Shuckums shines in 50th year

PANAMA CITY BEACH — For 50 years, Shuckums has not only survived, but has thrived. 

"We started with fresh shucked oysters from Apalachicola and still get them several days a week," said owner Mack Carter. "Last year, we topped 1 million individual oysters for shucking and selling — raw oysters and baked."

They also served that many the year before that. General Manager Ernie Carnall runs a daily oyster count on the computer at Shuckums, whose motto is "We Shuck'Um; You Suck'Um." The slogan is even printed with the oyster mascot, "Slick," on T-shirts that have been spotted as far away as Afghanistan and New York — even in Collin Raye's video for "That's My Story." Before the camel outside was bolted down, it became a traveling mascot lifted by sororities and fraternities. Slick even got his own beer, Slick's Red Pearl Ale. 

"Oysters are still the No. 1 seller," Carter said. "With a name like Shuckums, it's got to be. They trust the name, oysters and seafood."

Shuckums Oyster Pub & Seafood Grill, 15614 Front Beach Road, officially turns 50 this month, spanning a long line of traditions, such as the Super Bowl — its 51st run is Feb. 5. Shuckums, whose 1½ acre parking lot is 4-feet deep with oyster shells, has seen U.S. presidents go from the 36th (Lyndon B. Johnson) to the 45th (Donald Trump).

"We were in the Vietnam War when Shuckums started in '67," said Carter, who would graduate six years later and go on to become Sgt. Carter, U.S. Marine Corps. Carter bought Shuckums for $16,500 in February 1982; he was 27 at the time. Even though it was "a real hole in the wall," he knew he had "a little gold mine."

Along with help from his former brother-in-law, he began remodeling the building while living out of a trailer at the beach.

"We didn't know the first thing about shucking an oyster. I had never shucked an oyster in my life," Carter told me in 2016 when I sat down with he and his wife, Terri. 

But after 36 years of 14-hour days, with nearly 85,000 dozen oysters being shucked per year at Shuckums in recent times, I'd say he has the hang of it. Carter was named the No. 2 fastest oyster shucker in Florida in a 1999 competition in Apalachicola, but he has said it is not just about how fast they are shucked, but how clean and fresh. His personal record for most oysters eaten at once is eight dozen. And that recipe he came up with for cocktail sauce the night before he opened in March 1982 is still being served.

The original building is still noted by an "original" sign above the doorway between the main entrance and one of the three dining rooms. Carter was able to expand by buying the property next door from beach businessman Harold Dykes. Shuckums has gone from 35 seats to more than 300.

"We have so many repeat snowbirds. It's not just during the summers and families. I love seeing families coming through," Carter said. "Bikers come through twice a year and we've had the horse show. It changes from cowboy boots to motorcycle boots and flip flops. This place is known to be a mixture of different diversities."

Carter's own daughters were raised at Shuckums — sitting at the bar doing homework.

"Shuckums has been through it and continued to grow. I have people come in all the time and tell me I sat there when I couldn't see up over the bar, and you shucked my first oyster here," said Carter, whose grandkids now celebrate birthdays at Shuckums. "Kids and grandkids of people have been coming to Shuckums for so many years, or they will tell me, 'We came to Panama City Beach for our honeymoon and came to Shuckums 45 years ago.'"

The year Shuckums opened was the same year Elvis Presley married Priscilla.

Carter has shucked oysters for Martin Short, Jim Carrey, Daisy Fuentes and Alan Jackson — just to name a few. Sometimes well-known guests, such as Darryl Worley, even get up and start singing karaoke.

"We do year-round nightly entertainment," Carnall added.

Oysters are served raw "shivering in their shells," steamed, baked or topped — with a side of Southern hospitality. And at customers' request, the menu has grown with the crowds to include everything from Crab Topped Fried Green Tomatoes and Soups & Salads to Sandwiches, Burgers, Baskets, Fish Tacos and Entrees such as the Big MACK Seafood Platter, Grilled Chicken, Steak & Crab Legs.

"We have so much going on. We're so busy, and after 50 years, that's good," Carter said.

The walls are dripping in dollars — about $50,000 of them — from guests who have left their mark for other friends to find. The majority of customers are "local tourists," as Carter calls them. They hail from his homestate of Alabama, as well as Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi. But it's not just tourists the Carters cater to, but also to the local community — from Wounded Warriors to Breast Cancer Awareness.

"We do so many different functions for charities and schools. We donate to all kinds of things we support throughout the year," Carter said. "We support the universities, the local high schools and all the schools, support the teams. We have discount cards for military and first responders."

Although Shuckums' Facebook page was created in the last decade, Carter said the phone number has been the same since '81. For more about Shuckums, visit Shuckums.com or Facebook.com/ShuckumsOysterPub, or call 850-235-3214.