Skipjack's meet success keeping customers in the raw

Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 24, 1986

SKIP JACK'S MEETS SUCCESS KEEPING CUSTOMERS IN THE RAW

Happy hour or no happy hour, Skipjack's Seafood Emporium will record more than $1 million in bar sales this year. And bar manager Rick Shanahan is a big reason why.

In 1985, the state of Massachusetts outlawed the practice of happy hours in bars and restaurants. No longer could liquor be discounted or given away gratis during certain designated periods.

By the time Jeff Senior, Chuck Sandner and Betsy Wise opened the 180-seat Skipjack's in June, Massachusetts' food-service and bar-service operators were scrambling for ways to compensate for their liquor sales losses. The inventive Skipjack's trio conceived of the "raw bar,' the key element in an operation that is expected to gross them $4 million in the first full year.

"Instead of getting drunk during two-for-one and free booze hours, our customers eat oysters and clams,' said Shanahan, who's been tending bar in and around Boston for nine years.

The strategy has already paid big dividends. From 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. seven days a week, up to 200 customers from the Brookline Village business, medical and college community along Route 9 cram Skipjack's 20-seat "dining and drinking bar,' eating oysters, clams and even full meals.

"A lot of our customers wait 90 minutes for a table. But many of them just eat their meals at the bar,' said Shanahan, whose specialty drinks "keep them coming back.'

Shanahan's most popular mixed drinks are the Skipjack's Gin Fizz and Skipjack's Bloody Mary. The gin fizz contains gin, a wedge of orange, egg whites, simple syrup, real lemon juice and two ounces of light cream. The concoction is then shaken and strained into a martini glass. A variation, containing peach schnapps, is "big with the women,' Shanahan said.

The Bloody Mary, which sells to the tune of eight gallons a day at Skipjack's, consists of vodka, chili powder, cayenne pepper, dill weed, taragon, black pepper, tabasco, Worcestershire and cocktail, sauce and a dash of nutmeg.

But, that's not all. "We sell 24 to 32 bottles of varietal wines a day,' Shanhan said. "We've got an 80-bottle wine cellar.'

The actual Skipjack's bar may be the best-selling tool in Shanahan's arsenal. Shaped like a baseball diamond, the bar is oval in front like an infield with the raw and service bars on either tail end. A center island, shaped like a pyramid, is used to store bottles and glasses. And the entire bar sits inside a greenhouse.

Skipjack's complements its wine and liquor stock with a wide variety of fresh seafood. In fact, only three items on the the menu are meat dishes. "The average per-person check, including bar tab, is $15,' Shanahan said.

Shanahan got his start at bartending school because "it was the best way to make money and meet people.' He later landed a bar job at the Legal Seafoods restaurant and, in 1984, became head bartender at the Marriott Copley Place hotel lounge. But that tenure lasted only a year.

"When Chuck Sandner called and said he was going to open Skipjack's, I couldn't say no,' Shanahan said.

Photo: Bar manager Rick Shanahan says Skipjack's sells between 24 and 32 bottles of varietal wines a day.