Meet Judd and Matt Braun of Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill

Today we’d like to introduce you to Judd and Matt Braun.

Judd and Matt, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We were born and raised in Ocean Beach, went to Point Loma High School, and grew up in and on the water with our parents. We’ve always envisioned being a family business and small neighborhood fish market, so we wanted to create a restaurant concept where “fresh” and “local” aren’t just words describing the menu, but rather a way of life. We opened our Mission Hills location 14 years ago with the help of our family, including our parents, wives and staff. We’ve been so fortunate to have the Mission Hills community welcome and embrace us for over a decade, and we’re deeply honored to have the opportunity to expand our business into the community that raised us and where we are raising our kids. That feeling of coming home and bringing our labor of love back to our roots is simply indescribable. And, opening up a second location in Ocean Beach, where we can look out at the pier, the ocean, avalanche and jetty, where we spent the majority of our life, is humbling.

Has it been a smooth road?
Like any small business, bringing Blue Water to life was not an easy road. We weren’t restaurateurs; we certainly did not have deep pockets; and our beloved business was born and budding in the depths of the economic downturn. What’s more, high quality seafood is an incredibly expensive product that requires large volume sales for us to be successful while offering our customers affordable prices, which was and will always be a big priority for us.

We put everything we had into opening the restaurant, including mortgaging each of our houses, as well as my parents’. When we opened our Mission Hills location, we had $700 in the bank, but we knew if we stuck to our mission of bringing the highest quality fresh seafood to San Diego, then we’d be successful.

Fortunately, our parents taught us the importance of an iron work ethic and prioritizing our family, including our customers and employees. Because of them, we have always known customer and employee satisfaction are expensive investments well-worth making. We were successful in the long-run despite the struggling economy because we knew how to keep what’s important in focus, as well as how to keep our heads down grinding away every single day. Not to mention, our wives worked alongside us day and night to keep our dream afloat – to own a flourishing Mom and Pop fresh seafood restaurant that offers phenomenal food at a quality price.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill story. Tell us more about the business.
People know us for our fresh and local seafood and genuine experience – we are committed to serving the highest quality fresh fish and creating a customer and family-first culture. As much as possible, we buy seafood directly from the local fishermen who catch them, or the avid watermen catch the fish themselves. Also, our long-established relationships with first rate seafood purveyors ensures every plate, sandwich, and taco is a true reflection of Blue Water’s commitment to excellence. The new restaurant, which will be located on Santa Monica Avenue near the Ocean Beach pier, and is slated to open Spring 2018.

Our new location will be a full seafood market loaded with fresh fish, shellfish, poke, smoked fish, lobster bisque and more. Customers can see the morning tuna catch hand-cut in front of them to enjoy raw or cooked at the restaurant or to take home. There’s also an option to customize any meal by choosing the fresh fish and marinade, and choice of sandwich, salad, plate, or taco. So, whether it’s White Sea Bass, pulled from the Baja surf and grilled on the spot over a mesquite campfire, or Yellowtail, caught off the coast of La Jolla that morning, the menu is how we share our experiences with guests.

What’s your favorite childhood memories?
As for our favorite childhood memories, Dad loved taking us on camping and fishing trips to Baja from an incredibly early age. We’d head down there with only our camp gear, maybe a can of beans, and we ate what we caught. Our trips to Baja always ended at the Ensenada Fish Market, and we would be in sheer awe of experience. It’s on those trips that learned how to truly respect what fresh seafood should taste like.

We got our love for the water and fresh seafood from our parents. Our mother was raised in Hawaii, so the ocean is central to who she is, and our father’s dream in life was to own a boat and be out on the water with his family. He passed away recently, so reliving our childhood memories is very bittersweet, but we have so much to be thankful for because of him. We’re succeeding in life thanks to the passions he passed onto us, and now we’re lucky enough to make a living doing what we love, all in his memory. Though we miss him deeply, this chapter of life feels like the best one yet! It’s been such a natural and fun continuation of our family’s labor of love.

Contact Info:

• Website: bluewaterseafoodsandiego.com

Image Credit:
Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill

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