Coco Shrimp, a Fort Worth fan favorite, is opening third restaurant soon, in Watauga

Isaac Hadley and his brother-in-law Jordan Barrus are slated to open their third stationary location of the hugely popular Coco Shrimp in Watauga next month, after starting out as a food truck in 2016.

Fort Worthians vigorously supports the $ 12 and less plates of fried shrimp, garlic butter rice, and salad served by Coco Shrimp’s first two locations. The first restaurant opened in downtown Fort Worth in 2019, and the second drive-thru restaurant opened in Heritage Trace this June.

Statistically, Yelp ranked Coco Shrimp # 24 of the Top 100 Restaurants in Texas this year based on number of ratings and high ratings. Last year it was voted one of the best seafood in town by Fort Worth Magazine readers. The restaurant’s Instagram account – its only marketing strategy managed by Hadley’s wife, Lauren – has garnered over 16,000 followers, and updates on emerging locations are being met by fans asking when Coco Shrimp is coming to their town.

But what Hadley obviously loves is Hawaii, especially the island of Oahu, where he moved to when he was 17 for a tennis scholarship to Brigham Young University-Hawaii. There, Hadley says, he struggled to focus on tennis while encountering “deeper loves” like the ocean, surfing, diving, the mountains, and his future wife, Lauren.

Like many college students, Hadley paid his bills with a number of part-time jobs: landscaping, floor cleaning at Foodland, surfing lessons for tourists, and peeling and stripping shrimp in a food truck on the North Shore – a shift that started at 3 a.m. in the morning During the summer, Hadley’s brother and a friend started shift work during an extended visit, and Hadley noted that the job went from “the boring, most mundane job imaginable” to his “favorite job in the world.”

“I asked myself, ‘Why is this so much fun?’ And I realized that it doesn’t matter what we do in our life as long as we surround ourselves with people we want to be with, ”he says.

So after graduating, Hadley returned to Fort Worth with a young family, some savings and ideas, and his own mission to get back to Hawaii as soon as possible.

However, the walk from the food truck to Coco Shrimp’s first restaurant was bumpy and full of misfires. “I came here and didn’t know where to start,” says Hadley. “I thought, ‘I’m throwing a kitchen in a truck.’ I knew that much. “

Days before their food truck was scheduled for its first event, the city of Fort Worth announced to Hadley that he couldn’t sell shrimp from a food truck unless they were precooked. After disproving how “bad” that was, Hadley says he finally “made a deal” with the city and was allowed to work with ice cream freezers to keep shrimp from thawing until they fall into the deep fryer.

Alexandra Lacombe (right) takes Moses Aguilera’s order at Coco Shrimp in Fort Worth on Saturday, September 18, 2021. (Juan Figueroa / employee photographer)

The menu at Coco Shrimp is simply based on what Hadley and Barrus taste good for.

The spicy sauce, one of five available shrimp flavors, is made from ten ingredients, including Louisiana Hot Sauce. Other flavors consist of “coconut” with sweetened coconut flakes, lemon herb, sweet and spicy and a stunningly good butter garlic. Add-ons like grilled pineapple, macadamia nuts, and toasted coconut flakes add variety and more Polynesian flavors for just $ 1.

The rice packets also taste good with garlic herb butter drizzled on them, something Hadley does because he thought it tasted best. Also in the to-go box with the shrimp is a simple salad with Hadley’s father’s ginger dressing. Hadley calls it “antiviral” because of all the raw onions, garlic, ginger, and celery. They’ve never added a ranch, but Hadley’s sister and Jordan’s wife, Mary, insisted they add at least one more option – a poppy dressing recipe she got from a neighbor who once provided her family with meals when she was sick .

Coco Shrimp offers a variety of shrimp starters in different flavors.(Juan Figueroa / employee photographer)

The pandemic-induced seafood shortage has impacted the business, but Hadley says it only helps them become a better business. Every time a supplier goes out, “we crawl and find another company. We now have six companies and they all enjoy working with us, ”he says. They have also adapted to the tight labor market by averaging the usual amount of tips to provide all workers with a guaranteed wage of $ 12-16 an hour, he adds.

Coco Shrimp’s first food truck has now been discontinued, but the second truck renovation project – a Grumman Olson Hadley found in a field in 1963 – is now operating from the parking lot of the soon-to-be-opened third restaurant in Watauga. Hadley says whenever they open a new location they always wonder if they pull numbers from their other restaurants, but so far the opposite has happened. All locations get more business.

Later this year, the Hadley and Barrus families will fulfill their dream of returning to Hawaii to live where they will continue to oversee the marketing and construction of additional sites. Danielle Perez, a former Amazon employee who waited on Coco Shrimp lines with her friend in the early days of the food truck, will continue to work as general manager at all locations while Hadley and Barrus get a bird’s eye view of the operation.

The main goal of the restaurant is to convey the magical vibes and aloha lifestyle of Hawaii through food. As a result, all shift supervisors will soon be doing mandatory annual training in Oahu, where Hadley and Barrus offer hands-on training and tours of the island they fell in love with.

“The plan from the start was to return to Hawaii. It’s our dream, ”says Hadley.

Coco Shrimp is located at 318 Bryan Ave., Fort Worth and 2401 Heritage Trace Parkway, Fort Worth. A food truck is currently in operation at the third location while the restaurant is under construction, which is expected to open in Fall 2021: 7300 Denton Highway, Watauga. cocoshrimp.com.

Coco Shrimp also sells mochi ice cream for dessert.(Juan Figueroa / employee photographer)

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