One business just wasn’t enough for Lia and Brian Menten. So they opened another. And another.

It all snowballed when the Coos Bay couple bought the former Oddfellows building on South Broadway Street in downtown two years ago. Initially, they leased out three of the four retail spaces. Now they run three of the businesses.

People who frequent downtown might associate the couple with their surf shop, Waxer’s Surf and Skate Shop, in the building. But that’s not all. They renovated the building’s theater and recently began running their own restaurant.

The Mentens, who both moved to the Bay Area as kids in the late 1980s, quietly opened Shark Bites in late June after T.J. Shaws, the longtime restaurant in the space, went out of business. They tried for about a month to find someone to take over the lease, but when no one came forward, they decided to do it themselves.

Lia, 26, and her 27-year-old husband, Brian, purchased the more than 20,000-square-foot building on credit for $650,000, according to Lia. The sudden loss of rental income, combined with a poor economy, has put a financial strain on them, she said.

“We really didn’t have a lot left to take more risks,” Lia said.

Even with this rough start, the couple has high hopes that their restaurant will become a favorite waterfront dining spot for locals and tourists alike.

They have hired cook Kent Miller, formerly a kitchen manager for Coos Bay’s now-closed Timber Inn, and an assistant cook, Randy Ford, who got his culinary skills from Oregon Coast Culinary Institute at Southwestern Oregon Community College in North Bend.

Shark Bites is now open for breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. They have applied for a liquor license and are advertising for a dinner chef to prepare for serving dinners every day of the week. As to the menu, the Mentens are adding more organic “responsible” foods, including free-range eggs and locally grown meats.

Lia said tourists often stop in asking where they can find a restaurant that serves fish. The restaurant already serves Alaskan cod fish and chips, and plans to add more dinner recipes featuring locally caught fish.

“We’re going to have more seafoody stuff for lunch and dinners,” Lia said.

The 1,500-square-foot restaurant is just a small portion of the building. The couple also manages the Broadway Theater, that mainly features local and out-of-the-area rock-folk-Indie style bands. Josie Salon, sandwiched between the theater and surf shop, is the one tenant leasing space from the couple.

With eight employees between their three businesses, the Mentens are putting in a lot of hours, but they are determined to make it work.

“It’s a lot of work,” Brian said, laughing. “It cuts into my surfing, that’s for sure. But we’re not going anywhere.”