Blue Gill Grill's Shrimp Facts

The Blue Gill Grill’s shrimp and much of it’s seafood is picked up and brought back to the marina by us. We travel to Apalachicola Florida and buy direct from the seafood processors.

This is all gulf of mexico shrimp. NO imports ! The shrimp we buy to boil and eat is usually around a 30 count. This means it takes 30 shrimp to weigh a pound. 30 count shrimp do not have much of a mud vein, so they are the perfect size for peel & eat.

The type of shrimp is called “hoppers”, this name is derived from the harvest method. Shrimp boats go out at night and drag chains across the sandy bottom. Right behind the chain is a large trawl net. When the shrimp (which are buried in the sand) feels the chain pass over them they hop up to avoid the chain and are caught in the net. Hence the term “hoppers”.

After they are caught the shrimp are IQF which stands for instantly quick frozen.
They do this aboard the boats with salt water that is 10 degrees below 0. This assures the shrimper that absolutely no deterioration takes place in the shrimp. The shrimp are packed in 25 pound boxes and kept frozen until cooked. The University of Florida has done studies comparing frozen IQF shrimp when compared to fresh, and their experts could not tell the difference.

These IQF shrimp will maintain their freshness for about 90 days. So, when you peel a shrimp on our deck it will be the exact equivalent of going to the gulf of mexico and eating a freshly harvested one.

We hope you enjoy our fresh gulf shrimp along with our other authentic Cajun cuisine including our Cajun Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, Crawfish Julie and Beer Cheese.

The restaurant is closed from
October 5th, 2008 until April 3rd, 2009.

The restaurant will re-open on April 3rd with a full summer menu available.