In Stone Harbor, Back Bay Seafood on the Market 

STONE HARBOR – While there may be plenty of places at the Jersey Shore claiming to have the best crabcake, few can tell you they churned out as many in as little space as Back Bay Seafood, in Stone Harbor, has. 
But the future of the famous recipe, which has been sold to the masses for 16 years – broiled, fried or raw – is now in question. The business is up for sale, owner Keith Meloni confirmed to the Herald.
The real estate, in a strip on 3rd Avenue by 83rd Street – next door to Mack’s Pizza and a more recent addition, Mad D’s Luncheonette – is also included with the sale. It is only the storefront, not the condos above included, Meloni said.
The 600-square-foot seafood shack, which Meloni purchased in 2006, would regularly churn out close to 400 crabcakes per day on weekends, and employed 31 people last summer, he said in an interview. The business did $700,000 a summer in sales, netting $150,000 for the five-month operation, according to the listing. Before Meloni purchased the business it was already established as Back Bay, but he changed the crabcake recipe and grew the business after taking over.
He is asking $795,000 and said of course a deal would include the recipe, which he came up with himself through trial and error and has maintained the consistency of through maniacal preparation and relentless oversight, often coming in to make crabcakes himself at 4 or 5 a.m.  
“I would assume that whoever buys the place sees the gold, in that the recipe’s what’s going to bring in the dollars,” Meloni said. “I would not change it. I mean, I just think that we have people calling at seven in the morning for a reason. Most people don’t think of crabcakes when they wake up.”
Meloni, who runs the business with his wife, said Covid took a toll on his family and the business, but not because of lost revenue as many other industries experienced. Burnout was the problem for the Melonis, as takeout businesses exploded and maintaining inventory became a struggle during the pandemic.
“There were days of tears between my wife and I. Having no help and trying to get products. It was just insane,” Meloni said. “I had a salesman meeting me, selling me crab meat. I would meet him in the middle of a Dick’s parking lot, because I couldn’t get crab meat conventionally. He found a guy, a redistributor in Harrisburg, went and picked it up for me. I mean that’s how crazy it was. It’s literally almost like a drug deal. I’m in the back of a Dick’s parking lot, unloading 50 cases of crab meat into my car and driving down the shore with it.”
As things have settled down, Meloni said he is in no rush to sell, because it is a money-maker. However, he has plans for a bigger presence on Seven Mile Island. Meloni also works full-time running food services for Pennsauken Township schools and sees retirement on the horizon and a chance to open a larger scale operation at the shore. 
“I have six years left,” Meloni said. “I have my other business that I’d like to have started up and have running by that point, where I’d just be doing that in the summertime.”
Meloni played it tight to the vest regarding the new venture but said it would be something totally different from Back Bay, not specializing in seafood and offering full-service dining. He said he started in the business as a 12-year-old, working for Donna’s Place in Stone Harbor. 
Meloni said the Back Bay listing has already drawn some interest and he will see where things go, but there is no deal in place yet.
“Nothing’s pressing me to sell this. The numbers I do out of there, most people don’t believe it until they look at my financials,” he said. “Literally in the last week I’ve gotten 10 calls. I’m directing everyone to my broker…something might happen. It’s kind of exciting.”
Contact the reporter, Shay Roddy, with other business or development-related story tips to sroddy@cmcherald.com.