CAROLINA BEACH — Although Nollie’s Taco Joint can be tricky to find, signs reading “Tacos” have been popping up around the area. But if you still need help, a good rule of thumb is, if you can see the charter fishing boats, you’re close.
General Manager Alix Powers and owner E.J. Griffin make the trip around the wharf two or three times a day to get fresh fish.
“I grew up in the Caribbean, so I was used to people just going out and spearing or catching what they needed,” Powers said. “We’re right on the ocean, we can actually watch the charter boats come in, right down the street from us.”
Griffin said he enjoys the idea that he can walk over and grab exactly as much seafood as he needs.
“I never want to have any left over,” Griffin said. “So, I’ll check the clock, grab a few pounds of mahi. It’s as fresh as it gets. A lot of people said we could save money by getting fish in frozen but, that’s not for me. I like being able to say I get my seafood fresh and local. I mean everyone says local, but this is right there. Like right there.”
Griffin, a former pro-skater from California, grew up on “California street food.” After living in Carolina Beach for about a decade, Griffin is mostly retired, though his north-end house still sports a large blue skate ramp. For years, Griffin has wanted to recreate the fish tacos of his skating days.
“I’ve cooked here for a long time and I’ve always wanted to see something like this,” Griffin said. “Done the right way, you know?”
Griffin’s landlord also owned the future Nollie’s spot and chided him frequently about opening his own spot. Griffin eventually relented, naming his taco joint Nollie’s after a running joke from California.
“Yeah, it’s skateboard trick, and a buddy of mine always just said, ‘Nollie’s, that’s what your restaurant will be named. It just stuck, that was it, (we) just assumed that’s what it would be called,” Griffin said.
There is also a namesake cat, Nollie, still living with Griffin’s mother on the West Coast.
Due to occupancy regulations, Nollie’s is too small for a liquor license. Griffin has plans to expand a second-story office and deck into a wrap-around patio. The increased sitting area will qualify him to serve hard alcohol.
“Tacos and Tequila, obviously, that’s something we wanted to do,” Griffin said. “But phase one, just getting open, that’s hard enough. In the off season, I’ll be tackling a bunch of projects, including building out the upstairs and the deck.”
In the meantime, Powers has adapted behind the bar.
“I spent years bar-tending around the Caribbean, St. John’s, Tortola. I do high-volume craft cocktails, so, when I hear we couldn’t do liquor, it kind of pulled that rug out from under all my good Tequila ideas,” Powers said.
Powers developed a bar menu of beer-based cocktails.
“It was like, ‘OK, I’ll figure this out.’ So this list is really unique. Some of the cocktails you can’t even tell they’re not made the traditional way,” Powers said.
Nollie’s Taco Joint is located at 3 Pelican Lane in Carolina Beach and on Facebook.
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Send comments and tips to Benjamin Schachtman at [email protected], @pcdben on Twitter, and (910) 538-2001.
