The Lobster Rolls at Rex's are served every Friday. (Entree Dallas)
Rex Bellomy surrenders an easy, if not overly wide, smile. The lobster rolls at his market are a hit again today, judging by the line weaving out the door. Grateful for the popularity, though not surprised by it at this point, Bellomy’s take on the roll is a simple one – lobster, mayo and diced celery on a buttered and grilled bun. Considering that for the first one-third of its existence Rex’s Seafood Market didn’t even have a kitchen, the long line of customers is a pretty good indication that things are going pretty swimmingly for a man who 10 years ago was left wondering what he would do after his company closed its doors.
“Honestly, it’s a joy every day to hear some of the things people say. They’ll come up to me and say, ‘This is the best seafood we’ve been able to find,’ and sometimes even people from the West Coast, or Boston or Maine will come up and tell me how impressed they are,” says Bellomy, who started his market six years ago near the corner of Lovers and Inwood in North Dallas.”That never gets old.”
Bellomy displays one of several different Salmons available at his market.
The story itself of how Rex’s Seafood Market began isn’t a remarkably novel one – a man from the corporate world finds himself disenchanted with it and decides to set out on his own – but the turns on the way were particularly sharp. Initially determined to be a professional hockey player, Bellomy suffered a knee injury on the ice while playing center for Notre Dame. Physically unable to pursue a professional hockey career, he instead graduated and went into the world of corporate leasing and development. It would be nearly two decades before a seafood market even crossed his mind.
“I have always loved to cook, even in college, but I didn’t have any plans to start a place like this. Since the knee injury prevented me from playing, I went to work with a big developer, and that’s where I was for the next 18 years until they closed shop in 2001. At that point, I was pretty much of the mindset that I was going to get completely out of the corporate world,” he says. “And it was around that time that a friend of mine started his own seafood place in Knoxville – I started talking a lot with him about it, and decided that what he was doing was something I’d like to try to get into here.”
It turned out to be a pretty good idea.
The Roasted Jalapeño and Crab Soup at Rex's. (Entree Dallas)
Since opening in 2006 as a seafood market only, Rex’s has found a loyal fan base among Dallas seafood lovers. He notes that on any given day a customer can find between 25-30 different seafood offerings, from clams to salmon to lobster. However, it wasn’t until the customers started asking for prepared dishes that Bellomy started seriously considering putting the kitchen to full use, and it turns out that their requests came to a fruitful end. Four years after opening for lunch, the kitchen at Rex’s now accounts for around 75 percent of their total business – gumbo, crab cakes, snapper and oysters grace either the main menu or Rex’s blackboard menu during the week, and the variety of soups they offer can also be purchased in quart-sized containers to be taken home and eaten later. Even house-made fish or lobster stock can be found at Rex’s for those looking to do their cooking from (mostly) scratch. The kitchen’s popularity at Rex’s has kept head chef Larry Willams’s hands full, even while he brings his own style of cooking to the restaurant.
“Larry does a great job, and he’s bringing some dishes that have a little more of a cajun flair, and doing a little more frying – especially fried shrimp; we’ve been having a lot of requests for fried shrimp,” says Bellomy. “But he’s got the kitchen going ’round the clock; we’re constantly making the soups and stocks.”
And with the atmosphere at Rex’s, which is more like a market than a fine-dining seafood restaurant, it’s easy for customers to show up in either their work clothes or something more casual and have a quick lunch or dinner. However, the wine at Rex’s makes a longer, drawn-out meal with friends just as appealing. To Bellomy, Rex’s provides something for just about everyone, and the only real challenge is continuing to get new people through the door.
“The most important thing – other than the quality of the fish, of course – is continuing to get people in here. If we can get them to come just once, just to try it, then we think we’ll get a new return customer,” he says.
But a word of advice to those who return on Fridays – that’s when they’re serving the lobster rolls. Bellomy may love to see the line snaking out the door, but arriving early may mean you just might beat it.
