How a family fish fry changed the culinary landscape of a small town
Tonnia Pollard’s seafood success story started when she was a child growing up in poverty, as she puts it “dirt, dirtiest poor.”
Her parents drove from Ayden/Grifton, N.C., to Morehead City, N.C., as many weekends as they could to fish while Tonnia and her siblings slept overnight in the car. Their catch sustained the family through tough times and brought them closer together, instilling a dream in Tonnia’s mind that she would never let go.
Fish Fry Friday became the most important day of the week. “Let me tell you, we were hungry all during the week, but, baby, we weren’t gonna be hungry on Friday, OK. And that was also a way my mom got everybody together. We’d have these fish fries,” Pollard recalls.
The events grew to include extended family, especially during Grifton’s annual Shad Festival. Fueled by the joy of those childhood fish fries, Tonnia held tight to her goal of becoming a prosperous businesswoman. She started raising money to launch the business by selling fish plates in her backyard when she was just 19 years old.
“I bought my first acre of land in Grifton when I was in 12th grade. I told my boyfriend, ‘I'm gonna get this land because one day I'm gonna open up a fish fry,’” Pollard says.
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This story is part of NC Catch’s “Recognizing African American Participation in the North Carolina Seafood Industry” project. North Carolina’s Black seafood business community has partnered with researchers in this historic project conceived by NC Catch to build understanding of the vital role African Americans and people of color play in the state’s seafood industry. Narratives, video and oral histories tell the stories of Black fishers, wholesalers, chefs and others working in seafood. A N.C. Sea Grant 2024 Community Collaborative Research Grant has helped fund the project.
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Today, Pollard owns nearly an entire block on a street named Tonnia Lane in the heart of Ayden. There, she proudly operates her corporation, Fryday Nite Fish: The Original Backyard LLC.
Her take-out restaurant's surrounding picnic tables feel just like a backyard fish fry. Pollard was the first Black woman to own a restaurant in Ayden, and Fryday Nite Fish is near other family businesses inspired by her accomplishments, including Pollard’s daughter’s fruit drink shop and bakery. Pollard’s son-in-law grows Fryday Nite Fish’s popular collards on his grandparents’ farmland.
Success was hard won. Pollard faced opposition, navigated racial tensions and weathered small-town politics. She was sidelined by family illness and her own cancer diagnosis. But she also had the unwavering support of her champions.
Pollard’s tenacity won over the community. Even commuter- and school-bus drivers will sneak in during their routes to pick up a plate. Pollard has since delved into spice-blend development, holistic health and the art of barbering.
Seafood, however, started it all.
“What I would love to see is more Black people owning seafood restaurants,” Pollard says. “I wanted to be like the first seafood restaurant...But I just wish that there were more of us.”
Pollard shared her story with the NC Catch African Americans in North Carolina Seafood project team in December 2024.
Where were you born?
I was actually born in Plainfield, N.J., in 1974. My mom was in New Jersey, had me and came back down here because of my dad. We moved to Ayden and have lived in different areas here. If you ask where I'm from, I'm going to tell you Ayden.
My mom was from Grimesland. And my dad was from Ayden. I have roots here, yep, most of my family is here, the Pollard side of the family, on my dad's side.
How did you end up owning this restaurant, Fryday Nite Fish?
This started way back when I was in high school, back in the ’90s. I graduated from Ayden-Grifton High School in ’93. Well, some people, a lot of people, do know we were poor…like in the ’90s, ’80s we didn't have food. So, my parents — and a lot of people say, ‘How can you say that you are poor and your parents went to Morehead City every week?’ — I don't know how they did it, but…my parents would go fishing in Morehead. We ate fish every Friday night. That was a delicacy in my family.
We (kids) would sleep in the car, because they would be out there on that pier fishing all night long. We had our blankets and pillows and stuff. They would catch all those fish and come home Saturday and clean those fish.And then we would have them for dinner the next Friday. So, my whole lifespan as a child was they’re gonna be fishing, catching the fish and, the next week, (cooking and eating fish).
We moved to Grifton, and when they had the Shad Festival every year, well, my mom had her own festival at her house because we were right down the street from where the festival would take place. We would have those big fish fries at her house. She lived and died for the Shad Festival because she knew that she was gonna have a whole lot of company at her house, and they're gonna have a good time.
