John Keener, owner of Shem Creek Crab House, stands in the bar area of the restaurant.
John Keener, who has been a part of Charleston’s restaurant industry for nearly forty years, had his start on Shem Creek as the manager for R.B.’s Seafood Restaurant. Now, the restaurateur is back on Shem Creek with his fifth restaurant Shem Creek Crab House.
“Now, coming back to Shem Creek is real exciting for me personally to be able to come back in there and reenergize things with me and get back with the community over here,” Keener said.
Shem Creek Crab House replaced Shem Creek Bar and Grill at the waterfront spot at 508 Mill Street. The character of the former restaurant is still intact: most of the décor and seafaring artifacts still hang on the walls of the restaurant. Keener is planning to slowly redesign and update the dining rooms over the years after receiving input and determining what is needed. He said it’s one step at a time.
Shem Creek Bar and Grill was owned by Angie and the late John Avinger, who are good friends of Keener. “I’m glad to follow in their footsteps and try to be as successful as they were in the last 37 years,” Keener said.
The dining area at Shem Creek Crab House overlooks the water.
The menu at Shem Creek Crab House mirrors Keener’s original restaurant, Charleston Crab House. Customers can expect the typical crab house meals, including fish sandwiches, crab dip, hushpuppies, fried shrimp and other seafood dishes. He kept several specials from Shem Creek Bar and Grill including a prime rib special and a popular orange crush drink.
He’s hoping to bring back Big Al, the well-known and entertaining “oyster shucking king” from Shem Creek Bar and Grill, who retired in 2016.
Keener said a lot has changed on the creek since working at R.B’s in the early 80s with owner Ronnie Boals. Back then, there were only two restaurants on the creek: R.B.’s and the Trawler Restaurant, both owned by Boals. Keener said a lot of Shem Creek stayed in the Boals family and he considers himself an addition of the family. R.B.’s closed its doors in April 2020 as Boals entered retirement after almost 60 years in the industry.
“It is absolutely amazing what Shem Creek has turned into and it’s still held its own. It still has the shrimp boats here, it still has a lot of the old things that were here,” Keener said. “Nothing ever stays the same and in the way it’s grown I think it’s grown great.”
In 1990, Keener ventured out to start his first restaurant, Charleston Crab House, on Wappoo Creek in James Island. Since then, Keener opened another Charleston Crab House on Market Street and the neighboring Oyster House on Market, along with Aw Shuck’s Seafood Shack, which is down the road on King Street.
The front entrance at Shem Creek Crab House.
When the Shem Creek Bar and Grill property became available, Keener initially was interested, but the timing occurred at the start of the pandemic so he put things on hold. Soon after, a developer purchased the property along with the neighboring Mill Street Tavern. The developer asked if Keener wanted to be a tenant of the former bar and grill and he jumped on the opportunity.
While starting a new restaurant venture during the pandemic may seem risky, Keener looked at the big picture and knew he could not pass up the opportunity to have a restaurant on Shem Creek.
“There’s seven locations on the creek, there will be seven locations 20 years from now. I want to be one of those seven,” Keener said.
He also said he understood what he was getting into: he knows the customer base, understands being on the water and knows other dynamics of the business. He has seen Shem Creek grow and sees the benefits of owning a restaurant on the creek, joking that the parking problem in the area is evidence that it’s a popular spot.
“It has all the different elements here: it has a little bit of fine dining, a little bit of casual dining, a little bar atmosphere. A little bit of everything for everybody,” Keener said.
Keener is looking forward to sunny, spring weekends when customers can make use of the patio space overlooking the water. He said they are planning to open the dock soon to allow customers to come to the restaurant by boat. Since the restaurants soft opening in the fall, Keener has felt welcomed by locals and appreciate their support.
“We want to make sure we thank those locals that are supporting us and have really gotten behind us,” Keener said.
The Link LonkMarch 10, 2021
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Shem Creek Crab House owner shares journey to new location on the creek - Charleston Post Courier
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