Today Barnacle Billy's, Etc opens at 5pm for the 2024 season. The staff and I have been getting Etc ready since we opened Barnacle Billy's (Original) on April 6th.
Part of getting Etc ready was getting back on track with my restoration project that I abandoned during, what I call, the two years of Covid. I couldn't start on the third year because the crew I had planned to do it found other work. Of course, I understood this but I didn't want anyone else to work on this project. So I waited. This year they jumped on it like their lives depended on it.
I had my seven year windows project completed this year, ten years later. A place was constructed for the new ATM that will be available on the premises a short while from now. Our shingling project is in full swing and may not be finished this spring but may have to be carried over to the fall. Our upstairs lighting project was completed. There are other parts to the project that I don't need to go into detail about here. Suffice it to say that I am very pleased with the projects that have been accomplished.
The pricing for both restaurants is about the same as it was last season. Lobsters and steamed clams prices are always higher at this time of year. Lobstermen never go as hard in the spring as the heavier weather prevents them from sailing as often as they would like. Lobsters don't crawl as well as they do when the water gets warmer. And, of course, there is still a big demand for hard shell lobsters in China. All this combines to make prices higher. Lobsters and lobster products, like lobster meat will be higher until the demand matches the availability. We were always able to offer great prices on the bigger lobsters until China got interested in them at least twelve years ago.
We have not changed our menu or, I should say, the items we had available on our menu at Etc will remain. We have though added a few things. For instance, along with our fried chicken tenders, you will also have the choice of having buffalo tenders instead with celery sticks and your choice of ranch or blue cheese. We have also added the best sweet potato fries that I have ever tasted. The managers, collectively, at Etc brought my attention to these. I hadn't even considered them before. Our head chef, Travis, came up with a sauce that is wonderful, to be used for dipping with the fries. We have also added a gluten free dessert, caramel cheesecake. It is delicious. One thing I have always wanted to maintain; in order to offer a menu item, that menu item has to be excellent. The cheesecake is excellent. And it's also gluten free.
The digital images presented here are examples of each half of the menu at Etc, as if you were ordering from a table here. The prices are current with some prices more volatile to change than others, lobsters for instance.
We will be opening at Etc at 5pm on the weekdays, and noon on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, May 18th, we will be opening at noon and continue to open at noon daily until the end of the season.
I am very excited about the prospects of opening Barnacle Billy's, Etc. We have a really great crew here in management, in the kitchen and on the floor. As I have always said, my crew makes me look good!
Welcome back!