Sorrentino Retail Group Goes to King’s Kamp!
Isabella’s Trip Recap - King’s Seafood
Last week, the Sorrentino Retail Group was lucky enough to be invited to an eye-opening broker’s tour, also known as King’s Kamp, put on by the King’s Seafood Company. On this trip, we were accompanied by 12 other agents that work with King’s in the California and Arizona markets. The objective of this trip was for King’s to give their brokers a behind the scenes look at the company and educate us on their history and brand. This trip allowed us to be up close and personal with the company and obtain a very good understanding of their restaurants, operations, culture, missions, and values. As our group has mentioned in past, we find it extremely valuable doing operation visits with our clients as it allows for us to become brand ambassadors and better advocates for their brands and expansion. Most importantly, it allows for us to understand what makes their business successful which allows us to think more intentional and creatively when it comes to site selection and deal negotiations.
A little bit of history on King’s and what they do. King’s Seafood Company is a third-generation family owned and operated company that has been in business for over 75 years. In 1984, the King family opened their first restaurant, 555 East, in Long Beach, CA. Since then, they have grown the company and now operate over 22 restaurants in four states. Their restaurant brands include: King’s Fish House (12), Water Grill (6), 555 East, Lou & Mickey’s, Meat on Ocean, and Pier Burger. Now allow me to give you an inside look at my experience at King’s Kamp! I hope you’re not hungry reading this, I can promise you will be after. Let’s dive right in!
Day 1 – Wheels Up ✈️
Off we go! We landed in Santa Ana early Tuesday afternoon. We had some time to kill before dinner, so we decided to check out South Coast Plaza. If you have not been, I highly recommend poking your head in there and taking a walk around. The amount of luxury retailers under one roof was astonishing.
Water Grill - South Coast Plaza
Dinner Time! First stop on the Broker Tour was at the recently remodeled 16,000 SF Water Grill at South Coast Plaza. We were greeted by Kristen Anderson, the Real Estate & Development Manager, who gave us an initial tour of the front of house. Then she passed us off to the General Manager of this location who then took us through the kitchen… and from this point on I was stuck in awe for the rest of the trip.. In the kitchen they had three live tanks filled with live Lobsters, fresh caught Prawns off the Santa Barbara Coast, and last but certainly not least, the largest King Crabs I have ever seen straight from Norway. Check the pics below – I am not kidding!
After taking some fun pics of us holding our future dinner, we went back to a banquet room for a Meet and Greet Happy Hour with the CEO/President, COO, Director of Real Estate, RE Development Manager, and the rest of the King’s brokers. After that, the King’s team introduced themselves and shared a presentation on their company, brands, and expansion plans. From there we were served a wide array of exceptionally prepared food from all over the world starting from the Seafood Tower filled with Oysters from all over the Country, Australian Lobster, and Norwegian King Crab, to the Wild Spanish Octopus, Whale’s Cove Mussels, and you didn’t think I was going to skip out on the Chilean Sea Bass did you? Sure didn’t! We did not leave here hungry. While the food and service here is incredibly impressive, what made this experience even more spectacular for us was being able to enjoy dinner with Sam and Michael King. Michael leads charge of King Seafood Distribution Co and Operations for all restaurants, his wealth of knowledge on the details of the food, restaurant, operations, and more was impressive. After sharing lots of fun filled stories and laughs at dinner, the night ended and we went back to our hotel so we could prepare ourselves for the big day ahead.
Day 2 – Bus Tour 🚌 King’s Edition
King’s Seafood Co Distribution Center Tour
Out the door bright and early, we are off to make our first stop at King’s Distribution Company in Santa Ana, CA which is a 15,000 SF warehouse that services all 22 of their restaurants. Now this, was one of the COOLEST (no pun intended because it was freezing) experiences that we have ever been taken through with a client. Really, the only other thing I can compare it to would be like going to the Pike’s Place Fish Market up in Seattle, WA. As we arrived at the doors of the Distribution Center, coincidentally, so did some freshly caught Blue Fin Tuna that was just brought in off the coast. We watched them throw them off the truck into an ice bucket that was wheeled back into the room where they would be cleaned and cut alongside of all the other fish that was being prepared for their restaurants that week. This room was so remarkably clean that none of us could really even smell the scent of fish, which I think we can all agree is a good thing. Next, Michael introduced us to the Manager of the King’s Distribution who led us through the rest of the distribution center where him and Michael showed us around climatized storage areas and walked us through the reasoning behind the details and needs of having the variations, see very COOL. Time to thaw out, we were brought back to the massive live tanks where a few of us were brave (forced) to hold some of the live seafood.
