There’s a new restaurant coming to the island, and we have to admit, we’re pretty excited about this one.
As some of you may know, JJ’s Texas Coast closed last month after more than two decades in business. Well it turns out that JJ herself handpicked two very worthy successors – Todd Beaty and his wife Christy.
And if Todd’s name sounds familiar to you, that’s because it probably is. He and his brother Chad owned the popular Woody’s Seafood Saloon for 13 years before selling the business back in March.
But Todd and Christy’s new venture will be very different than Woody’s and that’s what makes it pretty cool. Rather than going after the bar crowd, they’re looking to create a more family-oriented restaurant.
“We had a lot of fun with Woody’s, but now that we’re older and have a family, we’re trying to cater to a more family-oriented crowd,” Todd said. (Todd and Christy have two sons – a four-year-old and a two-year-old.)
The new restaurant has yet to be named, but the Beatys said it will have a very beachy vibe. They are currently renovating and plan to change things up a bit. For starters, they are moving the location of the indoor bar and will transform it into a coffee bar complete with lattes and cappuccinos, as breakfast will be their specialty. They’re also going to install a second bar outside, so patrons can enjoy the beautiful view of the park and Cruz Bay.
Christy said she wants to bring the park alive at night and will install tiki torches to brighten it up. The Beatys also plan to re-side the building with cedar shingles and will install a stand-up shuffle board table game outside in an effort to carry on the beach theme.
So how did this all come about? According to Todd, Jean Jewel aka JJ, approached him about purchasing her restaurant right after Woody’s sold. “It seemed like an incredible offer,” he said. “And it was perfect timing.” So they went for it.
Todd and Christy’s new restaurant is slated to open sometime in mid-October. It will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
So where did Chad go? Heard they were also opening a restaurant stateside. Part of the reason Cruz Bay was so much fun was because Todd and Chad made it so.
That sounds so perfect ! JJ’s was always our first stop after getting off the ferry…always a tasty meal after a day of traveling! Loved Woody’s, but we too have become older and this new place and offerings sounds like so much fun !! Can’t wait to visit next time we are on STJ…which is never soon enough !!
I would have said the same thing as cindy, but she used up all the exclamation points.
Loved this nice restaurant…ate there a few times while on island. Very accommodating to our vegetarian daughter/son-in-law. They went out of their way to please us all!!!
Can’t wait for this to open!! We’ll be there last of October/first of Nov. Definately will be stopping by & trying it out!
Submitted on behalf of Lynn Hurley:
Glad to hear you are going back in business at St John. Wishing you both much success in your new venture. Hope to get back and dine, drink and see you all soon. Good luck and God bless ! Lynn, Deb, Jordan, Lindsey and Brian
My wife and I will dearly miss JJ and Larry-they were why we went there-Great people! Oh well,nothing is forever-coffee bars are on virtually every corner anywhere-BORING format!
JJ and Larry (a/k/a the “Naked Cowboy”) are my land neighbors in Fish Bay. Wonder if they are staying on the island, or just “retiring”. Larry told me that he likes to take a naked hottub bath every day at 4pm, and so far I have been fortunate to avoid that. 🙂