Elizabethtown’s first ever seafood restaurant, Brickhouse Seafood & Cafe is now open to the public. Staff and owners of the restaurant came together with the Elizabethtown-White Lake Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Nov. 15 to commemorate the momentous occasion with a ribbon cutting ceremony. 

“On behalf of the Town of Elizabethtown, I just want to tell you how excited we are to have you here. There are nights that I just wanted seafood,” shared Mayor of Elizabethtown Sylvia Campbell during the ceremony. 

“We are blessed here in Elizabethtown to have the very best restaurants, but there are times when we want seafood so I am thankful to you for bringing that and providing that to us here and in town.” 

Located at 315 MLK Blvd in Elizabethtown, Brickhouse Seafood & Cafe is the work of Co-owners John “J” Pridgen and Rochelle Pridgen. Together, they’ve worked for the past year to make the restaurant a reality. 

“My wife always wanted a restaurant, and I guess I was trying to make her dream come true, so we got into the restaurant business,” shared John. “I did my research. I went around town, I asked what people wanted and everybody, 100% of the people, said seafood. So I went with seafood.” 

Brickhouse Seafood & Cafe is the second restaurant owned by the Pridgens who previously had a restaurant in Tar Heel, NC, called J & R Grill. Now, the focus has shifted to Elizabethtown where John also owns JM Custom Prints. 

While Nov. 15 marks the official grand opening, the restaurant has been serving up deep fried seafood to the community since their soft opening in mid-October. 

“It’s been four weeks, we started our soft opening on Oct. 14 and we’ve just been building on that. We’ve been tweaking some things, and even right here at our grand opening, we’re still not full throttle just yet,” shared Rochelle. 

Everyone gathered, from community members to dedicated regulars to local leadership, to share their excitement for the new dining option. 

“My wife loves this place. I mean, every time I come by here the place is packed,” shared longtime resident and Bladen County Commissioner Arthur Bullock. “This is something that’s new in town and we’re hoping it’ll be very successful.” 

Brickhouse Seafood & Cafe is a family-owned and family-operated business with 12 staff members and four cooks to keep the food coming out fresh. The menu is also custom made in store each day by Head Chef Tyrone Love. 

“All of our batter is homemade. My son is the chef and we did it for him also. He’s been cheffing for about 15 years and he makes all of the sauces himself. He does a lot of the recipes himself,” shared John. 

The menu features fried fish, shrimp and oyster combos, catfish nuggets, whitefish and wings, all fried fresh and served with coleslaw and hushpuppies. Side options include fried okra, sweet potato fries and more. According to the Pridgens, the menu is expected to expand in the coming weeks with grilled and steamed seafood options coming soon. New breakfast options were also added to the menu on Dec. 1. 

“We’re going to be serving a nice southern style breakfast. So we’re going to have some great shrimp and grits, fish and grits, homemade salmon cakes, possibly some liver pudding,” shared Rochelle. “We’re going to start with some of those things, and then we’re going to expand with some more sandwiches. Our version of the po’boy will be the rich boy, and we have our signature Brickhouse sauce that everybody seems to love.” 

A full menu is expected to be in place in January of 2025 but for now, the Pridgens shared they are grateful for the community response so far at the ceremony and from their soft opening days. 

“It’s really heart warming to see so much support and so many people come out because I didn't expect it,” shared John. “I just want to say that the Town of Elizabethtown, the people are great, and I hope that I serve them well, and I hope everybody comes in and eats and has a very good experience,” shared John. 

The community is welcome into the restaurant Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. The Brickhouse is also still hiring. Subscribe to get the latest updates on Brickhouse Seafood Cafe on their website www.brickhouseseafood.cafe.