables and imagined they were near the sea.
“Saltbox was my apprenticeship in entrepreneurship,” Moore said. “I was 20 years in the (restaurant) game and going back in the fish kitchen at (the Culinary Institute of America) and preparing fish. It was fun. It was like a huge project. I brought it to life and it flourished.”
A Durham dining star
Whenever a national magazine or website would shine a light on Durham’s culinary scene, Saltbox usually got a blurb. Over the years, the tiny Saltbox shack served a living story of North Carolina and Moore’s upbringing in Eastern North Carolina.
“I rooted (the shack) and fertilized it,” Moore said. “I planted a lot of seed and things were sowed.”
The shack’s view of downtown Durham changed over the past decade as the city grew, the skyline gradually studded with taller buildings, apartment complexes and condos.
Moore said he doesn’t know the future plans for the quarter-acre plot, but imagines a development project will likely find a home there.
“It’ll probably be some kind of condo, who knows,” Moore said. “I’ll make one request, make sure this is called Saltbox Hills.”
The last supper
The last service at the original Saltbox Seafood Joint will begin at noon Aug. 22 and continue until all the shrimp burgers are gone. Like Saltbox’s other special meals, like the once-a-year lobster roll and grab grits days, expect a line and a sellout.
Moore said he picked shrimp burgers for the final Saltbox meal because it’s something he’s never served before. It’s also tied to an early food memory of his, growing up in New Bern and driving with friends to El’s Drive-in on prom night and ordering shrimp burgers.
“It’s an appropriate sendoff for those who know Eastern North Carolina culture,” Moore said. “It’s a remembrance meal.”
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 9:05 AM.
