Wild Shrimp closing Saturday

I'm sad. Wild Shrimp Company owner James Walton called me today to say that the little stand near Haslam's will be shuttered on Saturday. Business just dropped off, which is a shame (just read what was good about it here). Creative Loafing had a hilarious farewell blog post here about the closure. It seems Wild Shrimp staff sent CL staff a love-ya gift basket. Fine, whatevs, I didn't get a basket, but even more miff-inizing is the fact that, after my singing Wild Shrimp's praises, Mr. Walton did not say this to me at the end of his call: "PS. We love you guys. Please schedule an orgy with our two staffs. Sincerely, J.W."

Fine, I know the features staff at the St. Pete Times is probably a little droopier and sturdier around the middle than that at Creative Loafing, but that doesn't mean we're not orgy-worthy. Heck, there could be a Hotties of the St. Petersburg Times calendar. Well, it might have to skip the months that don't end in "y."

Comments

[Jeff]

Me? No phone call, no shrimp, no orgy.

Three strikes, I'm out.

[Thomas]

I'm always sad to see someone's business close, but fact is Wild Shrimp wasn't good. Only ate there twice, but put a lot of time between visits. It made no difference. Their red beans and rice were consistently over-salty and lacked flavor. Their fried chicken was burnt. Their corn muffins were not good. The idea was good, the food wasn't.

[jim w.]

interesting. i liked everything i had there, but i never had any of those things. i had po boys, chicken and shrimp, and thought both were really good. the fried olives were good, too. i'm sad they're going.

[Matt Sr]

I was there once and it was good. I thought it was working any idea of what was the cause of their demise?
I would have liked it to be more shrimp ala carte cooked in a variety of ways , methods and spices maybe one or two sizes then a variety of fresh sides also ala carte.I liked the "Fresh Wild" only just a thought
Matt Sr

[Ty]

I enjoyed the fried shrimp. Got a good portion for the money. Their cocktail sauce was heavy on the horseradish which I liked. Sorry to see them go.

[Jan]

As for Haslam's....I wonder how that place stays in business. Went once, and it the worst bookstore I've ever been t
too.

[Terry]

Their gumbo was okay, not great, and their jambalaya was terrible. But I am sorry they closed, because I loved the concept.

(Being right there on the corner, between the scorching heat and the roaring exhaust of bus fumes didn't help either.)

[h]

Do not understand why they did not make it. The food was no good,but the service was REALLY bad.Go figure

[jsy]

that place was horrible the business fell off after everyone tried it.