San Pedro Fish Market donates meals to Fire Station 36 in Long Beach. Photo by Mike Ungaro.

Shortly after investing millions and opening his first location in Long Beach, San Pedro Fish Market owner Mike Ungaro was faced with the coronavirus pandemic, the possibility of permanently losing hundreds of workers after layoffs and the difficult question of what the purpose of his business would be.

Luckily, he, his family and crew, arrived at a simple answer: get people food.

So, they created dinner trays that cost only $5 a person—barely covering labor and product—while donating any leftovers to first responders across the county.

“When they first announced the closures, it was shocking,” Ungaro said. “But we’re a tight-knit, family-owned business so we all sat down, my brothers and sister and managers and discussed the situation: What does this mean? What does it look like for our employees, their families, our customers and their families? Our vendors and their families? And, most importantly, how can we help?”

That led the San Pedro Fish Company to two plans. The first focused on keeping as many people employed as possible, and that meant creating a seafood tray that feeds four and cost $20, covering the food and labor while providing families across the area with accessible, quality food.

San Pedro Fish Market in Long Beach’s Alamitos Bay. Courtesy of Yelp!/Bill H.

The second plan revolved around donating whatever was left over to first responders.

“We are lucky, we have access to plenty of seafood on a continual basis,” he said.

The result has been more than 1,200 meals donated, mostly directly through Ungaro himself while collaborators begin to step up to the plate.

“We are donating the food ourselves but open to coordinating with others where we can,” he said. “As a matter of fact, my friend Kris Massaro, a local real estate agent in Long Beach, is gathering food donations for first responders so we offered to help with that.”

Ungaro’s San Pedro Fish Market, open since 1965 and still standing along the now-demolished Ports O Call in San Pedro, is the stuff of legend: the state’s largest seafood restaurant, it heaps piles of shrimp, mussels, clams, octopus, lobster, calamari, halibut, crab, and scallops for your gluttonous delight. Hell, it’s even spawned wannabe versions of its platter in Irvine (though there is no comparison to the OG version).

Its Long Beach location, the first ever extension of the brand, opened in January of this year.