Modesto’s old Fisherman’s Galley finds new life, opens thanks to local meal prep chef
After helping Stanislaus County residents eat healthier for the last six years, the owner of Valley Meal Prep wants to help you indulge a little, too.
In 2015, Matt Martin launched his food prep business on lower McHenry Avenue. Now, he has opened a new full-service restaurant on upper McHenry Avenue, serving up tasty favorites. The Valley Grill & Meal Prep opened late last month in the former longtime Fisherman’s Galley building.
Martin worked for years as a chef at some of Modesto’s best-known restaurants and fine-dining establishments like Harvest Moon, Greens on Tenth and Verona. But with his meal prep business, he emphasized healthier options, with a large selection of low-fat, low-carb and low-sodium preparations.
Still, after years of making good-for-you food, he wants to show off his other culinary skills.
“I’ve wanted to have a bar and grill for a while. I never thought when I started (the meal prep business) it’d become what is has. I thought it would be something I did while I was in between restaurants,” he said. “But doing meal prep isn’t necessarily my passion as a chef, so I was searching for a place.”
His 22 years of experience in mostly Modesto-area kitchens gave him experience in a wide variety of cooking styles. For the last four years, he has been experimenting with smoking meats as well. So in his new place, he brought some of his favorite cuisines like barbecue and Italian to his menu.
You’ll find smoked meats including tri-tip, ribs and a half-chicken at Valley Grill (ranging in price from $19 to $22). There also are Italian dishes, including pasta primavera and Cajun shrimp fettuccine (which run $12 to $16). And then there are a number of fish and shellfish options, including salmon, halibut and scallop entrees, all for $16 a plate.
Martin said he is focused on making clean, from-scratch, affordable food a whole family can enjoy. Despite the white tablecloths, entrees are reasonably priced. You can choose from a lobster roll ($15) and cioppino ($16), to mac-and-cheese ($8), to a burger (beef or Beyond meatless varieties both run $13). At $28, the rib eye steak is the most expensive item on the menu.
Valley Grill honors Fisherman’s Galley
The varied fish and seafood selections were also intentional, Martin said, a way to pay homage to the restaurant’s four decades as one of the region’s premiere upscale seafood establishments. First opened in 1976 on Yosemite Avenue, the Fisherman’s Galley moved to its McHenry Avenue location in 1982.
Longtime owner Jue Chang and his wife bought the restaurant from its founders about 10 years after its debut and owned it and the building since. Sadly, the seafood spot closed for good about four years ago.
In 2019, the building was briefly slated to become a new restaurant with an Indian, seafood and pizza focus. But those plans fell through and the site remained vacant until Martin expressed interest. He is now leasing from Chang, who despite being in his 80s still wants to stop by to help in the kitchen.
After extensive, 10-month-long renovations and work to bring the long-running restaurant up to code, the result is an airier, brighter dining space. The restaurant is festooned with images of food and Martin’s favorite chef, the late Anthony Bourdain.
The signature stained-glass windows of the Fisherman’s Galley have been removed — Chang has kept them plus the bar’s original chandeliers. The building’s attached wood-lined bar — which back in the day had a coat check for its fine-dining customers — has been cleaned up but largely kept the same.
Martin has added a gated patio in front, and the restaurant has its entertainment permit, so expect live music inside and out once things get settled. A staff of 24 works the 5,000-square-foot space, which serves lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday with a bar that stays open late on the weekends. The dining room can seat 135, with 90 more in the bar and 40 seats outside on the new patio.
And, don’t worry, Martin hasn’t forgotten his meal prep roots. Since opening his McHenry Avenue location in Modesto, he has opened additional locations in Turlock and Stockton. You can find a refrigerator with meal-prep dishes and grab-and-go items in the back of the bar at Valley Grill.
He’s also pleased to open another full-service restaurant in the central Modesto area, because many new eateries go either downtown or closer to the freeway when opening in the area.
“This was just a vacant building that was an eyesore, and we felt this was the perfect spot for it,” Martin said. “I’ve got businesses on both ends of McHenry now, which is perfect.”
Valley Grill & Meal Prep, at 3008 McHenry Ave. in Modesto, is open 10:30 a.m. to midnight Monday to Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 209-409-8621 or visit www.facebook.com/ValleyGrillModesto.
