INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — What started as a spicy chicken pop-up known as Bertie’s has transformed into sustainable seafood cuisine. The opening of Cape House last week marked the end of an era for Bertie’s, but a new beginning for owner Rick Boyd and the Incline Village community.

“We’re excited to be back into full service dining,” said Boyd.

In comparison, Boyd explained that Bertie’s mostly served takeout during lunch and dinner hours.

“We did extremely well with Bertie’s, but we definitely need to be able to sit down and have conversations with our customers,” Boyd said.

The original plan to transition into seafood was first halted by COVID, but even as restrictions began to lift again, Boyd found a greater issue with the lack of staffing in the area.

“It was difficult finding people while trying to staff Bertie’s for lunch and dinner,” Boyd said. “Some people were working six days a week and not having a life of their own. And moving to full service seafood, obviously the price point goes up and allows us to have a smaller staff and not be there for as long of days.”

Now, Boyd and his staff are excited to come back refreshed and ready to serve a sustainable menu of seafood items. The sustainability comes from the nationwide struggle currently for some higher-end items, like king crab.

“We haven’t been able to get some things that we would normally have on the menu full time either because they’re unavailable or they’re just unreasonably priced,” said Boyd. “So we’re really trying to focus on sustainable seafood.”

The menu features fish like trout, pacific caught salmon, oysters, red snapper, and other fish that have faster breeding times.

Cape House officially opened Tuesday, Nov 9, and since then business has been steady. Boyd and his team are excited to continue working out what the business could look like as it moves into the holiday season, as well as connecting with his customers.

“Incline Village is much more of a local community,” Boyd said. “You see a lot of the same faces, even during heavy tourist seasons; they’re not lost in the crowd. So we have to try and have a very strong involvement within the community. That’s been very important to us since we moved here, was to really try to embrace that.”

The restaurant’s hours are from 4:30 to 9 p.m., with reservations preferred. To view the full new menu, and to make reservations, visit cape-house.com, or call 775-413-5050.

For more information on hosting a private party, email contact@cape-house.com.