How Ford’s Fish Shack Scaled a From-Scratch Seafood Concept with a Commissary Model
Building a Neighborhood Seafood Restaurant
Chef and pitmaster Tony Stafford has spent more than a decade building a seafood and catering business rooted in scratch cooking, operational efficiency and approachable hospitality across northern Virginia. Founded in 2010 in the Washington, D.C., region, Ford’s Wicked Catering first earned a reputation for wood-smoked barbecue and large-scale catering before expanding into seafood with Ford’s Fish Shack, a casual neighborhood seafood concept that now includes locations in Ashburn, Lansdowne and Chantilly, Virginia.
Stafford says the original vision behind Ford’s Fish Shack was to create the kind of laid-back seafood restaurant that didn’t exist in the area at the time. “At that point in 2010, we really didn’t have a lot of seafood restaurants around here that were casual neighborhood restaurants,” Stafford says. “We tried to casualize it. I always said I wanted people to be able to come in and order a pint of beer and a bowl of mussels and be able to get out the door for $20.”
Today, the restaurants are known for fresh seafood flown in daily, including lobster rolls, fish tacos, New England clam chowder and fish & chips, which Stafford says remains the restaurant’s longtime bestseller. “People want consistency,” he says. “They want to come in and get the crabcakes the same way every time they come in.”
Scaling Scratch Cooking Through a Commissary Model
Behind the scenes, much of the operation runs through a 6,000-square-foot commissary that supports both the restaurants and the catering business. “We are truly still a scratch restaurant concept,” Stafford says. “All of our butchering is done here. We have an in-house butcher that butchers all the fish every day.” The commissary handles fish fabrication, shrimp peeling, calamari portioning, sauces, soups, dressings and vegetable prep before products are delivered daily to the restaurants.
Centralizing Operations for Efficiency
The centralized model became especially important following the pandemic, when staffing shortages forced many operators to rethink kitchen operations.
Instead of maintaining prep teams and butchers at every restaurant, the company consolidated production into the commissary. “We can centralize it here and have less staff,” Stafford says.
Managing Seafood Costs and Maintaining Consistency
Stafford says managing seafood pricing and maintaining value remains one of the biggest challenges in the business. “A lot of people don’t realize that with seafood, you’ve got to steam out hundreds of miles sometimes, and you don’t even know if you’re going to catch it,” he says. “Sometimes fishermen go out and they don’t get anything. Inventory turnover is the key to our success.”
Growing Ford’s Wicked Catering Through Relationships
Meanwhile, Ford’s Wicked Catering has evolved into a significant part of the business, now accounting for as much as 10% to 15% of revenue during peak seasons. The company handles everything from drop-off catering to large weddings and galas. “A lot of those catering businesses are because of relationships we’ve developed over the years,” Stafford says. “They come into the restaurant, we impress them, we give them consistent food, and then when they’re ready to have an event, they think of us.”
Why Hospitality Still Matters
Despite changing consumer habits and rising labor costs, Stafford remains focused on consistency, value and hospitality. “Dining out is more than just knowing how to cook your own salmon,” he says. “People still want to go out. They want someone to wait on them, they want the experience, and they don’t always want to cook for themselves.”
Read More & Podcast Embed
These quotes were pulled from Stafford’s conversation with Eric Cacciatore, host of the Restaurant Unstoppable podcast. To learn more about Ford’s Fish Shack and to listen to the full conversation, click the play button below.
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