W GUYS TO KNOW
BARCLAY ANTHONY CEO of Sea Island Shrimp House By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF Senior Writer Photography by JANET ROGERS Barclay Anthony’s parents, Dan and Chrissy Anthony,
opened the first Sea Island Shrimp House restaurant
in 1965 with the help of their friend Henry Reed. Today
there are six locations across San Antonio, with the sev-
enth planned for the near future. The popular chain has
been voted San Antonio’s Best Seafood Restaurant by Ex-
press-News readers for 10 years in a row, praised by
restaurant reviewers, and awarded AAA’s Double Dia-
mond rating for its food and relaxing atmosphere.
Presiding over this successful growth is one of the
founders’ sons, Barclay Anthony, CEO since 1994. During his tenure, the company also developed Tiago’s Cabo
Grille with two local locations and extended its interests
into commercial real estate. But Anthony is actually a
third-generation restaurateur. His Greek-born grandfa-
ther, Tom Anthony (adapted from the original An-
thonopoulos), was the pioneer who ran the posh
Manhattan Café on Houston Street for decades.
Third-generation restaurateur Barclay Anthony now presides over his family’s business enterprises, including six Sea Island Shrimp Houses, with a seventh coming soon, two Tiago’s Cabo Grille restaurants; and commercial real estate. It all began with the Manhattan Café on Houston Street (at right) established by his grandfather.
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You grew up in and around your family’s restaurants. What jobs did you handle?
The first restaurant I remember was the Manhattan
Café, where both my grandfather and father worked.
The first restaurant that I worked in was the original Sea Island on Rector Street. As a 7-year old, I started washing
dishes and busing tables there. Then I graduated to some
kitchen work, primarily peeling shrimp. I would be doing