Growing up, I knew then that I was not going to be broke and poor. I was not! I was going to be an entrepreneur. Didn't even learn how to spell the word ‘entrepreneur’ until I became a teenager. But I'd heard it before. I used to go in these stores while my mom would be, you know, shopping, and I would hear white people say it. And I kept saying, ‘I'm going to be one.’
That first piece of land you purchased was in Grifton, but your restaurant today is in Ayden.
I ended up putting a mobile home on the property in Grifton. Back in 2000-something, I can't remember that date, my (Grifton) land was paid for. We bought another home and moved to Ayden. With land I owned in Grifton paid for, I finally had (enough) money, so, it was time to open up a restaurant in Grifton.
I went to the town with this unique idea about what I wanted to do, and they told me I had to do a public hearing. So, we had a meeting that night, and everybody — it was 42 people that were in there that actually wanted the restaurant in town.
So, you got a (board) of, what was it, seven or eight members. Everybody wanted the restaurant in town except this one rich, white lady that was on the board. She said that she didn't want that restaurant in Grifton because she owned a group home, (and) she wasn't gonna have my drunk customers coming over, bothering her clients. Another person that owned a daycare business in town said they were worried about my customers coming over, messing with the kids at the daycare. I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh.’
Why did the board member think customers were going to be drunk?
I don't know, but that's what they said…I think it was just because she's the richest person in town, and she was calling the shots in that town.
And the last person said, which was a Black lady, her land was connected to the land, and the Black lady said, ‘I don't want to wake up and sit on my porch and smell fish every day.’ I'm like, ‘But you do know that this is the Shad Festival? This is the home of the fish? What better place to have a seafood restaurant right here in this town that sells fish?’
Well, they voted, and they said, ‘Miss Pollard, I'm sorry, we don't want your restaurant in town.’ One of the board members got up and he said, ‘Miss Pollard, I'm sorry. I tried, but they said no.’
It was an unfair meeting. It's supposed to be majority rule. Well, in my situation, if one said no, everybody going with no. That's what happened.
So, you opened your restaurant in Ayden instead.
I said, ‘Nobody's gonna stop me. Just calm down, Tonnia. Drive around town, just go to Ayden, see what they got in Ayden.’ And lo and behold, I came right up here to this place, right up here. That big tree. I drove past that tree. I was talking to my aunt on the phone. Drove past that tree and there was a for-sale sign. I told my aunt. I said, ‘Honey, I see a for-sale sign, and if Domino's is right there, that means that this has to be commercial property. It is mine.’ I got on the phone, called a Realtor. Got permission from the town, they said, ‘Oh yes, we would love to have you here.’ And it's been history ever since.
You faced quite a few hurdles before opening. You couldn’t get a bank loan, and when you did open, you dealt with opposition from a neighboring business?
I just needed $250 to buy a cash register. They (bank) wouldn't do it. I took a screenshot. I still have this picture. I had 19 cents in my bank account. My business consultant said to me, ‘Open them doors up and don't look back!’ And I'm like, ‘I can't. I don't even have money to pay my employees.’ So, my daughter was in a car wreck, and in that car wreck, she got her settlement, and she gave me $250 to buy the cash register and some inventory.
They (a neighboring business) didn't want this restaurant here. So, they would come and pour big piles of cat food onto the property (to attract cats). I didn’t want a bunch of cats bothering my customers. I had to say something to them (neighbors) about it. After a short period, it finally stopped. I went through hell, but it finally stopped. Then everything was looking good.
When you come out here, some days, you didn't even see any Black people here. It was nothing but white people. They were coming from everywhere. We have a mailbox upside the wall. A lot of them were putting checks in the mailbox. They were putting the $100 bill in the tip box. They were so proud of me.
You’ve overcome a lot to get here.
I was so scared that I wouldn't have enough staff. I don't have a business degree. I have a business certificate. Didn't know nothing about business, besides me teaching myself at home. We just came over here and we started selling fish. And when I say that, our number one fish is the spot fish.
I sold the spot fish just because that's what I grew up on, and I knew that that was something that my mom would catch, and that's what we ate on Fridays. I sold trout, flounder, tilapia and shrimp, but I realized when one Friday I made a post and said that I had spot fish, oh my gosh, there were so many people over here. We sold out of fish. We had nothing else in that kitchen to cook. And I said, ‘You know what? Let's make this a Friday thing.’ And so we started cooking spots on Friday night at that time. And oh my gosh, the crowd was growing and growing and growing.
