After a decade fighting to build Chappy's Steak & Seafood, and less than a year at the restaurant's helm, the Chaplin family has sold the waterfront eatery next to the Seven Mile Bridge in Marathon.</p><p>"The time to sell is when you've got a buyer," says former owner Jim Chaplin, a longtime real estate agent. </p><p>The restaurant on Knights Key sold for $3.1 million. American Caribbean Real Estate’s Jeb Hale, who handled both sides of the transaction, called it “a fair price” for the 150-seat bar and restaurant with a pool and an expansive view of the water and the famous Seven Mile Bridge.</p><p>New owner John Kotch is an experienced restaurateur who owns two eateries on North Carolina's Outer Banks. The restaurant reopened as Sunset Grille & Raw Bar. Kotch owns a restaurant with the same name in Duck, N.C., as well as one called Fishbones.</p><p>Kotch bought a home here two years ago, and has been hanging out with longtime friend John Mirabella, who owns Castaway Waterfront Restaurant & Sushi Bar. Kotch sounds a little surprised to find himself the owner of a restaurant in the place where he’s supposed to be relaxing.</p><p>"I wasn't looking to do this," says the Pennsylvania native, adding rather ruefully that his fishing days are numbered now. </p><p>Sunset Grille will feature a raw bar and a diverse, Caribbean-inspired menu with lots of local flair. "We serve something for everyone," he says, and put a premium on good service.</p><p>"I know we have a monumental task ahead," Kotch says, and he plans on staying in the Keys until the restaurant is running like clockwork. </p><p>Jim and Bettye Chaplin purchased the property on Knights Key, at mile marker 47 of U.S. 1, more than 12 years ago, with the dream of opening a restaurant.</p><p>But obstacles — zoning issues, neighborhood concerns, costly impact fees — kept arising and delaying the project. At one point, they even put the parcel up for sale.</p><p>Finally, in fall 2008, with permits in hand, the family started a six-month sprint to open the restaurant with its oceanfront pool.</p><p>"That was our dream, and we put our blood, sweat and tears into it," says Jim Chaplin, who supervised construction of the 150-seat bar and restaurant topped with a cathedral-style tiki roof.</p><p>The Chaplins' sons, Steve and James, managed the eatery, which opened in March 2009.</p><p>"It's a tough business," Chaplin says of the restaurant industry. "You've got to know that business."</p><p>Ultimately, Chaplin says, it just made sense to sell, particularly with an industry veteran standing ready to buy. Kotch has been in the business for 15 years, and he’s used to high volume and seasonal swings in his North Carolina eateries.</p><p>"He's been nothing but a great guy to work with," Kotch says of Jim Chaplin. "I know it had to be a little bittersweet." The deal closed Friday morning. Kotch declined to reveal the price he paid.</p><p>Jim and Bettye Chaplin are planning a trip to Daytona for 10 days and a monthlong trip to Alaska over the summer, following through on a promise they made last spring to hit the NASCAR circuit and travel more in their RV.</p><p>Last March, Chaplin spoke about the struggle to build Chappy's: "It's something that we felt that Marathon needed." Interviewed on the eve of the sale closing, Jim Chaplin says he still feels that way today.</p><p>Kotch remembers watching the construction and thinking that someone was going to have a real showplace on their hands. He just never thought it would be his.</p><p>"There’s not a better spot in the Keys," Kotch says.