Waterman's Surfside Grille

What Waterman's Surfside Grille does

Waterman's Surfside Grille is a privately held, single-location full-service restaurant operating at 415 Atlantic Avenue on the Virginia Beach oceanfront boardwalk since 1981. The restaurant serves fresh, sustainably-sourced seafood alongside a full bar program anchored by its signature "orange crush" and "ruby red crush" cocktails, with multiple day-part menus (lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch from 9AM, kids menu) and a Monday-Thursday happy hour from 2-5PM. It operates 363 days per year and employs approximately 59 people across the main dining room, inside bar, heated and enclosed patio, patio bar, and a dedicated private-event venue called The Attic (40-150 guests). The Beach Nut, an on-site fashion and merchandise boutique curated by owner Mariah Standing, runs inside the restaurant and is replicated at sister property The Shack on 8th Street, with an online storefront at shopbeachnut.net.

The business sits within Trifecta Group VB, a strategic parent that also controls sister restaurants Chix on the Beach and The Shack; this structure provides shared back-office, marketing, special-events staffing, gift card infrastructure, and unified charity/employment channels ([email protected], [email protected]). Revenue is generated through dine-in covers, bar sales, private-event bookings at The Attic and other indoor/outdoor spaces, takeout online ordering, gift card sales (via Toast Tab) supported by the Beach Bucks promotional value program, and retail sales from The Beach Nut boutique. Pricing is unit-based with publicly available online menus; reservations are handled through Toast Tab with a $50 cancellation fee policy for parties of six or more cancelling within 24 hours. A community engagement program, "$unday Fund-Day," donates 33% of sales to hosting nonprofit organizations during designated Sunday slots in November, January, and February.

Marketing is predominantly organic: an active Facebook and Instagram presence, a content-driven website, and word-of-mouth driven by 40+ years of brand presence at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via in-restaurant dining, online ordering, online reservations, gift card e-commerce, and a physical retail boutique, with no third-party delivery, franchise, wholesale, or licensing channels evident in the data.

Name

Waterman's Surfside Grille

Legal name

Waterman's Surfside Grille

Website

https://watermans.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Waterman's Surfside Grille is a privately held Virginia Beach oceanfront restaurant established in 1981, serving fresh seafood and signature orange crush cocktails to locals and tourists via dine-in, Sunday brunch, private events, and an in-house boutique under Trifecta Group VB.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Seafood Dining

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Steakhouses & Seafood Restaurants (THAFACAE)

Keywords

• Seafood restaurant
• Beachfront dining
• Casual dining
• Private event venue
• Oceanfront restaurant

Headquarters

HQ city

Virginia 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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Food and Beverage Sales: Dine-in restaurant revenue from lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch menus and full bar service including signature orange crush cocktails
2. Gift Cards and Beach Bucks: Gift card sales with promotional Beach Bucks match promotions (100% match on Black Friday, 50% match through December). Beach Bucks are promotional value cards worth $25 each with various blackout dates and usage restrictions
3. Retail - The Beach Nut Boutique: On-site boutique featuring trending fashion, jewelry, handbags and restaurant gear. Located inside Waterman's and at The Shack on 8th. Items carefully selected by owner Mariah Standing from artisans around the world

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Waterman's Surfside Grille operates a single-location, year-round beachfront restaurant at Virginia Beach's oceanfront, serving fresh, sustainably-sourced seafood and its signature orange crush cocktails across lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, kids, and full bar menus. The business also operates The Beach Nut boutique (fashion, jewelry, restaurant gear), The Attic private event venue, and additional private dining spaces, supplemented by gift cards and a Beach Bucks promotional program redeemable across the parent Trifecta Group VB restaurants.

