Fresh seafood shipped from the Gulf is now being served at the second Steamers resteraunt in Tuscaloosa, located where Crimson Tavern used to be on the Strip.

“Anyone can get a burger or pizza but this is the only place you can get good seafood on the Strip,” Sarah Hewitt, a Steamers employee, said.

For 20 years Steamers has been buying seafood from shrimp companies in Mobile. Trucks are usually shipped every three days.

Heath Wyatt, co-owner of the resteraunt, said he decided to add the new location of Steamers in addition to the one on Hargrove Road to give students a more convenient location.

“We’re trying to bring our concept of Gulf seafood to the Strip because of the big following of the students,” Wyatt said.

Even though Wyatt worked at his uncle’s seafood business when he was 15 years old, he never thought he’d be co-owners to a seafood place later in life. After making a sudden change and graduating from The University of Alabama with a human environmental science degree, he bought Steamers with his brother.

Wintzell’s Oyster House bought out Steamers for a number of years, but Wyatt and his brother re-opened it in 2008.

As a huge Alabama football fan, Wyatt said he could not find a better school to own a restaurant at other than in the UA community.

Wyatt also said he and his brother were friends with the owners of Crimson Tavern, so they teamed up to transform the place from Crimson Tavern to Steamers in only two weeks.

Steamers opened a week before the first home football game this year.

“It had kind of a soft opening, but the first weekend we had a home game, it was slammed,” Aaron Ayers, a UA senior and Steamers employee, said.

Along with trivia on Tuesday nights, other entertainment such as karaoke and live bands will be offered Thursday through Saturday nights with extended closing time of 2 a.m. instead of 10 p.m.

In about three weeks, its $5 po-boy and seafood basket special will be offered all day on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

They are still hiring and need help on a daily basis, Wyatt said. They geared the place towards a college student’s budget, he added.

“We’ve kept everything under pretty much 10 bucks here,” Wyatt said.

This Saturday, the Steamers on the Strip will open early at 9 a.m. and will remain open until 2 a.m. for the game.