Photos: Bubba Gandy Seafood offers Murfreesboro new flare

Photos and story by Katrina Johnson / Contributing Writer

Murfreesboro is now home to a seafood market. Located on 2445 Memorial Blvd., Bubba Gandy Seafood offers a variety of options, including dine-in foods and produce for later.

MTSU senior, Navy veteran and now owner of Bubba Gandy, Marcellus Banks, said he opened it due to his love for seafood and Murfreesboro’s empty market for it.

“(Seafood) was just my passion, and I knew as a market we needed it here, so I was being a businessman and said, ‘Let’s give the people what they need.'”

The passion continues to shine bright among the entire store and its employees. The fixtures, shelves and walls were handmade by Gandy himself, allowing the market to boast a very “down South,” cajun vibe. Banks’ partner Carene Sater stated, “We maintain quality control consistently throughout every bit of the process, from the boats all the way to in your hands.”

While various seafood restaurants and even grocery stores may offer the same fish, shrimp and crab that Bubba Gandy does, what sets this place apart is how fresh their product is — they receive a new shipment every week.

“When you go to a general chain seafood place, what you’re getting is what’s been frozen from a few months prior … You see better quality when you come here, and you don’t have to go 500 miles to the beach. You can just go to your local seafood market, and you’re getting great, awesome food for literally a third of the price than what you go to a big chain restaurant for,” Sater said.

“We also have recipe favorites for people who don’t know how to prepare fresh seafood,” Banks added. “We’re also a retail store, so we sell product from Louisiana that is cajun-style based; we do boil some foods but you also get the retail side, too, so you get to buy our seasonings.”

Bubba Gandy Seafood is family-owned and began in Panama City, Florida, and Banks’ partner Chuck Gandy has grown up in the business.

“My great grandpa started the seafood business in 1948,” Gandy said. “He passed away young and then my grandpa (who is now 82) took it over and ran it for 60 years. When I was born, the first place I went when I left the hospital was the fish market.”

Already Bubba Gandy has seen approval from customers, including Jared Qualls who drove from McMinnville, Tennessee, to shop the market.

“A friend told me about the place, and I immediately fell in love,” Qualls said. He normally travels down to the Gulf Coast and gets all he can and freezes it, “so seeing that this place was here is great.”

The next time you’re craving some Ahi tuna, crab cakes, oysters or lobster bisque, be sure to head to Bubba Gandy.

See a full gallery of Bubba Gandy Seafood below.

To contact Lifestyles Editor Tayhlor Stephenson, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.

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