The Seafare, one of Williamsburg’s best-known restaurants with 50 years of history and customer acclaim, is closed for the summer. Rumors that the eatery had closed permanently and had been sold by Nikolaos Sarantakos, also known as Nick Saras, and his family are untrue. “Oh, no,” Saras said with a big laugh.
“I’m making it new!” The restaurant at 1632 Richmond Road opened in 1975 “and had never been remodeled,” Saras said. “I wanted new everything. New plumbing.
New painting. New drainage. New parking lot.
” However, more important to him was a new interior. Saras is waiting on approval from the city for the new construction plans with a new façade, new roof and new interior. Why didn’t Saras just tear down the old structure and build a new one? “Sometimes you make a mistake,” he joked.
“Looking now at the cost, maybe I should have built a new one, maybe that would have been easy.” However, he stressed that checking “on everything as it is built” is important for him. His customers “know the building, they know the quality and we want that to continue.
” As the project develops, Saras is at the restaurant site every day, making sure “the best products are being incorporated — best wiring, best everything is being done.” He even has had the walls in the building taken down to the studs because he wanted to make sure they were still strong and had not rotted. Saras said he’s not in a rush, but said Seafare will hopefully reopen this fall.
Saras, 84, came to Williamsburg in 1961 from Sparta, Greece, and stayed to develop his businesses. “I first came to Newport News and visited Williamsburg and liked it here. I also visited New York and Chicago.
Maybe I would put a restaurant there, but they were big cities. I decided Williamsburg was best for me,” he explained. His first restaurant was The Ivy House at 1342 Richmond Road, originally owned and operated (1948-1961) by David and Emily Rutledge.
The 7 Mares Mexican Grill is now located on the site. The Sarantakos family business group now incorporate three restaurants: Seafare; Kephi, across the street from Seafare and managed by his Nick’s son Dimitrios; and Route 60 Barbeque Market, located alongside Seafare and managed by son Marinos; and two hotels, the Hilton Garden Inn on Richmond Road behind The Seafare and Hampton Inn and Suites on Bypass Road, managed by son Antonios. Colonial Williamsburg Resorts broke ground Tuesday on The Shoe, a new nine-hole, par 3 golf course.
Created by golf course designer Rees Jones, The Shoe will be constructed on part of the property that once was the Spotswood course, part of a trio of courses at The Golden Horseshoe Golf Club. Jones also designed the Gold and Green courses. Colonial Williamsburg initially planned to redevelop the Spotswood course as residential housing, but the idea was dropped after community backlash .
The Shoe is estimated to be completed by summer 2025. After a little more than a year in business, a women’s clothing store in Midtown Row has permanently closed. House of Seven boutique, located at 100 College Row, announced on social media on June 19 that it will be closing.
The store, which specialized in a variety of women’s apparel and accessories including plus sizes up to 3X, first opened in December 2022. A social media post indicated that “we do have something new and excited coming in its place, so stay tuned.” House of Seven boutique is owned and operated by Ashley Wallace, who also runs Salon Seven, a hair salon also in Midtown Row.
Several businesses and individuals were recognized by the Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce during the organization’s annual meeting on June 20. Bob Hershberger was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, while Defiant Direct Primary Care was honored as Health Promoter of the Year. Ron Campana of Campana Waltz Commercial Real Estate-WEST was recognized as Membership Star of the Year.
The Early-Stage Business of the Year honor went to Collision Correction, while Zack Kirkpatrick of The Junkluggers and Remix Market Williamsburg was named Emerging Leader of the Year; Lawrence Gholson of Inner Peace Coalition was named Entrepreneur of the Year; and The Virginia Beer Company was named Small Business of the Year. Wilford Kale, [email protected] Brandy Centolanza, bcentolanza@cox.
net.
