Surf Rider owner Chris Bennett. Photo by Paul Chin, Jr.
By T.J. Prieur
Chris Bennett has been working since he was 10 years old.
His father, a retired police officer, was injured on duty, and wasn’t allowed to work on the force full time, so he and Bennett’s grandmother opened a restaurant at Oceanfront serving breakfast and lunch.
One day, a local tackle shop owner came in the restaurant as asked if they could cook some oysters and crab meat he had brought in, and everyone seemed to be in consensus that a seafood restaurant would be a great business.
Thirty years later, Bennett has not looked back.
“I had just turned 20 when I opened my first store on my own,” Bennett says. “I couldn’t even buy a liquor license because I was underage.”
Now, Surf Rider has seven locations, and he just broke ground on a new location in Poquoson, with plans for Williamsburg and Suffolk in the next year.
His secret to success? Bennett doesn’t open a single store without having the last restaurant paid for in full.
“2008 was our worst year ever, and we thought ‘How will we keep restaurants in operation when people weren’t going out to eat, and gas was $4 a gallon,’” Bennett explains. “If I had owed the bank money or had a lease on equipment, we might not have made it.”
Keeping low overhead, having 250 loyal “family-like” employees and staying out of debt keeps his business simple.
The future of Surf Rider hinges on Bennett’s son’s extent of involvement, but franchising is certainly an option.
“One reason we are successful is not just our work ethic, but how simple it is,” Bennett explains. “We don’t make it hard. Some of my best kitchens are staffed with high school kids.”
