By Katie Northcott, News Director
Jessica O’Neal woke up one morning super excited.
“What’s wrong with you?” her husband Chris O’Neal asked.
“We’re going to open a restaurant called the Holy Crab Shack,” Jessica said. “And it’s going to be faith-based.”
“You’ve lost your mind,” Chris said. “We cannot afford to open a restaurant, right now.”
He had a point. The O’Neals were on EBT and any other financial assistance they could get. They were raising seven kids in a little house.
But the next day, Jessica couldn’t stop writing stuff down. The menu. The name. The Bible verses. The layout. The decorations.
“No,” Jessica said. “We’re going to do it. We’re going to do it. God says we’re going to do it, and we’re going to do it.”
After two months of researching and testing a menu, the O’Neals found a location and started the process of opening a seafood place in Shelbyville.
When the first location didn’t work out, the O’Neals then turned to Bell Buckle. But Jessica didn’t know if a seafood restaurant in Bell Buckle would be successful. She wanted to open the restaurant in Shelbyville.
The O’Neals were driving on N. Main Street in Shelbyville when they saw a man outside an empty building looking discouraged. The O’Neals pulled up to the building and started talking to the man.
His name was Hieu Ha, and he was the landlord of the building. He brought them into the building and gave them a tour. The building used to be a bar, and it was very rundown.
“If you’ll take it the way it is,” Ha said, “you can start renting it right now and not pay until you get it up and running.”
“We might be able to do this,” Jessica said to Chris. “We really might be able to do this.”
The O’Neals had about $5000 left that they hadn’t invested in the other building. They accepted the man’s offer and put every penny of the $5000 into the building over the next three months.
When they finally opened in July 2024, Jessica saw God bless their full surrender of their finances. The menu, name, Bible verses, layout, decorations. It was how she had imagined. And they hadn’t even gone into debt to open the business.
“I’m a firm believer that once the complete obedience and faith and surrender were there, that’s when this place was born,” Jessica said. “That’s when God said, ‘Okay, you’re ready.’”
Jessica and Chris O’Neal own the Holy Crab Shack at 1731 N. Main Street in Shelbyville. The restaurant is family-run and faith-based. The menu offers everything from crab legs to elk burgers to cheesecake.
The O’Neals incorporate their Christian faith into the restaurant. They put Bible verses on their takeout boxes and drinks, play only Christian music, and host only Christian comedians and singers on their stage.
The restaurant shuts down early on Wednesdays to host Bible Buddies, a program that currently hosts 20 kids weekly. The kids’ ages range from 7 years old to 18 years old. During Bible Buddies, the O’Neals feed the kids, bring in local pastors, study the Bible, play Bible Trivia, and take field trips.
Jessica sees shutting down on Wednesday nights as an act of faith.
“We had a friend tell us, ‘You need to take time out for God, and He will make sure that you are covered by losing those hours of being open,’” Jessica said. “And it has been that way.”
Jessica sees God’s provision in the turn out to bingo night every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. The bingo nights keep the restaurant afloat during the week as the restaurant would usually be busy only on the weekends.
The O’Neals are hoping to open a seafood and steak market in the building where people who are struggling financially can purchase the food at market price. The market will also offer things like soup and salad. Its food will be available on DoorDash. The restaurant and the market accept EBT cash.
“That’s going to be a real big game changer for this town because I know I can’t take all seven of my kids to a restaurant and eat. It’s too expensive,” Jessica said.
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