Product overview

Waterman's Surfside Grille is a single-location beachfront restaurant established in 1981 at Virginia Beach's oceanfront. The core offering is the main restaurant with fresh, sustainably-sourced seafood and famous orange crush cocktails, supplemented by multiple dining programs (lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, drinks, kids menu) and a retail component (The Beach Nut boutique). The business operates an event venue division through The Attic (private event space for 40-150 guests), indoor bar events, and heated patio spaces. Community engagement programs include Fundraiser Nights and a Beach Bucks promotional value system. The company also maintains two sister restaurant locations (Chix on the Beach and The Shack) under the same parent company Trifecta Group VB.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Beach Nut: In-store boutique located inside Waterman's and at The Shack on 8th, featuring on-trend fashion, jewelry, handbags, and restaurant gear curated from artisans around the world.
• The Attic at Waterman's

Products and services

• Waterman's Surfside Grille (full-service beachfront restaurant) Year-round full-service beachfront restaurant serving fresh, sustainably-sourced seafood and signature orange crush cocktails across lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, kids, and full bar menus for Virginia Beach locals and visitors.
• The Beach Nut boutique

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Chix on the BeachcoreOthersSister restaurant under Trifecta Group VB parent company. Located at Virginia Beach oceanfront. Joint marketing efforts and shared gift card/gift card purchase systems.
• The ShackcoreOthersSister restaurant under Trifecta Group VB parent company. Located at 8th Street, Virginia Beach. Joint marketing efforts and shared gift card purchase systems. The Beach Nut boutique also available at this location.
• GoKayak VBminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRecommended activity partner for guided kayak dolphin tours. Referenced on the restaurant's FAQ page as a unique Virginia Beach activity for guests.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• McCormick & Schmick's Seafood & Steaks: Multi-market upscale seafood and steakhouse chain. Comparable as a broader full-service seafood operator with a wider geographic footprint and similar menu positioning.
• Bonefish Grill: National casual-dining seafood chain offering fresh fish and signature cocktails. Comparable concept in fresh-seafood full-service dining, but with a national footprint rather than Waterman's single prime-location model.
• Legal Sea Foods: Established East Coast seafood restaurant chain with a broad multi-location footprint. Comparable as a larger, more distributed full-service seafood concept, though Waterman's is single-location and event-driven.
• Landry's Inc. Large Houston-based hospitality and seafood restaurant group operating concepts such as Bubba Gump, Rainforest Cafe, and Chart House. Comparable as a portfolio operator of seafood and waterfront dining concepts, though at significantly larger scale.

Direct peers

• Rockfish Seafood Grill: Virginia Beach-based casual seafood restaurant group with multiple locations serving the same local and tourist customer base. Directly comparable concept (fresh seafood, full bar, family-friendly) competing for the same oceanfront-adjacent demand.
• Captain George's Seafood Restaurant: Long-running Virginia Beach seafood buffet and dinner destination. Comparable as a high-volume seafood-focused full-service restaurant serving both tourists and locals in the same Virginia Beach market.
• Mahi Mah's Seafood + Sushi: Virginia Beach oceanfront seafood and sushi restaurant with comparable positioning (fresh seafood, full bar, ocean views) serving the same tourist and local dining market as Waterman's.
• The Shack on 8th: Third sister restaurant under Trifecta Group VB at 8th Street in Virginia Beach. Operates on the same gift card and Beach Bucks ecosystem and hosts a Beach Nut boutique location, making it the closest structural peer to Waterman's.
• Chix on the Beach: Sister restaurant under the same Trifecta Group VB parent company, located on the Virginia Beach oceanfront. Operates on the shared gift card and Beach Bucks system and competes for the same boardwalk tourist and local dining occasions as Waterman's.
• Bubba's Seafood Restaurant and Crabhouse: Virginia Beach casual seafood restaurant and crabhouse with a similar menu focus (fresh seafood, family-friendly atmosphere). Direct competitor for the same local seafood dining occasions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/watermansvb
• Instagraminstagram.com/watermansvb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/watermanssurfsidegrille

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 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 Waterman's Surfside Grille