Historic S&D Oyster in Dallas sold - The Dallas Morning News
Dallas restaurateur Herb Story has sold his 47-year-old S&D Oyster Company in Uptown Dallas to a new family. Brothers Ryan, Sean and Beau Bellomy are the new S&D Oyster owners.
The parties did not disclose the terms of the deal, which was signed Oct. 5, 2023, two and a half weeks after the restaurant's 47th birthday. The three brothers also co-own Rex's Seafood and an oil and gas company called Bellomy Exploration.
Sean Bellomy calls the opportunity "a privilege and an honor," as S&D is Dallas' most historic seafood restaurant.
"A lot of people really appreciate the restaurant, and we're lucky to carry the torch," he says.
The brothers have been talking with Story about buying the restaurant since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Bellomys confirm that they don't intend to change S&D. Many of the servers, cooks and managers have worked at the restaurant for decades, and they can remain in those jobs. The menu has been largely the same for nearly 50 years, and it will likely stay that way. The Bellomys also don't intend to turn S&D into a Rex's Seafood restaurant, they say.
Story will turn 80 years old in January 2024. "That's too old to be running a restaurant," he says.
He's ready to take a break from the job he's held the longest.
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'A survivor'
S&D Oyster Co. opened Sept. 16, 1976, sporting the red and white checkered tablecloths that are still draped through the dining room today. "You can't find those [as easily] anymore," Story says. But they're part of the look of the restaurant.
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Story and his wife, Mary Kay, named the restaurant after their two kids, Stephanie and Doak.
"It's kinda corny, but it worked," Story says.
More than 50 years ago, Story was a Navy pilot stationed along the Gulf Coast in parts of Texas and Florida, and "that's where we really fell in love with seafood," he says. He retired from the Navy and opened a casual seafood shop in Dallas' former McNab Grocery, a brick building so notable that a Texas Historical Commission plaque hangs outside.
Then and now, fried shrimp is S&D's No. 1 seller, Story says.
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Story's wife loves the crab meat maison, a creamy appetizer made in honor of a dish at famed New Orleans restaurant Galatoire's. Story likes the double cheeseburger, saying he added it so there was "something for everyone" at his seafood shop.
The Bellomy brothers, who were raised in Carrollton, are fans of the gumbo. They say their parents used to drive them down to Dallas to eat at S&D.
"It's a special place," Ryan Bellomy says.
While Gulf oysters have become a staple at S&D, raw oysters were once tough to swallow for some Dallasites.
"Most folks 300 miles inland thought seafood wasn't edible unless it was deep-fried," The News wrote of S&D in its early days.
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As the city's taste for raw oysters changed, McKinney Avenue changed, too, from barely a neighborhood to a bustling restaurant block with bars and shops. S&D might have been one of the few businesses that didn't evolve or disappear.
"The casual Uptown seafood spot is a survivor in a city known for eating its young when it comes to new restaurants," a Dallas Morning News critic wrote in 2004.
Years later, S&D survived again when cars plowed through the aging brick wall at S&D in 2020 and 2021. Both crashes — unrelated — took place between 2 and 3 a.m. when no one was in the restaurant. Story stacked up the bricks and opened the restaurant for lunch the following day, both times.
Just one major shift happened in S&D's nearly 50-year history: Story added a New Orleans style patio and courtyard behind the restaurant in 2014. A bar and fireplace were installed as well. It's noticeably spiffier than the historic dining room, and the back patio is now the most handsome place to sit at S&D.
Famous in Dallas
Actor Owen Wilson donned a red apron in the early '90s when he worked as a waiter at S&D. The Zoolander frontman later declared Story "the best boss man I've ever worked with," in 2002.
Plenty of celebrities enjoyed lunch or dinner at the historic seafood spot, including George W. Bush, Jerry Jones and Dallas Cowboys football players.
There are others. But Story chooses not to name names.
"We never made a big deal out of it," he says.
Story says he'll miss the customers, many who request the same table each time. For many, the restaurant won't feel the same without its original owner. Ryan Bellomy hopes Story visits often.
"It's kind of hard to accept getting rid of it, except that it's just time," Story says.
S&D Oyster Company is at 2701 McKinney Ave., Dallas. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
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