Chesapeake House

What Chesapeake House does

Chesapeake House is a privately held, family-owned full-service seafood restaurant operating from a single 300+ seat location at 9918 Highway 17 North in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, along the Grand Strand's Restaurant Row. Founded on May 17, 1971 by Jean and Ed Cribb, the business has been continuously operated by the founding family for over 55 years and is currently managed by their son Buddy Cribb, with Jean's brother Bill Chestnut overseeing the kitchen. The restaurant offers five distinct menus (dinner, early bird, kids, senior 60+, gluten-friendly) anchored by signature proprietary recipes — most notably the complimentary World Famous Fish Stew (originating as Pine Bark Stew from the Edisto/Peedee region) and an in-house bakery producing fresh cinnamon rolls, hush puppies, and the signature White Chocolate Bread Pudding.

The core technology is the physical restaurant operation itself: a 300-seat lakeside dining room with on-site bakery and the Wheelhouse Lounge bar. The business generates revenue through dine-in transactions ($16.95-$38.95 per entrée), group/bus catering (four dedicated group menus), and a small e-commerce channel selling branded merchandise (t-shirts $18, hush puppy mix $8.95, butter mints, salt scrub) and gift cards ($25-$100) with free shipping. A 3% credit card convenience fee functions as a margin-recovery mechanism. Distribution is single-channel physical dine-in, supplemented by phone reservations and a basic web storefront; there is no mobile app, no third-party delivery integration, and no API.

The customer base spans four named segments — vacationing families and tourists on the Grand Strand, seniors aged 60+, families with children, and charter bus/large-party tour groups — with no enterprise or B2B anchor accounts. The restaurant's competitive positioning rests on multi-generational family recipes, brand longevity (55+ years), a unique wildlife-included lakeside setting, generous portions, and the high-value gesture of complimentary bread, hush puppies, and fish stew with every entrée. Ownership remains entirely within the Cribb family with no institutional investment, no expansion to additional locations, and no publicly disclosed financial metrics.

Name

Chesapeake House

Legal name

Chesapeake House

Website

https://thechesapeakehouse.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Chesapeake House is a family-owned seafood restaurant in Myrtle Beach, SC, operating since 1971 from a single 300-seat lakeside location, serving tourists, families, seniors, and bus groups with signature family recipes and an ancillary online merchandise store.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Seafood Restaurant

NAICS

Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets (722514)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Steakhouses & Seafood Restaurants (THAFACAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family-Style Restaurants (THAFACAC)

Keywords

• Seafood restaurant
• Family dining
• Fresh local seafood
• Lakeside dining
• Group catering

Headquarters

HQ city

Myrtle Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Dine-in Restaurant Sales: Revenue from serving food and beverages to dine-in customers. The restaurant offers multiple menus including dinner, early bird specials, kids menu, senior menu, and gluten-friendly options. Complimentary items include bread basket with cinnamon rolls and hush puppies, plus fish stew.
2. Online Merchandise Store: Sells branded merchandise including t-shirts, sweatshirts, hush puppy mix, butter mints, and exfoliating salt scrub through their e-commerce platform.
3. Gift Card Sales: Sells gift cards in denominations of $25, $50, $75, and $100 with free shipping.
4. Group Event Catering: Caters to large parties and bus groups with four different group menu options. Contact person for group bookings is Brittney Baynard.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Chesapeake House is a family-owned full-service seafood restaurant serving dinner daily from 4:30 PM to close at its 300+-seat lakeside location on Highway 17 North in Myrtle Beach, SC. It offers multiple menus (Dinner, Early Bird 4:30-6 PM, Kids, Senior 60+, Gluten-Friendly, Dessert) built around fresh local seafood, steaks, chicken, and pasta, complemented by an in-house bakery and complimentary signature items (hush puppies, cinnamon rolls, World Famous Fish Stew). Revenue is rounded out by group/bus catering and an online store selling gift cards, branded apparel, hush puppy mix, butter mints, and salt scrubs.

