A lot of restaurant operators would kill for the bustling energy Ed’s Seafood has on this weeknight – and Ed’s isn’t even open yet.

This is the new Ed’s, about to open on the hill in Spanish Fort, a year and a half after a fire shut down the original Shed on the Causeway. The plan now is not what the plan was then.

“There was a lot of things that came up from those ashes,” says Nick DiMario, partner in the venture (and a few others) with “Panini Pete” Blohme.

Ed’s was founded way back in 2000 by Ed and Barbara Bridges, who came to the restaurant business after other careers. Their spacious venture quickly became known for gumbo, all-you-can eat fried mullet and other specialties. Blohme and DiMario’s PP Hospitality Group later bought it and had run it for a couple of years before the fire hit. They had already made a considerable investment in a planned overhaul.

The shutdown caused by the fire was bad but things could have been worse. Nobody was hurt and the three turtles sometimes brought out for races survived. The company was able to rotate employees into its other venues, including Squid Ink in downtown Mobile, Sunset Pointe at the Fly Creek Marina on Fairhope’s bayfront and the original Panini Pete’s in downtown Fairhope.

“We gave ourselves 48 hours to feel bad,” says Blohme.

“When you have this thing that happens, that was a catastrophic moment, we had to pivot,” says DiMario. “We re-evaluated everything we did, as far as planning strategically.”

For a while the plan was to open Ed’s at a new location and then to bring an all-new concept, a restaurant to be called Fire, to the old Ed’s site. But when it came to rebuilding, and bringing the old Ed’s building up to modern code, the numbers started not to make sense, DiMario and Blohme say. Then they got the opportunity to take over the restaurant space at Lake Forest Yacht Club, and that’s where they will open their next waterfront outlet.

But first comes Ed’s. It occupies a span of strip-mall storefront long inhabited by a Beef O’Brady’s, which now has a standalone building at 8495 Spanish Fort Blvd. The first challenge was to transport some of the ramshackle charm of the original Ed’s into a more generic space.

Mission accomplished.

In addition to the copious windows letting in daylight, there are now garage doors that can be opened onto outdoor seating when the weather suits it. On one wall there’s a huge mural of the old building by Hannah Legg. The other thing that’s going to catch your eye is the huge expanse of wooden bar top, elaborately decorated with fish hand-burned by Patrick Tucker of Alabama Burning.

It’s the military appreciation room where the partners really let Tucker go wild: He used his pyrography skills to render large-scale artwork of the USS Alabama, the USS Drum and a Littoral Combat Ship.

If you know where to look (and if you don’t, just wait, Blohme will tell you) you’ll be able to spot a few smoke-damaged artifacts that survived the fire. The turtles are also here: Swim Shady, Turt Reynolds and Shrimpy Bigs occupy a spacious tank.

As for the crowd on this night, it’s all staff: Between 50 and 60 people, the majority of the 65 or so people the restaurant will employ. And this is just one night in a run of six. DiMario estimates the intensive week of training, orientation and practice will set them back $20,000 or more.

“That will pay dividends,” he says. Restaurant workers are “used to just getting thrown in there.”

“A lot of it is what we call the standards,” says Blohme. “It’s all about teamwork, it’s all about a sense of urgency, it’s all about standards.”

“If you want to make it easy, it’s got to be hard at the beginning,” says DiMario. That means, among other things, active recruiting devoted to finding people with skills and the right attitude. The partners scoff at the idea that anyone can just put out a few signs or take out a “help wanted” ad and get the people they need in this era.

It means making a commitment, they say, to setting expectations, training people to meet them, and finding out those people’s career goals. It means not just identifying people with talent, but rewarding them. Compensate them well, give them a drama-free work environment.

All of which sounds very pretty, but here’s the thing: In the midst of this tornado, prepping for a high-stakes opening, DiMario and Blohme seem to have all the time in the world to talk about their plans. They’re not continuously being asked to solve problems or referee disputes. They’re not stopping to yell at people on the floor or show people in the kitchen how to do things.

Managers, department heads, operating partners are getting the job done, and without any overt stress. Blohme and DiMario continually single them out to sing their praises and say how they’ve advanced within the company. Cori Gaston is on hand to help out. When DiMario and Blohme took over Ed’s she was a server there, and skeptical about the new guys. By the time it burned, she was general manager, a position she will hold at the new Lake Forest venue, which will be named The Waterfront.

“It’s definitely above and beyond what other people do,” says Gaston. “But it’s the way you do it right to start.”

People, people, people: The partners want to talk about their people. Chris Metzger, who’ll be the chef at The Waterfront, also is on hand. Casey Jones, the Ed’s chef. Brayden Keel, director of training. Comptroller Jennifer Noori. Director of recruiting Cheryl Blohme.

“We have some young superstars, hustlers who are just unbelievable,” says DiMario. “We are a teaching restaurant company.”

In addition to the restaurants already mentioned, the PP Hospitality umbrella includes the Fairhope Squeeze juice bar; Mobtown Proper & Vintage in midtown Mobile, where you can’t get a meal but you can get your hair cut. After Ed’s and The Waterfront they’ll open Parc Le Tralour, a food court in the downtown Mobile space vacated by the MoonPie General Store during the pandemic.

How do they do it all?

“See all these people?” says Blohme, waving an arm at the scene.

“For us this is not a job,” says DiMario. “It’s a way of life that we love.”

Which brings us to food. Ed’s was known for its unapologetic love of fried food, with a menu topped by the Yo Mama’s Platter, as in, “Yo Mama said, ‘Don’t eat this much in one sitting.’”

Blohme says the menu will have “A lot of the old familiars, but it’s going to be a little leaner, a little cleaner.” The slaw will still be complimentary, he and DiMario say. They drop hints about things. DiMario says they’re going to do roasted oysters. They’ve taken their almondine sauce to a higher level. “On our salads, the croutons are fried okra,” he says.

They’ll still do catch of the day, they say. And the parmesan-crusted fish that was a big seller at the old Ed’s. And the catfish sandwich with the white barbecue sauce. And the po-boys.

They offer a few samples, appetizers and sides. Creamy cheese grits with a splash of gumbo jus. It’s insanely good. Greens so hearty you could have them alone for dinner. Fried green tomatoes topped with crawfish sauce. Fried pickles that aren’t excessively salty, making them a rarity. Conecuh fries.

No, not French fries dressed up with a little Conecuh sausage. Long thin slices of Conecuh, breaded and fried, served with spicy mustard that accentuates the heat of the sausage rather than toning it down. Blohme has some dark honey he wants to try on them. They’re excellent. That might just become an option.

The partners’ plans are to open this week; keep an eye on the restaurant’s Facebook page. They plan a killer happy hour, they say, and in a couple of weeks they’ll begin serving breakfast on weekends.

And somewhere in the furor of the opening, they’ll tip their hat to the original Ed’s. There’s still a little unfinished business there, they say. Some time after the fire, Eddie, the restaurant’s 12-foot fiberglass alligator mascot was stolen. They’re thinking about printing T-shirts calling for its return.

“If they got our alligator, give it back,” says Blohme.

They still own the property. “Somebody smarter than us will figure out what to do with it,” says Blohme. “Tell ‘em to give us a call. We’ll give them a good deal.”

And along with the memories are a few artifacts. They aren’t all wall art.

“I have one bottle of tequila covered in soot and smoke,” Blohme says. “Opening night, we’re going to crack that open.”

Ed’s Seafood Shed is at 6450 U.S. 90 in Spanish Fort. For information, visit edsshed.com or www.facebook.com/eddiealligator.