By Noelle Edwards
nedwards@salisburypost.com
Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale.
It’s about Gilligan’s ó the restaurant, not the island.
Mike Bostian and Eli Fisher opened the Granite Quarry steak and seafood restaurant in February.
The place, on U.S. 52, is true to its name, decorated with fake palm trees, a waterfall and a hostess station that looks like the S.S. Minnow.
Bostian said they wanted to serve seafood and decorate in a tropical theme, and the name Gilligan’s just seemed to stick.
Fisher operates another Gilligan’s restaurant, at Lake Norman. He said people feel comfortable with “Gilligan’s Island” and it’s a theme customers can relate to.
Bostian bought “Gilligan’s Island” DVDs that play constantly to give the Granite Quarry restaurant atmosphere.
But a visit to Gilligan’s is no three-hour tour, Bostian said. People rarely have to wait very long for a table.
And the food is more appetizing than the fare on a desert island.
Gilligan’s specials include 45-cent oysters, 50-cent wings, prime rib and a dish called beach trash, which is a sampling of several types of seafood and side items.
Fisher and Bostian each have a history in food. Besides the Lake Norman Gilligan’s, Fisher used to own a steak and oyster restaurant.
Bostian worked at a restaurant at the Tamarac Marina for a dozen or so years, and he and his wife run their own catering business. And it’s slowed down a lot in the past months, Bostian said.
“People aren’t spending money,” he said.
Some people would say starting a business in the heat of a recession is kind of like going out on the ocean in the middle of a storm.
Bostian hears that a lot.
He said every industry is struggling right now, though, and given the hours Gilligan’s is open, the restaurant has been successful.
“For what we serve and what we charge and the economy the way it is, I think we’re doing as well as anybody,” Bostian said.
Still, he would like to see business increase in the future. Gilligan’s hasn’t had as many customers as he would have hoped. He thinks things will improve as time goes on, the economy settles and Gilligan’s name gets out.
“The restaurant business is sort of hard to figure right now,” Bostian said.
He said he and Fisher have improved Gilligan’s 100 percent since it opened in February.
They’re still looking for ways to grow, though.
Bostian said they find pearls in the oysters occasionally. The biggest find was nine pearls in one oyster.
He’s thought about holding an oyster hunt, where the customer who finds the most pearls at the end of a given time period would win.
He also wants to boost some of the slower hours on Fridays, after 8:30 p.m. most weeks, by offering a discount for people who bring in football game ticket stubs.
Even after the kitchen closes at 10 p.m., he said, people could still order appetizers and drinks.
Gilligan’s also has a separate banquet space that Bostian hopes to rent out.
Already, private parties can reserve the restaurant on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays when the business is otherwise closed.
And Bostian said he’s let other people come in and eat during those parties, if they sit in a separate part of the restaurant and eat what is already being cooked. That sometimes brings in an extra $100, he said, on top of what the private party pays.
“I turn nobody away,” Bostian said. “That’s the worst thing I hate to do is turn my customers away.”
Bostian said it’s possible he and Fisher would think about adding lunch or breakfast hours, but he doesn’t expect to do that anytime soon.
“I don’t want to get too far away from what I’m trying to achieve,” he said.
What he wants to achieve is a restaurant that is full every night and is known throughout the area.
“It’s mainly there to have a good time,” he said.