Charleston Restaurant Report JANUARY 2025
ON THE MENU
1. Local Restaurant Scene -- HAVE YOU EVER GHOSTED A RESTAURANT?
2. National Restaurant Scene – MONDAY RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS
3. Restaurant Openings, Closings + Coming Soon!
4. Food For Thought -- BUILDING BRAND LOYALTY WITH STICKERS
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LOCAL RESTAURANT SCENE
HAVE YOU EVER GHOSTED A RESTAURANT?
Restaurants have dealt with the problem of diners skipping reservations for as long as reservations have been offered. Cancel at the last minute or blow off your reservation and don't think twice about it. The hard issue is that those diners don't consider the damage done when they ghost that restaurant. Sure plans change. And reservation policies change too. As a result, more restaurants are charging fees for dodging reservations. Dive in here to learn more from the Post & Courier here....
NATIONAL RESTAURANT SCENE
MONDAY RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS
Restaurant Business magazine mined the reservation data from Toast's 3rd Qtr Restaurant Trends Report and shared a few nuggets: Monday / Tuesday reservations are up and earlier dinners (5-6pm) are becoming more popular. Perhaps these moves are due to worker hours being more flexible these days and people want to avoid weekend crowds, or maybe they just don't want to eat at home on Monday nights. Take a look here....
RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!
Openings + Closings list reflects 4th Quarter 2024 market activity (October - December):
OPENINGS --
Abbracci (Mount Pleasant)
Blanca Estrada (Downtown)
Broken Leash (North Charleston)
By The Way (Downtown — former Warehouse)
Cakette Bakeshop (North Charleston — former Park Circle Co-op)
Chef Loong Dim Sum & Soup Dumplings (West Ashley — former Old Li’s)
Dunkin’ (Cainhoy)
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers (Goose Creek)
Heavy’s Barburger (Daniel Island — former Laura Alberts)
Jersey Mike’s Subs (Summerville)
Jersey Mike’s Subs (West Ashley)
Kickin’ Chicken (West Ashley)
La Cave (Downtown — former OddFellows Ice Cream)
La Minerva Cocina and Tequila (North Charleston)
Legami (Downtown — former 492)
Lilian’s (Downtown — former Harold’s Cabin)
Mai Poke (Goose Creek)
McDonald’s (Moncks Corner)
Petit Merci (Downtown)
Playa Bowls (Goose Creek)
Roseline (Downtown — former Sightsee)
Seahorse (Downtown)
Starbucks (Goose Creek)
Talucci’s Bakery (Summerville)
The Italian Boy (Downtown -- inside The Pass)
CLOSINGS --
Bar Rollins (Downtown)
Barsa (Downtown)
Bearcat (West Ashley)
Blu Oyster Sushi & Seafood (Johns Island)
Crazy Mason Milkshakes (Mount Pleasant)
Jason’s Deli (West Ashley)
Lowcountry Sports Social (Mount Pleasant)
Makan (Downtown)
Maya (Downtown)
Rutledge Cab Co. (Downtown)
White Duck Taco Shop (Mount Pleasant)
COMING SOON --
The number of publicly-announced restaurant projects on the Coming Soon list -- expected to open in the next 12 months -- is 65 at the end of the 4th quarter.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
BUILDING BRAND LOYALTY WITH STICKERS
There are a lot of ways to promote a restaurant these days. One old-school marketing tool is continuing to prove its effectiveness in building a community of loyal customers -- STICKERS. They are popular with all ages. You see them wherever you go. They are collectable. Just ask the folks at Dutch Bros Coffee. Effective, low-cost marketing currency...Who needs matchbooks or logoed tin ashtrays (remember Hardee's?) when you could have stickers? Read more about it in Nation's Restaurant News...