After we finished up the back of the house tour, we washed our fishy fingers and were surprised with a sweet treat before we got on the road to Santa Monica, dessert before 9 AM – sign me up! We were each given a cup of their signature Madagascar Vanilla Custard that is made fresh daily for their Pier Burger concept on the Santa Monica Pier. You guys… This was DEVINE. The flavors were rich, the consistency was dense yet soft and creamy all at the same time.
Water Grill & Meat on Ocean Tours - Santa Monica, CA
Cracked out on sugar, we are off to brave the LA traffic up to Santa Monica! Our first stop here was at the Water Grill in Santa Monica, which was around 8,000 SF with a fantastic patio that has amazing views of the beach right on Ocean Avenue. Here we were greeted by some of the General Managers that we met from the night before and met the head GM of this restaurant who has been with company for over 30 years! Outside of the stunning views , my biggest take away from this visit was understanding the importance in the having the correct layout for the restaurant to succeed operationally, and in providing a pleasurable ambiance for the customers. I will definitely be coming back here next time I am in Santa Monica to enjoy some fresh Oysters with a stunning view.
Onto the next, we then walked a half block down the road to Meat on Ocean which was a new concept for them that they opened in 2017. Meat on Ocean is a fine dining dry aged steakhouse that is comprised of bits and pieces from all around the world.
The King’s team wanted to make something that was more elevated and unique than the traditional American steakhouse. Being the extraordinary group that they are, they flew out with their operations team to Argentina to experience some of the top steakhouses and gathered components from different restaurants that they liked whether that be the style of cooking, the architecture, the materials used, the ambiance, you name it. This group doesn’t miss a detail! From there, they built the masterpiece of a steakhouse that is Meat on Ocean all while keeping the King’s flare prevalent. The most impressive component of this restaurant is the extensively built out Dry-Aged Meat Locker. Here we were given a tour by the head butcher who walked us through the dry-aged salt room that housed over $150k in gourmet meats aged from 90-220 days. We were then sat at a table to “sample” some charcuterie and dry aged steaks varied from 60 to 90 days They encouraged and taught us to understand the difference in the textures and flavors across the different age points. Me being the hard worker that I am, I tried them all obviously. I mean come on… It’s for brand research! The steaks were AMAZING. I think my personal favorite was the 90-day dry-aged steak. On the clock, we had to leave so that we could make it to lunch at King’s Fish House… LOL yes, you read that right. Another meal. Now let’s hop to it!
King’s Fish House Tour - Orange, CA
Last but not least, we pulled up to the beautiful 7,000 SF King’s Fish House in Orange, CA located right next to the Angels Stadium and Honda Center, home of the Ducks (Go Knights Go). For the Las Vegans reading this, if you have not already been, we have a King’s Fish House at the District in Henderson, NV. I highly recommend checking it out if you have not done so already!
Greeted with a tour of the front of the house and were sat next to the patio by the open retractable windows and took in the beautiful California air. Ding Ding – second lunch let’s go. We ate Crispy Calamari, Grilled Artichokes, and my favorite the N’awlins BBQ Shrimp, the juice at the bottom of the pot dunked in the toasted sourdough bread... Come onnnn you guys!
We wrapped up King’s Kamp by sharing some of our favorite things that we learned and experienced with group as we headed back to the airport to go home. While we were only there for a short amount of time, we managed to cover a lot of ground checking out the distribution center and eating our way through multiple fantastic restaurants – and I am here to tell you our expectations were wildly exceeded and that our team could not be more excited to work with this group!
I will finish off this segment by paying an ode to the King’s team. Each experience and all of the details shared allowed for us to understand how King’s is able to set themselves apart from other restaurants in the industry. The attention to detail in each aspect and the passion from the King family and their employees and is not something that should go unrecognized. For instance, majority of the upper management and staff that we met throughout the trip had been working with the King’s family anywhere from ten to thirty plus years – which speaks volumes to how they run their business and treat their employees. People are excited to be a part of this company and take pride in it – and we are too! While I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the product and indulging some of the most amazing food I’ve ever had, my favorite part of this tour was getting to understand the operations aspect and meeting the minds behind it all. Thank you, Sam, Michael, and Kristen, for putting this amazing trip together, it is truly something I will never forget!
P.S. – King’s Seafood is Expanding!
They are currently looking to expand King’s Fish House, Water Grill, and Meat on Ocean in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado markets. If you have any sites that you would like to present, send them our way!