Name of business: Shrimpy’s
Type of business: Cajun/Mexican seafood restaurant
Location: 2105 Fulkerth Rd., Turlock
Hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday; Closed Mondays
Contact information: 209-250-2025
Specialty: Secret sauce
History of business:
The Gutierrez family has long dreamed of opening a Cajun-style restaurant in Turlock and now that vision has finally been realized through Shrimpy’s, the first restaurant of its kind in the city.
Comprised of brothers Angel Gutierrez and Librado Gutierrez and their wives Laura Gutierrez and Bertha Gutierrez, the foursome was inspired to open up Shrimpy’s in Turlock when they noticed a lack of Cajun food in the city. Armed with an idea of fusing Cajun-inspired cuisine with their Mexican roots, the Gutierrez family labored for a year before opening Shrimpy’s just a week ago.
“We noticed that Turlock has excellent food everywhere, but they didn’t have the Cajun-Mexican fusion that we wanted to open up,” Laura Gutierrez said. “This started off as a dream for all of us a year ago, and it took us a while to get here but we’re all excited.”
Shrimpy’s offers a variety of different dishes that blend Cajun cooking practices with those of Mexico, but the most popular menu item is the restaurant’s ‘Shrimpy in the Bag,’ or their take on the popular shrimp in a bag dish, which features marinated shrimp, corn and sausage served in a plastic bag.
The dish is popular at large chain restaurants and other Cajun-inspired locations, but the Gutierrez family has put a special twist on their meals thanks to their ‘secret sauce,’ which is spicy and tomato-based, and comes in three different flavors: Cajun style, 911 and 51-50 extreme.
“There’s some habanero in the sauce, but I’ll just say it’s a special sauce because it’s a little secret we have,” Laura said.
In addition to shrimp, other seafood that can be ordered in a bag includes mussels, clams, crawfish and snow crab legs. The menu doesn’t stop there, either; Mexican dishes like nachos, tacos and ceviche are available, guests can order Italian dishes like spaghetti or shrimp fettuccine alfredo and the chefs can even fry up hamburgers, fries and chicken sandwiches.
“It’s a blend of a lot of different food, but it all works together nicely,” Librado Gutierrez said.
