Steve “Monty” Montgomery might be the busiest person at the Delaware beaches right now.
The owner of the legendary Dewey Beach bar The Starboard is opening no fewer than three new restaurants in the coming weeks, and he’s addressing one aspect of the staffing shortage in a new way.
Starboard Sauced, a pizza and sub shop, will be located in the former Mama Celeste’s building on Coastal Highway in Dewey Beach. Starboard Claw, a seafood restaurant, will open across the street in the former Hammerheads location. Down the road in Rehoboth Beach, Montgomery will open Downtown Blues in the original Nicola Pizza building on First Street.
The three new restaurants are in addition to others that Montgomery already co-owns: Bethany Blues in Bethany Beach and Lewes, The Starboard and Starboard Raw in Dewey Beach and Nick’s Fish House in Baltimore.
Yet there’s still a lack of affordable housing for employees at the Delaware beaches, according to Montgomery and numerous other business owners. In order to keep on staff who have been crucial to his success, he said, longtime Starboard and Bethany Blues employees are transitioning into ownership roles at all three of his new restaurants.
“Not only to reward them for their decades of helping run our current businesses, but to help them earn a good living here at the beach and raise their own families here,” Montgomery said, “With the silver lining that they stay with us and help us for another few decades.”
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Starboard Claw
Keith “Toastie” Kirk and Zach Warner, mainstays at both The Starboard and Bethany Blues, are now part-owners of Starboard Claw.
“We are very excited for them as they’ve been vital to our success,” Montgomery said.
The old Hammerheads building was demolished to make way for the brand-new, two-story Starboard Claw, with three deck areas and bars on both floors. After some spring construction delays, Claw will now open “right after Memorial Day weekend,” according to Montgomery. The restaurant will be open 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. daily, with lunch hours being added in the future.
The menu is seafood-heavy and includes steamed blue crabs. There’s fish, lobster, clams, shrimp, mussels and some land dishes, too, such as the “Delaware Roadside Chicken,” a tribute to former Dewey restaurant Ed’s Chicken.
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Starboard Sauced
Starboard Sauced has some big shoes to fill in the minds of anyone who’s had a slice or two of Mama Celeste’s after a night of Dewey Beach bar-hopping. It seems likely to rise to the challenge, especially with Mama herself, Celeste Gutt, staying on, according to Montgomery.
Starboard Culinary Manager Joe Lopez will take an ownership role at the New York-style pizza and sub shop and run the day-to-day operations. He and his employees will serve up pizza “loaded with piles of freshly sliced meats” until 2 a.m. nightly.
Sauced will open this week, Montgomery said, when renovations are complete.
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Downtown Blues
Downtown Blues is taking over another iconic pizza spot, at the former Nicola Pizza on First Street in Rehoboth Beach. It’s the third Bethany Blues restaurant, “with a new name so folks don’t get confused on where they place takeout orders … yes, it happens all the time!” Montgomery said.
Jessica Nathan has been working at Bethany Blues in Lewes since it opened, according to Montgomery.
“We knew we wanted to get (her) into our ownership group whenever we found the next great location,” he said. “She had always wanted to have a Blues in downtown Rehoboth. So a lightbulb went off in our heads.”
The 125-seat Downtown Blues will feature a bar in the rear, stocked with Bethany Blues’ signature bourbon collection, and a carry-out window up front. It will be open year-round.
Downtown Blues is still being renovated, and Montgomery said he hopes to open by the second week of June.
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on Sussex County and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught
