Charleston Restaurant Report October 2012
October 2012 - Issue #14
Charleston Restaurant Report
On The Menu
1. Green Scene – Local Food Sourcing One Bite at a Time
2. Local Restaurant News – Upper King District Filling Up On Restaurants
3. Restaurant Openings, Closings + Coming Soon!
4. National Restaurant Trends– Brand My Burger Bun?
Green Scene– Local Food Sourcing One Bite at a Time
NRN Food Editor Bret Thorn wrote an interesting article recently about the shift toward local food sourcing by some regional and national restaurant groups. While it may be impractical, if not impossible, to completely stock a high-volume restaurant with 100% locally-sourced food year-round, restaurateurs can still make an impact in their communities by incorporating even a small percentage of local foods into their menus. Forging relationships between growers, vendors, restaurateurs and customers will only make stronger communities. Customers are definitely taking note of these changes.
Nation’s Restaurant News Article on Local Ingredient Sourcing
http://nrn.com/article/local-sourcing-need-not-be-all-or-nothing?ad=operations
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Local Restaurant News– Upper King District Filling Up On Restaurants
New restaurants and bars continue to pile into the Upper King Street District. There is an alarming number of new restaurants either in the planning stages, under construction, or recently opened in the Upper King District. Local industry watchers question whether all of these new restaurants can stake a claim, hope to survive, or actually excel and thrive amidst an already-crowded field of established downtown competitors. Here is a rundown of new restaurant properties in the works in the Upper King District – The Ordinary, Stars Restaurant, The Alley, The Rarebit, as well as yet-to-be-named restaurants at 482 King, 492 King, 513 King, 526 King, and 585 King. Every one of these properties is being converted from a non-restaurant prior use, which means a lot of upfit dollars are being spent to accommodate new kitchen and bar infrastructure. The question that strikes me is this one: Can these restaurants pull another $20+ million in annual sales off the street to pay their bills and realize a return on their heavy infrastructure investments? Time will tell.
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Restaurant Openings, Closings + Coming Soon!
The following list reflects market activity since July, 2012.
Openings --
Angel Oak (West Ashley – former Caliente)
Baroni’s Pizza (Mt Pleasant)
Bon Banh Mi (Downtown – former Remedy Market)
Brown Dog Deli (Downtown -- former Brent's On Broad)
Burrell & Flynn’s (West Ashley – former On The Fly)
Burton’s Grill (Mt Pleasant – former On The Border)
Chick-fil-A (Downtown)
Collective Coffee Co. (Mt Pleasant – former Bodacious Bagel)
Cracker Barrel (Mount Pleasant)
Delish Bakery & Bistro (Downtown)
Eggs Up Grill (Mt Pleasant)
Elliotborough Mini Bar (Downtown – former Enoteca)
EVO Craft Bakery (North Charleston)
Fire Street Food (Downtown – former Burger Babies)
Fratello’s (North Charleston – former Aunt Bea’s)
Gennaro’s (West Ashley)
Grimaldi’s Pizzeria (Mt Pleasant – former Benito’s)
Jimmy John’s (North Charleston)
L.I.F.E. Bar & Lounge (Downtown)
Mi Xao (Mt Pleasant)
Ms Rose’s Fine Foods (W. Ashley – former Sunfire Grill)
Ocean Super China Buffet (W. Ashley – former A1 China Super Buffet)
Pal Joey’s Martini Lounge (Mt Pleasant – former La Fontana)
P.I.E. Bake Shoppe (Downtown)
Pie’s Pizza (Ravenel)
Salty Waters Raw Bar & Grill (James Island – former Starfish Grille)
Stars Restaurant (Downtown)
The Lot (West Ashley – former El Bohio)
The Shelter (Mt Pleasant)
Wing Stop (North Charleston)
Closings --
A1 (China Super Buffet – West Ashley)
Bodacious Bagels (Mt Pleasant)
Brent’s on Broad (Downtown – name change)
Burger Babies (Downtown)
Dog & Duck (West Ashley)
El Bohio (West Ashley – name change)
Eileen’s Restaurant (Summerville)
Flyin’ Hawaiian Grill (Summerville)
Hope and Union Coffee Co. (Downtown)
La Fontana (Mt Pleasant)
Lana’s (Daniel Island)
Next Door (Mt Pleasant)
Patat Spot (Downtown)
Penachio’s (West Ashley)
Picadilly (North Charleston)
The Starfish Grille (James Island)
Uno Mas (Mt Pleasant)
Vino Burgerz (Mt Pleasant)
Coming Soon --
Brown’s Court Bakery (Downtown – former Hope + Union)
Burwell’s Stone Fire Grill (Downtown – former Gilligan’s)
Chipotle Mexican Grill (Mt Pleasant)
CookOut (North Charleston)
Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse (N. Charleston -- former Picadilly)
Craftsmen Kitchen & Tap House (Downtown – former Johnson’s Pub)
Crust (James Island – former Savory Sushi)
El Jalapeno (Summerville – former Flyin’ Hawaiian)
Falyn’s on Forty-One (Mount Pleasant)
FreshBerry (Mt Pleasant)
Guadeloupe Grill (Mt Pleasant)
Jet’s Pizza (North Charleston)
Kokomo Joe’s (West Ashley)
La Hacienda (Mt Pleasant – former Gringo’s)
Manny’s (Downtown – former Patat Spot)
Phuong Vietnamese (North Charleston)
Republic Garden & Lounge (Downtown – former Chai’s)
Rutledge Grill (Downtown)
Sloppy Cow (James Island – former Skibo’s)
Steak N Shake (North Charleston)
The Alley (Downtown)
The Gathering Café (W. Ashley – former Sweetsmith Bakery)
The Ordinary (Downtown)
The Rarebit (Downtown)
What Sub Deli (Moncks Corner)
Xiao Bao Biscuit (Downtown)
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National Restaurant Trends – Brand My Burger Bun?
Burger joints are finding creative ways to attract new and repeat business. The latest idea to sell more burgers involves bun branding. Take a hot iron logo and stamp it on your burger bun. How about a plant-based material stamp for your burger bun? Or even a stamped logo of the local university on your burger bun? Burger operators say that bun branding drives traffic to the restaurants and helps upsell premium burgers.