Since opening in 2009, Matunuck Oyster Bar in South Kingstown has become one of the most popular seafood restaurants in New England. In May 2025, the building was badly damaged in a devastating fire, forcing owner Perry Raso to set up an outdoor dining space, which has allowed him to continue serving his loyal customers.
Raso says efforts to rebuild the flagship restaurant are ongoing, and he intends to reopen sometime this fall. In February, Raso opened a second location, Matunuck Atelier. He sat down with Ocean State Media political reporter Ian Donnis to talk about the fire and his journey from oyster farmer to successful restaurateur.
Interview highlights
On starting an oyster farming business in 2002
Perry Raso: Starting an oyster farm is very difficult the first few years. There’s no revenue. So I continued to scuba dive for steamers and little neck clams in the pond over here, which created some revenue. The big help was a grant I got (with help) from Sen. Jack Reed that helped (me) teach people about the realities of aquaculture and foster the acceptance of the industry in Rhode Island, and that really helped. That three-year grant helped me get on my feet. It also allowed me to have the job of teaching people – mostly students – about aquaculture and the ecosystem services they provide to foster the industry, and I think it worked.
At the time, I was the 16th (aquaculture) farmer in the state, and now there’s well over 80 farmers in the state. And once that three-year grant period was over, I had product to sell, so I was starting to sell to Boston, New York, and then Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, DC. I realized the more I put into this, the more I could get out of it, and so I kept on investing in everything I was making back into the farm and grew the farm. It appreciated every year, so after you get your first crop, you always have a crop to sell as long as you don’t have any disease or mortality event.
On the initial success of Matunuck Oyster Bar upon its opening
Raso: I was shocked. I mean, I was quietly optimistic at the time in 2009, when I opened it, that it would be busy, but I never thought it would be as busy as it was. I don’t think anybody did.
I bought the piece of property the restaurant was on because I needed the commercial docks behind it for my oyster boats. I didn’t have any commercial access, and I knew I needed that spot. It was the low of the economy in 2008, 2009, the winter, and so I was able to get it with a Farm Service Agency loan. And the only way you get a Farm Service Agency loan is (to) prove that you can’t get another loan. I didn’t have any real estate, so I certainly couldn’t get another loan. So I got the Farm Service Agency loan to purchase the restaurant. I figured the first step is to figure out if the restaurant works, and (if) it fails, I’ll either live here or I’ll make it a fish market. Either way, I need the location for the docks. And it was successful, so much like the oyster farm, I continued to invest in the restaurant and build that business.
When I first started, I was still going out to the oyster farm every day, as I was before the restaurant, thinking that was going to be what I continued to do, and I’d just go into the restaurant at night and grab a beer and a burger or something. I’ll never forget coming into the launch the first day; people were everywhere. I took my waders off and just worked, worked in the restaurant bussing tables. We had a lot of issues. I was going to tables, and I still go to tables today to make sure everything’s good. But back then, I would go to tables and check in. Pretty much, I was seeing what was wrong at each table and try and make it right. My feeling was that ‘If I can get through this summer with a good reputation, when we close for the winter, we’ll fix all these things that we got to fix, and we’ll come into next summer strong.’ We never closed for the winter. People just kept coming. So it was unexpected.
On his reaction to the May 2025 fire that badly damaged the restaurant
Raso: I was worried. Once I got to the fire and saw the way the firefighters were fighting the fire, my focus really became on them. I was worried that they were in harm’s way and something awful could happen there.
When they put the fire out, it was really important to have some of my friends and advisors around me that I really trust… My lawyer, who became my friend, was with me when the fire was smoldering early in the morning, and he came up with this idea. He’s like, “Maybe you can put a tent in the parking lot over at the marina.” I was like, “I don’t want to put a tent in the bar. It’s going to ruin our brand, our reputation.” He kept on talking about it, and I’m really glad we did it. It really saved us.
On when he plans to reopen the physical restaurant
Raso: We’re hoping (for) the fall. I want it to get done quickly, of course, but I also want it to be done really well. That’s the timeline…
I just keep grinding. I mean, I’ll never forget (my) wrestling coach, telling me that in high school, James Barberio. (I’d be) running up hills, and he’s like, “Just keep grinding, just keep grinding.”
I wake up in the morning and put a day and a half’s work in and try and do the right thing. Really, this is something I think about a lot. It’s not, like, one decision. You have to string together a series, a large number of good decisions. And of course, you make the wrong decisions at times, but if you string together a large enough number of those good decisions, you wind up in a good spot. And then when you have a setback like this, it’s like starting from scratch, and it is discouraging. But I try and keep in mind that it’s the journey that you’re supposed to enjoy. It’s hard to have that mindset, but I try to remind myself of that.
