“It was just a new place to go, so when it opened, [the customers] just rushed in,” Rodney said. “When we had crabs, everyone wanted crabs and they couldn’t get them out there [fast enough].”
“I just can’t keep up with this,” Rodney remembered thinking. “All these people coming in from Vint Hill for hamburgers and we don’t have enough of a grill.”
They got inventive. They added shrimp. They phased out hamburgers. They boiled crabs in bulk in large metal cans outside. By 1982, Rodney dedicated himself fulltime to the restaurant. “It was a rough road, but I enjoyed it.”
The restaurant slowly expanded the menu, and finally, the family renamed it Blue Ridge Seafood.
Over the years, the Stringers kept the atmosphere casual. With picnic tables covered in paper, Blue Ridge Seafood remains a place where customers don’t have to worry about getting messy. And when the family expanded the space, they attached a large carport to the building.
It was 100% a family business. “I came to work here in my 20s to help with the business,” said daughter Donna Donovan, now 66. “I’ve just been here ever since.”
The Stringers’ other daughter, Gail Constant, now 69, worked at Blue Ridge in her 20s. Her son, Kevin Ellis, and his wife, Angie, met working at the restaurant. Gail’s other son, Stephen Ellis, is a member of the catering team. His wife, Sarah, is the present manager, and their teenage son, Tucker, cleans tables.
When their parents moved to Florida in 2006, Donna and Gail took over the business with help from Donna’s husband, Mark. His sister, Jeanie Lingo, is the longtime bar manager. “At some point in time almost all the family worked here in one way or another,” Donna said.
Dining and Cooking