FOODY FRIDAY: Red Pier Restaurant — culinary newcomer

A dish of boiled crawfish with potatoes and corn is shown. - Photo by Andrew Mobley of The Sentinel-Record
A dish of boiled crawfish with potatoes and corn is shown. - Photo by Andrew Mobley of The Sentinel-Record


One of the unique newcomers to the Hot Springs culinary scene is Red Pier, a Chinese-owned Cajun seafood chain based out of Memphis. The local franchise is the first in Arkansas.

"There's, if I'm not mistaken, 14 -- there's Red Hook and then we're the baby. Red Pier is the offshoot of Red Hook. After opening this one ... they opened one in West Memphis ... we're just excited to be here," Brandy Gaston, Red Pier's general manager, said.

The first thing about Red Pier that seizes one's attention is the awe-inspiring decorations and set-dressings inside the restaurant. All manner of faux marine life and nautical items hang from the ceiling and adorn the walls -- life-size sharks, lobsters in nets, kayaks, massive glowing crustaceans, lifesavers, and so on.

In the back by the bar stands a statue of Captain Jack Sparrow of "Pirates of the Caribbean" fame, gazing through a spyglass. Next to him is a throne for customers to pose for pictures on. Perhaps most striking of all is a sizable projection of undersea life swimming about on two adjacent walls, creating a sense of depth.

In keeping with the Chinese ownership, the Red Pier's building used to be home to a Chinese restaurant. Traces remain, most notably the two stone dragons standing guard by the doors out front.

"We think they're pretty cool," Gaston said, "I know that it was a Chinese buffet for a little while."

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Many of the restaurant's employees are of Chinese descent, as well.

"We are Chinese-owned, and so our kitchen staff is Chinese and the kitchen manager is a shareholder. It's a language barrier that we deal with and it's a learning experience and it's great," Gaston said.

Red Pier, located at 4510 Central Ave., opened in January during the omicron surge and was faced with challenges arising from the pandemic almost immediately.

"Training was difficult and opening, over half of the people that we trained ended up with COVID. So when we opened it was supposed to be soft opening, we weren't going to really say anything we were just going to, as people came, wait on them and give everybody just a little training experience," Gaston said.

"And then, whoever it was that was doing our advertising at the time said that we were doing our grand opening. We were very, very short-staffed because everyone had COVID. It was just ... extravagant, but we made it through," she said.

If Red Pier had not pulled through, Hot Springs would be without its flavorsome seafood offerings.

"We have king crab legs, we have snow crab legs -- our dishes they come either in a half a pound or a pound. You pick and mix and match your seafood that you want to come in your bag. It comes with corn and potatoes. We have broccoli that you can add to it. It's like a crawfish boil, only you get it with higher scale seafood," Gaston said.

"We do boils, they come out in this really cool bag that looks like a hot-air balloon coming to the table. We have three seasonings, lemon pepper, Cajun, and garlic butter. You can do the Red Pier special, which is all of those mixed together. And then you can choose your heat level, so you can get it from not spicy at all, all the way to extra hot. And they boil your seafood in that ... everybody raves over the flavors," she said.

Some of the favorite orders are the catfish, snow crab legs and the weekend special which "comes with snow crab legs and lobster tail and shrimp," Gaston said, "that is one of our most popular things. It's just everything in the bag with your choice of seasoning."

Red Pier also has a bar.

"The bar has only actually been open a full week. This weekend will actually be our first weekend with the bar fully open," Gaston said.

Red Pier is also a family-oriented restaurant. Children's coloring pages featuring all manner of sea creatures cover walls near the entrance.

"We are very, very much geared toward family," Gaston said. "The coloring pages is something that I came up with. They've always given crayons to the kids to write because we have paper on the table, but the kids kind of get bored with that. So one evening, we had a lot of kids in here and I just went back there and drew some sharks on a plain piece of paper ... and brought it out. And all the kids were quiet and coloring ... when my regional manager came, I let her know that I was doing that and she said, 'Oh, then they can hang them up.'"

Red Pier also plans to begin offering karaoke in July, in addition to its other entertainment.

"We do have a DJ every Saturday night. It's just to bring people in and have more entertainment. The music's kind of loud, but that's how we like it. Soon, we're going to try to do live music, at least one night on the weekend," Gaston said.

"Here, we want you to get your hands dirty. We bring you gloves and a bib, hand wipes ... plastic ware. We have a bucket for you to put all your shells and stuff in. We are not your regular dining experience ... it's just get down and get in there. Some people had a hard time with that at first. We do have silverware if you want silverware," she said.

"Our slogan is get your hands dirty. We want you to come in, we want you to relax, feel at home ... and just get messy. If you're looking for good seafood, different seafood, you'll come here."

Q&A with Brandy Gaston

The following are excerpts from the interview with Brandy Gaston, presented in question-and-answer format:

Q: Favorite meal of all time?

A: That's hard ... steak.

Q: Go-to comfort food?

A: Steak and mashed potatoes.

Q: Favorite restaurant?

A: Red Pier.

Q: Favorite part of working in the Hot Springs area?

A: It's just close to home.

Q: Advice for someone getting started in the restaurant business?

A: Communication is key.

  photo  Red Pier's general manager, Brandy Gaston, discusses the restaurant’s recent opening. - Photo by Andrew Mobley of The Sentinel-Record
 
 
  photo  A glowing lobster adorns the wall of Red Pier. - Photo by Andrew Mobley of The Sentinel-Record
 
 
  photo  The exterior of Red Pier restaurant is shown recently. - Photo by Andrew Mobley of The Sentinel-Record
 
 


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