Sanitary Fish Market first opened in 1938 and has been a Morehead City Waterfront staple ever since! We are a family-owned Morehead CIty seafood restaurant that serves locals and visitors alike. We want all of you to feel like a part of our family, so we are here to share what makes us the best seafood restaurant in Morehead City!
Over 80 years ago in 1938, Tony Seamon, Sr. and Ted Garner, Sr. founded Sanitary Fish Market. Although the Seamon family is no longer involved, the Garner family still owns and operates the business. Our intention has always been to make our restaurant suitable for serving families, so that’s why we’re named “Sanitary” Fish Market. We have always and will continue to hold our restaurant to the highest standard of cleanliness. John Tunnell, long-time Manager at the Sanitary once said, “Most fish markets at the time were always dirty, so Captain Tony and Captain Ted called it the Sanitary because they wanted people to know it was clean.”
Being in the restaurant business, our Morehead City seafood restaurant recognizes that it’s all about the people. Without all of you, our customers, we wouldn’t be able to wake up and look forward to going to work every day. Due to the overwhelming support of our customers, we serve about 300,000 people each year at the Sanitary. Luckily, we’ve certainly had our fair share of loyal employees throughout the years including our longest-running employees, Ray Lewis (70 years) and John Tunnell (68 years).
If there’s one thing that the Sanitary is known for, it’s our fresh seafood, otherwise known as “the goods.” While we attribute our restaurant’s success to many things, including the hard work and dedication of our employees and management, we know that our delicious seafood keeps our customers coming back for more time after time. On average in a year, we serve 40,000 pounds of flounder, 75,000 pounds of shrimp, 20,000 pounds of bluefish and mullet, and 10,000 pounds of scallops. That’s a ton (or 72.5 actually) of seafood!
They don’t call us a fish market without reason; we are quite well-known for our broiled fish, and our most popular dish to date is our flounder and shrimp combo. However, when we think about what we are most famous for, it’s got to be our golden brown, fried to perfection hushpuppies. Our hushpuppies are probably the most talked-about item at our restaurant, and they have even had their time to shine in the media.
Our Morehead City seafood restaurant proudly serves more local seafood than anyone else! We are conveniently located on the Morehead City Waterfront so that our visitors can enjoy a meal with a beautiful view. Whether you’re a seafood-lover or not, we guarantee that you can find something you love on our menu. Now that you’ve gotten to know us better, and we’re on a first-name basis, feel free to tell all your friends and family about “the Sanitary.” We encourage you to join us, and we look forward to serving you soon!