Where do you get your seafood?
Reynolds Seafood in Kinston.\
When you do offer spots, are they local spots?
They are local spots.
Is local seafood important to you?
I'm just now, in the last year, starting to get into like, where do these fish come from? Who catches these fish, who catches the shrimp? Now, I could tell a difference (from seafood that is not local).
So, it's becoming more important to you.
Yes, it's getting to be very important. With my spot fish, when I tell you the spots have put us on the map, I was one of the few restaurants that even sold that fish.
You also sell farm-raised tilapia here?
I would tell anybody, tilapia is what made this place. In my 20s, tilapia is how I paid for this place. I didn't cook trout, no flounder. I sold tilapia plates — and they were the best tilapia plates — when I was at home, saving money, in my backyard.
That money is what helped pay for this business. So, we carry that tilapia on to this restaurant.
I was known for selling fish and Kool-Aid. That was my cocky attitude. Baby. I'm selling nothing but fish and Kool-Aid. I didn't even want sweet tea. I just wanted some Kool-Aid because that's what we had back in the day. I knew that people love the Kool-Aid. Some weeks we will sell $2,000 worth of Kool-Aid.
You say your fried spots have a special flavor like no one else’s, and that helped make Fryday Nite Fish famous. Will you tell us what the secret is?
I can't tell my spices, but it's a spice that we use, that you…wouldn’t even think to use.
You became a licensed spice maker. Do you sell that secret blend?
No. They (the customers) don’t want to cook it. They want to come here.
You also serve fish stew that customers love.
In our (Black) culture, we love tomato-based fish stew. My mom had taught my husband how to make that fish stew back in 2000 and something. I told my husband, ‘You know how to make this fish stew; we need to bring it to the Backyard.’ Well, one measly day, we made some fish stew here; my husband sold 300 bowls of fish stew.
Our fish stew at home growing up, we used to use catfish, what our parents called ‘catfish stew.’ As I've gotten older, I don't personally like the texture of catfish. The skin is more creamy, fatty. We use a meaty tilapia. It had more of a crisp taste, like a flaky taste.
Did you have any business mentors?
One of the business administrators over at Pitt Community College (in Greenville, N.C.). He has an extensive banking background. And I hate to say this, but unfortunately, it's just the way it is: I went to Pitt because of their small business program, and when I was talking to the people that were running the program, they were like, ‘I can't help you.’ Nobody wanted to hear my story.
A Black guy named Larry Biggs, he took my story, and he went forward. He said to me, ‘I'm going to help you till the end. Because I feel like you know what you're doing, you just don't have the resources, you're not financially able or stable to open up this business. I'm gonna make sure that you open this business.’ Even when he left Pitt Community College. I would have to go meet him at Martin Community College. And I kept telling him, this is going to be lengthy because I don't have any money. He said, ‘It's all right.’
An embarrassing moment was when he asked me if I had a business plan. I'm like, ‘Yeah, I got a business plan.’ And he said, ‘Well, let me see it.’ I'm thinking, I don't know what a business plan is. Nobody told me anything about a business plan. But anyway, he helped me do my business plan. He told me what to do. And then he made an appointment for me to come back to see him, and he said, ‘Young lady, you got something here. Wow!’ he told me. ‘From the location to the demographics, all that stuff. You’re going to be successful.’
We've been open for seven years, but, four years prior to that, I was saving up money to build this place and get it open. So basically, we've been in this process for 11 years. So, $100,000 later, over there, everything is built and paid for. I don't owe payments on it.
Has your mentor, Larry Biggs, been here to eat?
Yes!
Your parents, and especially your mother, really influenced your cooking and your business, too. Are your parents still living?
Unfortunately, my dad died in the early 2000s so he never got to see this. My mom, just before groundbreaking, she passed away. So, she never got to see this.
Wouldn’t they be so proud!
When I opened this restaurant, we actually had a clothesline here…I’d call it ‘my lucky charm from my mom.’ The reason I say that is because when my mom had those fish fries, she would have a line full of clean clothes, and you could smell her Downy through that fish fry. And you knew that you was at my mama’s house, because she gonna have some clean clothes on that line, and you gonna smell that Downy, but you also gonna smell that fish.
Journalist Liz Biro wrote this report in 2025 based on a December 2024 interview by Barbara Garrity-Blake. Photo by Barbara Garrity-Blake.
