In the more than 30 years that I’ve been in the restaurant business in Birmingham, I’ve discovered that Greek hospitality isn’t so far removed from the Southern variety. And so I welcome you to the new Fish Market Restaurant.

You’ll see that we’ve made some significant changes.

Our market is much bigger now with many more choices. We still offer our own quality Tsitalia olive oils. Named after the village where I grew up, these oils come from olives grown by families we’ve known for years. And our selection of cured olives and spices is as abundant as ever. We’ve expanded our specialty foods market to offer convenient, one-stop shopping with locally grown vegetables, homemade sauces, breads, marinated items, herbs, imported Greek foods and seafood-perfect wines (many of them organic).

Come in, pick out your seafood, gather the ingredients to make your meal, and you’re good to go. It’s as simple as that.

In this new restaurant, the live lobster have company. Our state-of-the-art tanks hold a choice selection of live seafood such as shrimp, blue crabs, rainbow trout and tilapia. This is in addition to 36 feet of fresh fish display cases. And we’ll offer all this fresh fish with the genuine knowledge and expertise that you have come to rely on.

We go to great lengths (and we’re on very good terms with overnight shippers) to bring you a variety of fine, fresh seafood from our own Gulf coast and around the world.

Our suppliers are the "Who’s who" in the seafood business – Stavis Seafoods and Slade Gorton & Co. of Boston; Camanchaca in Miami; Pride of the South from Brooksville, Miss.; and Incredible Fresh in Naples, Fla. The shrimp come from our Gulf waters; we get them from Sea Pearl Seafood C. and International Oceanic Enterprises, both in Bayou La Batre, Ala. And the crabmeat is from our own plant, Olympic Crab Company. Some things, though, we’ve kept the same.

In fact, you’ll notice that the prices at the Fish Market haven’t changed at all. I can continue to say we offer "the only inexpensive fresh seafood in Birmingham."

The faces here are all familiar, too. Some of the folks you see behind the counter and in the dining rooms have been with me since I purchased this business from my uncle, the last Jimmy Hontzas, in July 1982.

Another thing that’s a constant; you, the customer. I have been in the restaurant business since I came here from Greece in 1969. I’ve watched my customers’ children grow up and become customers themselves with the next generation in hand.

All of you help make The Fish Market what it is.

And it is my sincere wish that you will enjoy this new Fish Market Restaurant – with its comfortable and still-casual dine-in experience, expanded fresh fish and market offerings, fine foods to go and exciting catering choices.

I grew up hearing "kali orexi." And so I say to you, "Welcome, Bring your healthy appetite."

George Sarris, owner
The Fish Market Restaurant