Longtime family restauranteurs open surf 'n' turf restaurant

J.P. Costas was 16 when he started working in his family’s restaurant, and the business has been in his blood ever since.

“It’s just what we do,” J.P. Costas said. “It’s what we know, and it’s just always been a part of our family.”

That tradition continues tonight with the opening of J.P.’s Seafood & Steakhouse on South Irby Street.

In the early 1980s, Costas and his wife, Marti, owned and operated Arnies and Salty John’s in Myrtle Beach. They returned to the Pee Dee in 1991 and opened Pete’s Café, named for Costas’ father, Pete Costas. Then, they decided to venture into the nightclub business with The Diamond Mine, which later become Sandy Bottoms.

But all along, Costas said, his goal was to open a restaurant like J.P.’s, a true seafood and steakhouse.

“This is an accumulation of an idea I’ve had for years. We felt like it was something Florence needed,” Costas said. “Since the Gangplank, we really haven’t had a true seafood house. I always knew this was what we wanted to do someday.”

After closing Sandy Bottoms, Costas and his wife decided to take a break from the restaurant business. But Costas was still making plans for J.P.’s.

“He was constantly drawing blueprints and showing them to all of us. He’d ride around town looking at possible buildings and actually get out and walk the square footage before he’d even seen the inside,” Marti Costas said. “There were stacks of blueprints. He’d ask us, ‘What do you think of this idea?’”

“Yeah, I got fidgety real quick,” Costas said with a laugh. “I always knew I would do this. I just didn’t know when.”

Opportunity knocked sooner than Costas was expecting when the building that formerly housed the Diamond Mine and Sandy Bottoms was destroyed by fire in December 2008. The family still owned the building but had been leasing it to another nightclub owner.

“All that was left of the building after the fire were the front walls,” Costas said.

“So about a month after the fire, when we were talking about rebuilding, we started talking about the possibility of going back in. We didn’t know if the time was right, but eventually, we said, ‘Let’s give it a shot,’” he said. “We considered other buildings, but in the end, we decided this was the right location. We’re from Florence, and we want to see the downtown area do well. We’d love to see some revitalization down here, so we said, ‘We may be a little early in the game, but let’s get something started down here.’”

The new restaurant became a family collaboration. The Costas’ children John, Ashley and Nicholas had always been involved in the family business. But Ashley took a special interest in the new endeavor. She and her dad began collaborating and working together to make his vision a reality.

“I was raised in the business. I can remember being 4 years old and my mom waiting tables at Salty John’s with me following right behind her to the tables,” Ashley said.

“So when my dad decided to do this, I wanted to be a part of it,” she said. “I can’t see myself being somewhere else and not being involved in this. And with being a massage therapist and able to schedule my own appointments and work, I can be here fulltime too. Family is the most important thing to me, so this came natural for me. There was never any question.”

Costas’ mother Pauline Costas and aunt Aphrodite Palles were also instrumental in the process. Each member of the family has contributed in some way, Marti Costas said.

“My brothers are coming to help too,” Marti Costas said. “We’ve had a lot of family support on both sides and a lot of help from friends. The whole Pee Dee has been very supportive of this.”

What evolved from the family’s vision after 13 months of construction is a traditional steak and seafood house with an upscale but comfortable feel. The decor is traditional but eclectic and pays tribute to South Carolina’s land and sea as well as Florence’s history. Custom, handmade wooden signs featuring interesting trivia about the area’s history hang in the dining room. Historical pictures of the family and Florence adorn some walls, while others feature memorabilia from the sea. Every detail and touch in the decor and the menu was discussed and carefully chosen, Costas said.

“There’s been a lot of thought and time put into this,” Costas said. “We want to the food and service to speak for itself. And we want people to feel comfortable here. Every restaurant is different, and we hope people will love this one. The way we operate, we’re here. We want to see you. We want to talk to you and get to know you. We want that one-on-one relationship. When you’re a family-run restaurant, the customers become part of the family. That’s the way we’ve always done business and will continue to do business.”

J.P.’s Seafood & Steakhouse is located at 705 S. Irby St., in Florence. The restaurant is open for dinner at 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. No reservations. For more information, call the restaurant at (843) 407-7918.