Charleston Restaurant Report January 2016
ON THE MENU
1. Green Scene – CAN FOOD PREP WASTE BECOME A PROFIT CENTER?
2. Local Restaurant News – CHARLESTON HOSTS NATIONAL FOOD RECOVERY SUMMIT
3. Restaurant Openings, Closings and Coming Soon
4. National Restaurant Trends – RESTAURANT GROUPS MOVING AWAY FROM TIPPING
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GREEN SCENE
CAN FOOD PREP WASTE BECOME A PROFIT CENTER?
In his Food Writer's Diary, Bret Thorn of Nations Restaurant News talks about the big issue of food waste and points to a few industry innovators turning restaurant prep by-product into a potential profit center. Check out the Food Writer's Diary.
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LOCAL RESTAURANT NEWS
CHARLESTON HOSTS NATIONAL FOOD RECOVERY SUMMIT
The EPA estimates that approximately 30% of edible food is wasted in the US and accounts for over 20% of our national waste stream into landfills. In an effort to stem the tide of food waste, representatives from the EPA, SCDHEC, NCDENR, SERDC, as well as large + small-scale food producers (restaurants), met in Charleston a few weeks ago to discuss food waste reduction, recycling, and food sustainability. As a side note, Charleston County won an award for its food recovery composting program. Read more about the Food Recovery Summit here in DHEC's Event Program (fyi -- slow download). Join the "Table to Farm" movement by putting your restaurant's food scraps into Charleston County's composting loop. Call 843.720.7111 for info.
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RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!
The following list reflects 4th Quarter 2015 market activity (October - December, 2015):
OPENINGS --
5 Church (Downtown – former Mad River Grille)
48 Wine Bar (Johns Island)
Another Broken Egg (Mt. Pleasant – former Pawleys Front Porch)
Anson (Downtown)
Blue Barn Juice Co. (James Island)
Blondie’s Bagels (Daniel Island – former Alchemy)
Boxcar Betty's (Summerville -- former Nagoya)
Chipotle (N. Charleston)
Cici's Pizza (Summerville)
Cooper River Coffee Roasters (Mt. Pleasant)
Cove Oyster Bar & Grill (N. Charleston – former Wreckfish)
Cure (James Island – former J Paulz)
Gnome Café (Downtown)
IHOP (James Island -- former Ruby Tuesday)
Istanbul Shish Kabobs (Mt. Pleasant – former Huddle House)
LoLa Lowcountry Louisiana Seafood Kitchen (N. Charleston)
Maybank Public House (James Island)
Poogan’s Smokehouse (Downtown – former Social)
Raising Cane’s (N. Charleston)
Sawyers on the Boulevard (Mt. Pleasant – former Buddy Roe’s)
Sugarbelles Cupcakery & Cafe (Summerville)
Tasty Fusion (Summerville)
The Watch Rooftop Kitchen (Downtown)
Verde (West Ashley – former Subway)
Lotus (N. Charleston)
CLOSINGS --
Bagel Nation (Mt. Pleasant)
Mosaic (Mt. Pleasant)
Tsunami (Downtown)
Wet Willie's (Downtown)
COMING SOON --
60 Bull Café (Downtown – former Smith & Bull Café)
843 Korean BBQ & Sushi House (N. Charleston – former Wong’s Asian Bistro)
Café Istanbul (Downtown – former Firehouse Subs)
Cane (Downtown – former Big John’s Tavern)
Chicken Salad Chick (Mt. Pleasant)
Community Pizza House (N. Charleston)
Congress (Mt. Pleasant – former La Hacienda)
Cook Out (Summerville)
Dairy Queen (Goose Creek)
Fill (Mt. Pleasant – former Mosaic)
Home Team BBQ (Downtown)
Mellow Mushroom (N. Charleston)
MOD Pizza (Downtown)
Panera Bread (Downtown)
Peace Pie (Downtown)
Revelator Coffee Company (Downtown)
WildFlour Pastry (W. Ashley – former Rococo)
Zaxby’s (N. Charleston)
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NATIONAL RESTAURANT TRENDS
RESTAURANT GROUPS MOVING AWAY FROM TIPPING
Union Square Hospitality Group in NYC and Ignite Restaurant Group (Joe's Crab Shack) are two of many restaurant groups nationwide changing worker compensation by adopting a no-tip policy. Higher menu prices will offset the lost tips in an effort to provide higher wages for hourly back-of-house staff and more stable wages for servers. Read these articles from CNBC and CNN for more info.