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The Shell Bar will be an intimate seafood restaurant in the South End, featuring kettle-fried fish and chips, “romance,” and more.

Kathy Sidell is really excited about the fish and chips—really excited. When the Saltie Girl owner’s newest venture, the Shell Bar, opens in the South End in spring 2027, it’ll not only have extra-crispy fish and chips, but it will also bring “refined but playful” seafood to an iconic restaurant space, the former home of B&G Oysters, says Sidell. Even more exciting, perhaps, is that the intimate Tremont Street spot lends itself to a return to form for Sidell’s restaurant group: a tiny, wonderful seafood bar, much like Saltie Girl’s first incarnation before the decade-old Back Bay restaurant expanded into a neighboring space.

That’s not to say that today’s bustling Saltie Girl is any less wonderful; the lobster roll, caviar service, and raw bar selection are particularly popular, and the space is always full, whether for mid-week lunch or weekend date nights. (It has also expanded to Los Angeles, not to mention offshoot wine and potato chip brands.) But, says Sidell, there’s a big difference in what you can do in a small space and a large one. “Saltie Girl is on a trajectory I never imagined in a million years,” she says, “and it does preclude doing certain things the way you want to do them because you can’t do them for 1,100 people. My team’s thrilled about getting back to that boutique, neighborhood experience where we can really showcase some cool stuff.”

And so the Shell Bar is in the works, with Sidell and the team thinking of a design scheme “on the darker side, romantic, and intimate.” A French ultramarine blue color palette, perhaps; a wooden ceiling; a petite four-seat bar; maybe some hanging roses on the beautiful sunken patio. There’ll be 38 seats inside and 22 out, and Sidell might apply for additional sidewalk seating, too. “We’re still developing the look and feel of the restaurant, but I’d say it’ll be like living on a Hinckley picnic boat, or vaporetti—maybe it moves a little bit faster than the Hinckley.” She adds: “The place just lends itself to romance,” and it feels so much like the original Saltie Girl. “We’ll get back to that [vibe] with this. That’s why I immediately jumped at [the space].”

That, and the history of the South End address. It housed B&G Oysters from 2003 until late 2024, when it closed following the downfall of chef-restaurateur Barbara Lynch’s restaurant empire (and, ultimately, burst-pipe flooding). Over its 21-year span, B&G was unmistakably a Boston seafood icon, a pioneer in the upscale raw bar and seafood scene of the early 2000s, from lobster BLTs to jazzed-up chowder. “When the landlord came to us and asked if we were interested, I was like ‘Are you kidding? How do I say no to this?’” says Sidell. “It’s a very special spot for the city, and I’m honored to have it. The legacy is a huge one, and I have the utmost respect. But the similarities [between B&G and the Shell Bar] are [just] that the menu’s small and we’ll serve oysters. We’re going to move on and create our own magic.”

Sidell Hospitality culinary director Matthew Gaudet is “toiling over” the fish and chips in particular as the concept starts to come to life, says Sidell. “It’s a big science experiment, getting the crunch just right,” says Sidell. (Gaudet—an Eleven Madison Park alum and Food & Wine Best New Chefs honoree who co-owned the lovely West Bridge in Cambridge, which was open from 2012 to 2015—joined Sidell’s group in mid-2025.) It’ll be among Shell Bar’s kettle-fried seafood options, a technique that allows frying big pieces of fish in a sizable vat of oil. Expect extra-crispy exteriors. “I’d imagine that people will come here for the fish and chips like they come to Saltie Girl for the lobster roll,” says Sidell.

Another draw, she says, will be the “highly seasonal” raw bar. “We’ll go beyond oysters. It’ll be periwinkles, orange clams, stone crabs in season.” There’ll be shellfish towers, naturally, but they’ll look different than the Saltie Girl ones, Sidell says; the team is still developing them. And there’ll be a lobster roll of some kind. The Shell Bar and Saltie Girl are meant to be distinct, but it’s unavoidable having some version of certain items on both menus. “The preparation will be different,” says Sidell, “but I would never not do a lobster roll; that’d be ridiculous. Everybody wants a lobster roll.”

As for dessert, the menu will be overseen by Sidell’s son and frequent collaborator Ben Sidell, who runs a pandemic-born brand of cookies and other treats under the name SweetBoy. And no details to share on drinks just yet, but the team plans to apply for a full liquor license.

Overall, says Sidell, the goal is to showcase “refined, beautiful food” without “losing the playfulness. I don’t want to take ourselves too seriously,” she says. “I don’t want to go too highbrow; I don’t think it’s that much fun. There will be a dish or three that are fancy, but in a very relatable way.” She’s adamant, too, that it’ll be a neighborhood-oriented, relatively affordable restaurant, suitable for everyday dining, not just special occasions. Seafood’s not cheap, but the ethos from Saltie Girl to the Shell Bar is to aim for an “egalitarian approach,” she says. “I work really hard at keeping [Saltie Girl’s] lobster roll at $42, and trust me, I lose money half the time, but I can’t see charging more. I want everyone to be able to eat the damn lobster roll.”

The Shell Bar is opening around spring 2027 and will serve dinner, weekday lunch, and weekend brunch. 550 Tremont St., South End, Boston, instagram.com/theshellbarbos.