Scott Dolan is expanding his Siesta Key restaurant while opening a new market in Bee Ridge

By Jennifer Amato

Scott Dolan is a self-described foodie. He has traveled across the globe in search of the best food: Canada, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Ireland, Italy, Seattle, Boston and New Orleans. But after operating a successful deli, butcher shop and fish market in Atlanta, he moved to Florida in 2000 and found the best food of all: fresh seafood.

Dolan, who had previously owned an oyster bar, decided Siesta Key needed a great fish market without having to leave the island. Big Water Fish Market was born in 2011.

“As I was getting to know Siesta Key, I was baffled by the fact that people had to go over the bridge to get seafood,” he said. “It was either Walt’s Fish Market or Publix.”

He got to know local fishermen and opened Big Water as a retail market selling grouper sandwiches. The O.G. Grouper Grill — red grouper, lettuce, tomato and tartar on brioche — has been nationally recognized by Southern Living and Edible magazines as one of the best grouper sandwiches in Florida. Customer demand soon expanded the menu to more than 30 items, along with a full line of beer and spirits.

Menu offerings include po’boys from New Orleans, lobster rolls from Maine, cold-water oysters from the Northeast, cod, haddock and swordfish from Boston, and Floridian snapper, mahi mahi, hogfish, triple tail, pompano and stone crabs from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Fish is caught daily by local fishermen or imported daily from seafood wholesalers.

Specialty items include tuna poke, conch fritters, Jack’s Fish Stew (a tomato and fish stock broth loaded with fish, shellfish and vegetables), key lime coleslaw, hush puppies, crab cakes, a grouper Reuben, the Siesta smashburger, BLT, snow crab platter, snapper piccata, the Mahi Melt and the Siesta Sea Club — red grouper with shrimp, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, spicy pickles and aioli.

The kids menu features chicken tenders, super grouper fingers, grilled cheese, shrimp quesadillas, hot dogs with fries and turkey sandwiches.

Dolan said staff attend food shows, seafood festivals and even visit docks to stay current on trends.

“It’s a combination of all my past life experiences,” he said.

Looking ahead, Dolan and Kevin McAvoy are creating a VIP room next door to the restaurant. The space will serve beer, wine and appetizers while guests wait for tables. It can also be booked for private parties and used for food and mixology classes.

“Kevin coming on board is a huge asset for our expansion, especially with our powerhouse staff,” Dolan said, noting Chef Aaron Mobley brings Floridian influence to the menu, along with Manager Carlyle Veal and new Special Events Coordinator Chelsea Malcolm. Big Water is a family business: McAvoy is Dolan’s cousin from Syracuse, New York, and Kevin’s wife Bri McAvoy and Dolan’s cousins Carly and Kevin Dolan, also from New York, are on staff.

At the same time, Dolan is opening a new location in Sarasota’s Bee Ridge area near Southern Steer Butcher. Happy Clams & Hams is expected to open in March as “an authentic, full-scale seafood market and sandwich shop … combining my New York deli from Atlanta with my Big Water Fish Market from Florida, making my own dream store.”

Underlying all of Dolan’s projects is a commitment to fresh seafood.

“The answer is quality. You can taste the difference. You can see the difference. Fresh fish, as opposed to frozen fish, is definitely moister. … It’s OK to freeze a fish, but there’s no comparison to fresh fish,” he said.

Dolan has settled into the Siesta Key area, trading snow shovels for fishing poles and golf clubs.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “I like the fact that I live on an island. Boating, golfing and fishing are very accessible.”

Big Water Fish Market is located at 6639 Midnight Pass Road, Siesta Key. Restaurant hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations are not required; lunch can be called in ahead or ordered to go. The deli and retail store are open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

For more information, visit bigwaterfishmarket.com, call 941-554-8101, or email bigwaterseafood@gmail.com.