Simmons Fishing Camp to reopen as Reilleys-managed seafood restaurant

More than 60 years after Hilton Head Island’s first ferry operator opened a fishing camp on the Broad Creek, his name will once again hang under its red tin roof.

The white, weathered sign that reads “Simmon’s” will be one of the last touches of the new Fish Camp on Broad Creek, opening in August under the management of the Reilley family’s umbrella of popular eateries, Coastal Restaurants and Bars. The finished restaurant will feature casual dining, a “lively” bar, and marina-views from its outdoor pavilion.

“It’ll be a step up from your normal fish camp,” said managing partner Brendan Reilley, owner of the Crazy Crab, Aunt Chilada’s Easy Street Cafe and Carolina Crab Company, though patrons are welcome to lunch straight from their boats and kayaks.

Reilley, whose family also owns Reilley’s Grill and Bar, Reilleys North End Pub and The Boardroom, has been gutting and updating the old Simmons Fishing Camp site off Marshland Road since December, when he struck up a partnership with property owner Palmer Simmons.

As a kid, Simmons fished whiting, flounder and the odd eel off the embarkation’s dock, from which his grandfather Charlie Simmons Sr. transported passengers and produce to the Savannah City Market for nearly 30 years before the island gained a bridge in 1956.

As Simmons had imagined, Hilton Head grew in popularity and visitors came to rent boats and fish on the creek, and locals held their parties and fundraisers in his social hall. Years later, Palmer Simmons cleaned up 11 Simmons Road and reopened the spot as a nightclub, which survived despite a spate of noise complaints, fights and one accidental shooting in November 2012.

About 14 years ago, the family planned to partner with Tybee Island restaurateurs on a $2 million remodel, with hopes of food “fancy enough to attract everyone down here,” Charlie Simmons Sr. told the Savannah Morning News in 2002.

But the planned-Kayak Grill never broke ground and Simmons Fishing Camp remained a weekend nightclub until it closed for good in December. This new partnership comes much closer to the vision Palmer Simmons’ grandfather originally had for his creek-side haven.

“There wasn’t any golf courses and tennis courses in 1956, so he thought people would come and want to take advantage of the water, which has become a reality at this point,” Palmer Simmons said Monday. “Obviously, we have a very good feeling. We’re very happy to be able to afford people a place to come unlike any other on Hilton Head.”

Though Reilley and Simmons recently ran against each other in this month’s town council special election — both lost the Ward 3 seat to David Ames — they are more friends than rivals. Reilley went to Hilton Head Island High School with Simmons’ nephew, who is also a past partner in the 11 Simmons Road business.

And while for the first time in its history, the business will no longer be managed by native islanders, Fish Camp should still have the atmosphere that attracted locals for so many years, along with the food it was missing. And the land remains the Simmons family’s.

“It was always a place where the native islanders felt we had a spot, and I try to assure them, they do still have a spot” at Fish Camp, Palmer Simmons said. “I can’t imagine what would be a better or higher use for such a spot than as a very well run and managed restaurant.”

The new restaurant will remain under construction for another six weeks, Reilley said Monday.

He’s slowly taken the interior down to its bones and built it back up, including installing a kitchen for the first time.

Outside, overlooking the old dock and neighboring Kayak Hilton Head company, Reilley plans to add a fire pit, a 20-seat bar, a covered, 100-seat pavilion, and a space for weekly Oyster roasts. There will also be bocce courts and an area for cornhole.

One couple has already booked the space for an August wedding, Reilley said.

The restaurant will be open daily for lunch and dinner, with entrees ranging from $15-$20.

This story was originally published May 23, 2016 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Simmons Fishing Camp to reopen as Reilleys-managed seafood restaurant."