NAGS HEAD, N.C. — “It's finally starting to pay off."
That's how Shaka's Beach Bar & Grill general manager Kenny Summers is feeling after the first few weeks of the Nags Head restaurant being open.
"We spent about a month in here, probably 13 hour days, mornings, nights, kind of redoing everything. From custom built booths, all the light fixtures, repainting the walls, brand new tables, some new floors," said Summers.
The hard work is already paying off: We spoke to four locals enjoying lunch at the restaurant on Monday who, like many, are buzzing about the restaurant.
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“The menu is great, the service is great. I’m a burger person and this burger is kick-butt," said June Livesay, who has lived in the Outer Banks for 30 years.
"When I saw they had haddock on the menu, that was my first try and very good," said Karen Gaca, who has lived in the Outer Banks for 13 years.
We checked in to see if the restaurant has had any challenges getting started. Rising food costs and staffing weren't on that list, but they have been working to lock down locally-sourced items.
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"The biggest challenge was finding some locally-sourced things and whatnot. So we've kind of played around with a couple different people, as far as oysters, shrimp, clams, all that good stuff. So we're kind of still up in the air on a few of them, but we found a lot of good people," said Summers.
That’s all part of the process though and what the restaurant is seeing every day is a community that is happy to have them here.
“Our main focus is the locals. I really appreciate all the locals giving a welcome with open arms," said Summers.
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Summers shared they have a lot in store for the summer season as they continue to get their feet under them.
"It's really all about the locals for us. We're working on building our happy hour specials, everything like that, but we want to give them a spot year-round to kind of come hang out. Once we get our outside area opened up, we'll be doing live music and whatnot," said Summers.
For more information about the restaurant, head to its website here.
