Papa Rocco Bill McGinnes Celebrates 83rd Birthday At Iconic Downtown Gulf Shores Restaurant

Papa Rocco Bill McGinnes Celebrates 83rd Birthday At Iconic Downtown Gulf Shores Restaurant
Serving Warm Beer, Lousy Pizza & Great Oysters Since 1985

Photos

Although managing partner and majority owner Kenneth Jones now handles the day-to-day operations at the iconic Papa Rocco’s, restaurant founder and is still a presence at the downtown Gulf Shores bistro that has been serving “warm beer & lousy pizza’’ as well as oysters every way but the wrong way since its doors a short walk from Gulf Place on March 15, 1985.
For 20 years McGinnes worked as a project manager for Modco, the largest cutting tool manufacturer in the world. But he wanted to work for himself.
“It was a good job. I had a company car. But I knew I was never going to save enough to be wealthy,’’ he said. “I had enough of that.’’
He had always been fascinated by the restaurant business. Eating out was a major hobby for him and his wife Rose, and he had a concept. He wanted a simple menu. He wanted live music every night, even in the winter. He wanted to serve food ‘til midnight, and he knew there wasn’t another pizza house that delivered or oyster bar open year round in Gulf Shores.
He did not want to serve fried food. Customers would decide how crispy they wanted their wings by the number of times the wings passed through the pizza oven.
“The only thing that gets fried around here is the bartender on occasion,’’ said Jay Ryan, who pulled his first shift behind the bar at Papa’s in 1993 and was a regular customer way before that.
“Even back then, we had nice people coming in here and nice people working here. That always makes a difference,’’ he added.
A native of Scotland, The McGinnes patriarch, Malcolm, was a coal minor and pro soccer player who represented Scotland in the sport as a school boy. The McGinnes family (including mom Rebecca and older brother Jim) moved to America for the same reason most immigrants come here – opportunity.
Bill was 12 when the family settled near other family members in Detroit. He would go on to serve six years in the Army before returning home, marrying his sweetheart Rose and starting his career.
“I was never in this business before; but I love restaurants. This was something that I always knew I would like to do,’’ McGinnes said. “I am a mechanical engineer. I used to tool up automobiles before I decided to come down here and tool up pizza and do something for myself.’’
McGinnes might have been thinking his old gig wasn’t so bad when he opened. On the first night, the phones were ringing off the hook, curious locals were lined up to get in and the food was not forthcoming.
“It was a real mess. I finally had to pull the plug on the phones and send everybody home so we could get it straightened out and try again the next night,’’ he said.
Business slowly improved thanks to the McGinnes work ethic and the help of friends.
“For the first two years we had delivery and I often did that. I also tended bar, waited on tables and cooked. I did it all. We are successful now, but people probably don’t realize how hard it was when I first opened up,’’ he said. “I often had to rob Peter to pay Paul.’’
Those willing to help McGinnes included four of the area’s most popular restaurant owners: CW Spence at Top of the Port, Wayne Perdew at Shirley & Wayne’s Supper Club, Joe Gilchrist at the Flora-Bama and Dale McMath at Perdido Pass Restaurant.
“I consider all four of those my mentors,’’ McGinnes said. “If you want to be successful, hang around with successful people. These were people I looked up to, and they could not have been more supportive.’’
The original Papa Rocco’s menu featured pizza, gumbo, chili, red beans & rice and baked and fresh oysters. That was about it.
There were two other restaurants serving pizza in Gulf Shores in 1985 – Pizza Hut and Pizza & Potato. Both were located behind Souvenir City.
“But we were the only restaurant delivering, and we did most of our business during the day,’’ said Anita Spears in an earlier Mullet Wrapper story. Spears applied for a job at Papa Rocco’s before construction was even complete. “I started as a driver, delivering pizzas in a LTD Station Wagon,’’ she said. “Our first promotion was a two-for-one,’’ she said. “Two price busters loaded for $9.98. We also sold a deluxe all the way for $7.42. Why do I remember that?’’
Papa Rocco’s still has an intimate atmosphere. You can reach the on-stage tip jar from four different tables. But in the very beginning, that fine line between staff and customer was even more thin.
“People were afraid to come in because I would try to put them to work,’’ McGinnes said. “They’d come in for a drink and end up getting a job.’’
McGinnes is also grand marshall of the annual Gulf Shores St. Patrick’s Day Walking Parade, an event with a history that dates before 1979’s Hurricane Frederic.
McGinnes knows he has made his mark on the Pleasure Island community, and his willingness to share his good fortune with others is part of his legacy.
“I would hope people will always remember this as a place where you were treated well. A place where you could have a good time and get good food at a fair price,’’ he said. “And when I do die, I hope there will be a celebration of my life where people come and have a good time. The beer will be on me.’’
For the record, the beer will be ice cold. And the pizza will be delicious.