Jean's By The Sea opened last month at 617 Hicks St. in Old West Durham, bringing a coastal seafood menu to the former Wimpy's Grill site near Hillsborough Road. The restaurant is owned by Kate Elia, a Durham hospitality and wine veteran, and takes over a small roadside building that has cycled through several tenants since Wimpy's closed in 2019.
The new restaurant keeps the casual scale of the old stand but adds indoor seating and a larger outdoor setup. Earlier project details reported by Business Debut said the reworked space would seat about 30 inside, with a patio and adjacent lawn designed to make the site more of a neighborhood hangout.
- The menu centers on seafood shack staples, including oysters, fried seafood baskets, sandwiches, and seasonal dishes that shift between colder- and warmer-weather formats.
- Jean's is built around counter service rather than full table service, with Elia describing the concept as a quick lunch option that can also work as a more relaxed evening gathering spot.
- The restaurant's name is a nod to Elia's mother, Jean, according to earlier reporting from Spectacular Magazine.
- Elia's background is in wine and hospitality, and the restaurant also includes beer, wine, cocktails, and outdoor seating that gives the small building a bigger footprint than the old roadside setup suggested.
The opening adds a new food-and-drink tenant to a busy stretch near Ninth Street and Duke's East Campus, where older standalone buildings are increasingly being reused rather than replaced.
Jean's website is now live at Jean's By The Sea.