SHARE

Business Is Booming As Bridgeport Lobster Shop Reopens

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- After more than a decade of selling fresh seafood to Bridgeport residents, owner Charles Viens shut the doors to Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish last summer. After a business partner had mismanaged the market’s finances, Viens decided to close his retail shop and focus on the wholesale side of his business.

Roy Poon and Charles Viens are business partners in the newly reopened Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish.

Roy Poon and Charles Viens are business partners in the newly reopened Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish.

Photo Credit: Peter Kirby
The lobster tank shows off the fresh options at Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish.

The lobster tank shows off the fresh options at Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish.

Photo Credit: Peter Kirby
Roy Poon is in charge of the menu at the newly reopened Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish.

Roy Poon is in charge of the menu at the newly reopened Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish.

Photo Credit: Peter Kirby
Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish is the place to go for fresh seafood.

Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish is the place to go for fresh seafood.

Photo Credit: Peter Kirby
Roy Poon is the chef behind the new menu at Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish.

Roy Poon is the chef behind the new menu at Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish.

Photo Credit: Peter Kirby

But his customers had other ideas.

“I wasn’t going to open the retail [store] again,” Viens said. “But the phone kept ringing, and we kept getting people banging on the door. … Eventually we said, 'Why don’t we open it up again?'”

He found new partners in Aaron and Roy Poon, a father-and-son duo with years of experience in running restaurants and selling seafood. Roy, having spent time in culinary school and working in restaurants all across the area, was tasked with taking charge of the shop and overhauling its menu. 

“I wanted to try to bring restaurant quality food into a takeout setting,” Poon said. “The fun part is that because this is such a small place I can pretty much make whatever I want. One week it can be Korean seafood pancakes, then catfish Parmesan, then a seafood paella.”

Alongside Poon’s evolving list of specials, the kitchen also serves a full menu of New England classics, including fried fish, lobster rolls, and chowders. With each dish, Viens says, the focus is on starting with fresh local ingredients.

“We try to buy locally wherever we can,” Viens said. “For both the food we cook and for the fish we sell.”

The shop buys its clams from a Stratford-based company, and sources much of its fish from local fishermen. With oysters, Viens takes an even more personal approach. He makes use of the nearby Pequonnock River as an oyster nursery - a place where his young shellfish are kept safe before they’re big enough to be moved to the ocean and grown to full size.

Plenty of changes are still to come: Viens is working toward getting a liquor license, and Poon is developing plans for classes on how to make sushi at home. But what they have accomplished so far seems to be working.

“It’s a lot more sophisticated in here than it’s ever been,” Viens said. “And business is better than it’s ever been, too.”

Bridgeport Lobster and Shellfish is located at 288 Knowlton St. in Bridgeport. Its menu, hours, and phone number are all available on its website

to follow Daily Voice Westport and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE