Phillips Seafood Celebrating A Century Of Crab Cakes And Service
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A historic milestone for one of Maryland's own. Thursday, Phillips Seafood celebrates 100.
Marcus Washington has more on how everyone can get involved in the celebration.
Walking along the Inner Harbor in Downtown Baltimore, it's hard to miss Phillips Seafood.
"We saw the prominent building and the big sign," one visitor said.
Since 1980, the iconic business has had a location in Baltimore--64-years after its beginning in 1916.
"We started in a little place called Hooper's Island on the Eastern Shore. My grandfather had a small seafood processing factory," Steve Phillips said.
Steve Phillips is CEO of Phillips and the grandson of original owner A.E. Phillips.
"That's one of my wishes--that I could maybe have my grandfather come back and see what we've done with seafood and done with the restaurants," he said.
Phillips is more than just seafood, it's a big staple in Baltimore. It brings a lot of people, which means big money for the local economy.
"Every time I go around the waterfront, I can't believe all the development and all the growth that the city's had. And it's provided thousands of jobs, it's provided a very vibrant economy," said Phillips.
In celebration of 100 years, the restaurant is kicking off "100 Days of Summer" with a special menu and selling a cookbook, including a century worth of the restaurant's recipes.
"I was here the other day with a couple of other friends and saw Phillips restaurant and wanted to come back. So it was a perfect opportunity to bring my family with me," said Kimberly Weiss.
Steve Phillips says this is only the beginning, as they gear up for the next 100 years.
"Certainly Baltimore has been a great part of our past and certainly would be a great part of our future also," he said.
"I would absolutely come back. It's very nice. It's beautiful down by the waterfront and I think there's a lot more to see than we'll be able to in one day," said Brent Cogswell.
The proceeds from the special menu and the cookbook will benefit the Maryland Watermans' Association. You can start buying the cookbook Friday.
It wasn't until 1956 that Steve Phillips' parents, Brice and Shirley Phillips, opened the first Phillips Seafood restaurant in Ocean City.
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