Farmville will feature a new restaurant within the next week called The Fishin’ Pig, the result of the merging of Shorty’s Fish Fry and Grady’s Barbecue.
There are three partners that are running the operation of the restaurant: Matt Hurley, Nash Osborn and Jim Osborn.
“We wanted to combine the two concepts from the restaurants,” explained Hurley. Fish is Shorty’s logo and pig is Grady’s logo, and that’s how we came up with The Fishin’ Pig.” Osborn added, “We brought together Shorty’s breading and Grady’s barbeque.” According to Osborn, 60 percent of the buildingmaterials were green, as “most of the materials that we used in here were reclaimed from different places around Prince Edward County. The floors are original to the building; we took up the all of the old tile and carpet and polished them.”
Hurley regarded the transformation as “a complete makeover.”
Upon entering the restaurant, customers will see a dining area to the right and the main bar. There is also an added garage, which will serve as a double purpose bar and game room. Off of the addition, there will be a patio area with more seating. They have expanded the area, which is meant to provide more room for the costumers.
Hurley said renovations began after Thanksgiving. He said the changes have taken a while because the partners did not hire professional contractors, but it has saved the restaurant a great deal of money.
The Fishin’ Pig will be open seven days a week, Hurley said. While exact hours of service have not been determined yet, Hurley said the restaurant will be in operation about 16 to 18 hours a day and open until 2 a.m. They will also serve brunch on the weekend and eventually open for breakfast, most likely at 6 a.m.
“The amount of traffic going in and out of Farmville is incredible,” added Hurley. “Before I signed the lease for this place, I sat outside the restaurant for five or six days in a row at six in the morning just to see the flow of traffic.”
“We won’t be serving the normal restaurant food, but more foods that are associated with our previous restaurants,” said Hurley. The restaurant will serve different kinds of fish and seafood, barbeque, ribs, burgers, tacos, salads and varieties of soup.
The breading from Grady's Barbecue is “expanding,” said Hurley, and will be served in mild, medium and hot.
“We will be cooking everything here on site, and will also have a catering business as well, said Hurley. “The breading is now being sold [in] 13 states, and we hope that because of the opening of this restaurant that it will only become more popular.”
The menu of The Fishin’ Pig reads, “Grady’s BBQ is slow smoked fresh over seasoned hickory, white oak and fruit wood in downtown Kingsville ... The Fishin’ Pig is here for all your catering needs. Contact the manager for assistance with event planning. A catering quote or schedule a free tasting ... Get BBQ by the pound to go hot or cold. We sell our BBQ sauces and remoulade sauce by the quart.”
Hurley said the restaurant will have a staff of 50, including cooks, servers and bartenders, to start. “I don’t expect them all to make the cut,” said Hurley. He said the partners tried to hire 10 to 15 percent more staff than they thought would be needed “so we won’t have another training class before the opening.” The staff boasts 75 years of management experience overall.
Taylor Southall, a Longwood University senior and waitress for The Fishin’ Pig, said, “I am really excited for the grand opening. I think it’s great that two local businesses are coming together. They were both successful separately, and together they will be a huge hit.”
The Fishin’ Pig will be located near Hampden- Sydney College at 5169 Farmville Rd.
Osborn believes The Fishin’ Pig is “going to be a very unique restaurant to Farmville.”
“It’s going to be a casual restaurant, but it’s going to be fun; it’s very family oriented,” Hurley said. “Food is our number one priority down here.”
Owners Jim Osborn (left) and Nash Osborn (right) stand behind the bar at the Fishin' Pig
