Spirit of the Entrepreneur: Bubba Jax Crab Shack

Published 11:30 am Sunday, May 13, 2018

VALDOSTA — Being an entrepreneur isn’t always easy and everyone does it a little differently. Some open online stores, while others open brick-and-mortar storefronts.

Some go all in and invest their lives into a new venture, while others start a new business as something to do on the side. Regardless of the type, entrepreneurs help drive the local economy.

Brian Banks, owner of Bubba Jax Crab Shack, worked in a myriad of businesses before opening his restaurant.

He worked in pharmaceuticals for about four years before running a family-owned bar for about two years. Then, he worked for a seafood market that led him to owning his restaurant.

“I worked at a seafood market behind the Department of Labor on Lee Street. I worked there for about a year,” Banks said. “… And, after a year of that, I decided I didn’t want to cut fish anymore. So, I opened my own restaurant.”

When asked why he wanted to open a restaurant, Banks said “there was nowhere to get raw oysters around here.” 

So, he made it his purpose to open a seafood restaurant that sells raw oysters.

When Banks first opened the restaurant, he tried to keep the seafood market open, but it was just him and his family running the restaurant.

“The goal was to keep both of them but (Bubba Jax) consumed so much time, it was impossible to keep up with both of them,” Banks said.

And while working the seafood market gave Banks some experience in working with raw seafood, he had no experience cooking.

“When I first started I couldn’t make grits,” he said. “I knew how to do the front of the house stuff, but, now, I’d rather do the cooking part of it.”

Cooking isn’t the only skill Banks has picked up since opening his restaurant.

He had no real experience in business management when he opened. He received a crash course in how to operate a restaurant through hard work and dedication.

“You don’t realize when you start a business what all comes along with it,” he said.

At first, Banks’ goal was to serve about 100 people a day, or enough to make a living, he said.

“It’s kind of crazy,” he said. “When I first started, my goal was to feed 100 people a day, and I said if we feed 100 people a day, we will make it. Now, we are feeding 500 people a day.”

Of course, as the business grew, so did Banks’ staff. He now employs 21 people and is open seven days a week for the summer.

As Banks filled small containers of cocktail sauce with a ladle before the restaurant opened, he said for those looking to open a business to be prepared to work long hours and to never really be off.

Bubba Jax Crab Shack, 1700, W. Hill Ave., is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon-8 p.m. Sunday from March to August. For more information, call (229) 469-4368.

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.