Reservations for Nobody, Party of 0
By Brooke A. Brown
Looks like the Charleston Town Center may have another food-related hole to fill in the very near future. Apparently, but not definitely as of yet, Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern is in the process of closing all of its nearly 800 locations, thus rendering them Benni-gone. They’re probably running vacuum cleaners while people finish their mozzarella cheese sticks, as I type this.
According to Newschannel 3, the company that owns the Irish-American-themed eatery has actually just filed bankruptcy. The folks at the Town Center seem to not know all the details yet. As soon as there are details, I’ll copy and paste them here.
Now, if they’re in fact leaving, what does the Town Center replace them with? (I realize we had a similar conversation when Gratzi’s said ciao, but it’s fun to daydream.) How about an actual, locally-owned and operated brewpub? There’s already a decent bar in place. Any other thoughts?
July 29th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Max & Erma’s or Ruby Tuesday’s.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:39 am
My instinct is that as much as I would like to have a brewpub in town, I think it would open up with a bang and then fail within 2 years… Unless the place could ramp up production for off-premise beer sales, have really good beer, have really good food and be very well capitalized.
There have been a few folks, including myself that have seriously looked at the Charleston market for a possible brew pub. With a brewpub, you are primarily a restaurant, and one with a very high start-up cost at that.
I would be more inclined to operate a small micro or even pico brewery that focuses on off-premise sales, but may have a small tasting pub on premise.
As for the Bennigan’s spot. First they need to take care of the rodents and then maybe someone can open a good sport’s bar (if there is such a thing)…
July 31st, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Newsweek gives some thorough coverage to the Bennigan’s Chapter 7 news here.
July 31st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I said it before and I’ll say it again, the Cheesecake Factory would go over huge in Charleston. There’s something on the menu for everyone.
As far as locally-owned goes, I’d love to see a really beautiful, elegant bakery with Napoleons and decadent little pastries filled with cream and covered in ganache…good coffee, too!