Without apology, the French fries at 20 Feet Seafood Joint in East Dallas were a previously frozen product. There is unbeatable, crispy magic that occurs when a bag of shipped-on-the-truck fries hits a seething cauldron of oil, and 20 Feet owner and chef Marc Cassel knew exactly how to harness their powers. Into the fryer went the spuds, tangles of fresh rosemary and thyme — sticks and leaves and all — and lobes of garlic. A shake of seasoning, then it was all dropped in a basket or nested around crunchy, juicy fried cod.
It’s one of many things to miss from 20 Feet Seafood Joint, which is officially another casualty of the pandemic’s onslaught on local businesses. When it closed in the midst of the city-wide lockdown in March 2020, nobody thought, especially Cassel, that the last meal had already been served at the White Rock-area spot. He never felt right about reopening for takeout only or limited capacity — the numbers didn’t add up for fresh seafood — and his Paycheck Protection Program loan covered his employees through the year.
After lease negotiations couldn’t be resolved, Cassel says, he was forced to permanently shut the doors and will be vacating the Peavy Road location, where they opened in 2013, by the end of March. He says he feels nauseated from the loss and “emotionally raw.” His voice shakes. This was supposed to keep going: It was supposed to ride until he was ready to retire.
Cassel isn’t alone. The list of local, non-chain restaurants that have been forced to close during this pandemic is staggering, and each mom-and-pop owner has their own unique tale of pain.
At 20 Feet, the clam chowder never overwhelmed you with cream, and the slices of chocolate pie were made from scratch. You tasted the sea, the black pepper and salty crunch in the fried fish. It was the kind of neighborhood joint — which got its name from the number of pet legs in Cassel’s house — that had a bowl of free apples for the taking on the counter. There were always enough bottles of malt vinegar and Cholula to hammer onto the fish and chips.
A pro tip at 20 Feet was to use the fries as tools to pick up those bolts of fried garlic. And to clip the crispy rosemary and thyme from the stick and scatter it over everything. If it was a nice day, a tray of oysters, bursting with brine, and icy beer were one of the best ways to patio-up in the city.
It was a neighborhood place, a truly unpretentious un-restaurant in every kind of way.
