Beginning this week, locals and tourists visiting the Old Town will have another choice of restaurant with the opening of Wahoo's Bistro and Patio on Water Street.

The new eatery, which takes the place of the former Café Gio, was opened on Monday in a ribbon-cutting attended by St. George's Mayor Kenneth Bascome. Yet when the restaurant opened its doors for lunch yesterday, it was hardly the quiet start the owners had expected.

"We were looking for a soft opening, but it was kind of hectic," admitted co-owner Geza Wolf. "It was kind of day you want every day, though maybe not on your first!"

Among St. George's restaurants, Wahoo's is a new entry in a dwindling crowd. With the recent closures of the Carriage House and George and the Dragon, there are now no more than four remaining. Despite this, Mr. Wolf said he had no hesitation when approached by his partner Alfred Konrad.

Both men bring with them decades of combined experience in the industry. Mr. Wolf was the one-time owner of the Beer Garden in Hamilton and later Flying Chef Catering. His co-owner will be recognisable to many locals as the long-time owner of the popular Mulligan's restaurant at the St. George's Golf Club, which Government closed two years ago.

Despite only taking over the premises in April, the two have managed in that time to completely change the interior, hire a staff and design a new menu. The latter task fell to Mr. Konrad, whose eclectic offerings at Mulligan's were popular with a legion of regulars.

"We are using similar dishes and many of the same concepts," Mr. Konrad told The Royal Gazette yesterday. "It was nice today to see some regulars who used to frequent Mulligan's."

The Wahoo's menu does, however, have one important difference. Customers can chose from an entire page of dishes — chowder, tacos and the like — featuring the restaurant's namesake fish. For Mr. Konrad, it's part of a business philosophy that seems to have served him well.

"You just have to reinvent yourself… for instance, we are serving Italian gelato for customers looking only for a quick ice cream," he said.

Yet perhaps what sets Wahoo's apart most from the competition is the entirely Bermudian staff — something both owners are proud of and want to maintain.

Mr. Konrad explained that, though traditionally business-owners in the East End have had difficulty attracting locals used to working in Hamilton, the present economic climate seems to have made potential employees more accommodating.

Still, like any business owners in St. George's, both men know all too well the importance of the cruise ships and the economic lifeline they provide. Yet, even though half of yesterday's customers were tourists, for now the restaurant's only advertising will be word-of-mouth.

"If you take care of the locals, they will send the tourists," insisted Mr. Konrad.

For the town's newest business owners the early signs, at least, are encouraging.

The real test of their business, of course, will come in the winter months when the town is no longer in the shadow of the cruise ships and visitors are few and far between. To survive, they say, Wahoo's will need a local following to get it through the off-season. Others have tried and failed in St. George's, but these newcomers seem to savour the challenge.

Wahoo's is located at 36 Water Street, St. George's, the site of the former Café Gio. For more information, call 287-1907.