Product overview

Chesapeake House is a family-owned seafood restaurant established in 1971, offering dine-in services with multiple specialized menus including Dinner Menu, Early Bird Menu (4:30-6PM), Kids Menu, Senior Menu (60+), and Gluten-Friendly Menu. The restaurant is known for signature dishes including the complimentary World Famous Fish Stew, Seafood Monterey, Seafood Platter, Lobster Pie, Chesapeake Baked Fish, and White Chocolate Bread Pudding. The company operates an online store selling gift cards ($25-$100 denominations), branded merchandise (Lakeside Dining T-Shirts in multiple colors), and edible gifts (Hush Puppy Mix, Multicolored Butter Mints, Exfoliating Salt Scrub). The restaurant also accommodates large parties and bus groups with dedicated group menus.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Wheelhouse Lounge: Bar and lounge area at Chesapeake House featuring maritime atmosphere, fully stocked bar with premier liquor, beer, and wine, and trained bartenders making exceptional cocktails.

Products and services

• Dinner Menu Full dinner service featuring fresh shrimp, flounder, salmon, soft shell crab, clams, oysters, scallops, lobster, crab cakes, chicken, ribeye steak, New York strip steak, spaghetti, soups, salads, and desserts, served daily from 4:30 PM to close at the Myrtle Beach lakeside location.
• Early Bird Menu
• Kids Menu
• Senior Menu (60+)
• Gluten-Friendly Menu
• Dessert Menu
• Group Event and Bus Tour Catering
• Chesapeake House Gift Cards ($25, $50, $75, $100 denominations)
• Chesapeake House Hush Puppy Mix
• Multicolored Butter Mints
• Exfoliating Salt Scrub
• Lakeside Dining Branded T-Shirts (Peach and Carolina Blue)
• Wheelhouse Lounge (on-site bar)

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Three Ring FocusminorOthersWeb design and marketing company that redesigned Chesapeake House's website, providing both aesthetic design and functional improvements to the online presence.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Cracker Barrel Old Country Store: National family-style dining chain with attached retail store. Comparable family/family-style dining approach and the combination of meals with branded merchandise, though Cracker Barrel operates at much larger scale across the U.S.
• Bonefish Grill: National polished-casual seafood chain (Darden-owned) competing for the same casual seafood dining occasion. Offers a broader multi-state footprint and more developed digital infrastructure; competes for the same Myrtle Beach tourist seafood spend at higher price points.
• Red Lobster: Largest national seafood casual-dining chain; competes for the same broad seafood dinner occasion and budget-conscious tourist customer in Myrtle Beach. Provides a benchmark for chain scale and digital ordering capability that the subject currently lacks.
• Landry's Seafood House: Multi-brand seafood restaurant operator (Landry's Inc.) with full-service seafood concepts at tourist destinations. Competes for the same Myrtle Beach tourist dinner occasion with broader corporate marketing and loyalty infrastructure.

Regional players

• Lee's Inlet Kitchen: Historic Murrells Inlet (SC) seafood restaurant where Chesapeake House co-founder Jean Cribb learned the trade. Directly comparable local seafood heritage, family-owned operation, and South Carolina coastal cuisine.

Direct peers

• Sea Captain's House: Iconic Myrtle Beach oceanfront seafood restaurant operating for decades with a comparable full-service seafood menu, family-friendly atmosphere, and reliance on tourist traffic. Same category, geography, and target customer as Chesapeake House.
• Gulfstream Cafe: Another Ed Cribb-founded seafood restaurant on the Carolina Coast (Garden City/Murrells Inlet). Same family DNA, similar waterfront seafood positioning, and overlapping Grand Strand customer base.
• Mr. Fish Market & Grill: Local Myrtle Beach seafood restaurant serving fresh local catch with a casual full-service format. Competes directly for the same fresh-seafood, family-tourist segment along the Grand Strand.
• Captain George's Seafood Restaurant: Long-running Myrtle Beach seafood buffet and full-service restaurant on the same Restaurant Row corridor. Directly competes for the same tourist and family dining customer with overlapping seafood and steak menus; comparable dinner-only positioning and group/buffet capacity.
• Drunken Jack's Restaurant: Founded by Ed Cribb (Chesapeake House co-founder) in Murrells Inlet, SC. Part of the same Cribb family restaurant portfolio — directly comparable seafood-focused full-service concept with overlapping culinary heritage and customer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/chesapeakehouse
• Facebookfacebook.com/ChesapeakeHouseMB
• Instagraminstagram.com/chesapeakehousemb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chesapeake-house

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chesapeake House