Published: 12:00 AM, Thu Mar 11, 2010
Dining: Po Boy's fishes for the freshest
Staff writer
Po Boy's Seafood & Gift Shop
Address: 2157 Skibo Road
Phone: 867-0485
Hours: Thursday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Specialties: Seafood
By Brian Dukes
James Wall knows his seafood.
As owner and operator of Po Boy's Seafood & Gift Shop on Skibo Road since 1973, Wall is more than qualified to talk trout and dish on fish.
He's much more interested, however, in simply talking - about anything - to his customers.
"As soon as someone walks through the door, I'm talking to them," said Wall. "I make an effort to get to know every one of my customers. That's what keeps them coming back, because I talk to them and make them feel like family."
Wall has been growing his extended family for quite some time, ever since he opened the seafood shop after getting out of the nightclub business.
"I used to run a club, the Bud Lounge," said Wall. "But that was a long time ago. It was fun. But after I did that for a few years, I just had enough. It was crazy."
Wall, a lifelong Fayetteville resident, said he turned to seafood as an occupation not because he enjoyed catching it, but because he liked eating it.
"I'm not a fisherman," said Wall. "I just love seafood - all kinds. I'll eat croaker three times a week, at least. And I wanted to work for myself."
Po Boy's is an entirely take-out operation. Fresh seafood comes in on Thursdays and is usually gone by the weekend, Wall said.
The menu at Po Boy's is fishy - in a good way. It features spot, croaker, trout, bass, sea mullet, catfish, brim, flounder, red snapper, gray snapper, and whiting - just for starters.
Then there are oysters, crab, crab legs, shrimp (of several varieties), clams and octopus, to boot.
All prices are market-based, so Wall hesitates to quote prices.
"They change daily," Wall said. "Just like at Red Lobster."
There is a $1.99-per-pound fish special (of different varieties) on Thursdays. Recent specials include soft shell crabs for $4.99 a pound and crab legs for $8.99 a pound.
Wall also operates a gift shop at Po Boy's, which features posters, pictures, work and casual clothes, carpeting and figurines, including intricate angels and popular elephants.
In spite of fluctuating prices, customers come from as far as Bennettsville, S.C., Wall said, to get their seafood from his humble shop.
"I've got customers from Durham, Charlotte - even Wilmington," said Wall, aware of the irony. "People from the beach come here to get seafood, because they know I've got the best."
Wall said he has seen his regular customers grow up in front of his eyes and has watched as their families became customers as well.
"I've got some people whose grandchildren come here," Wall said. "That lets me know that I'm doing something right."
Staff writer Brian Dukes can be reached at dukesb@fayobserver.com or 486-3523.