Sparkle City Eateries

[westsider28]

On 1/21/2020 at 10:07 AM, Sparkleman said:

I heard a couple of things around town this weekend. Nacho Taco (name may change) is moving into the old Mellow Mushroom.

This is now official.  Mata’s Mexican Bar and Grill should open in April. 

[Spartanburg Dude]

54 minutes ago, westsider28 said:

This is now official.  Mata’s Mexican Bar and Grill should open in April. 

They're not moving. Mata's is indeed owned by the owner of Nacho Taco and his father, but Nacho Taco will remain open. This will be a different concept entirely. 

[FlopShotter]

And now a third Mexican (or Tex-Mex) restaurant within a stone's throw of each other. 

https://www.goupstate.com/news/20200204/bronco-mexican-restaurant-expanding-to-downtown-spartanburg

[roads-scholar]

On 2/4/2020 at 9:33 AM, FlopShotter said:

And now a third Mexican (or Tex-Mex) restaurant within a stone's throw of each other. 

https://www.goupstate.com/news/20200204/bronco-mexican-restaurant-expanding-to-downtown-spartanburg

Bronco will be a good traffic generator for this shopping center.

[Spartanburg Dude]

A new concept, "Burgers & Bakery" is coming to the old LeSpice location on the west side. 
More info to follow. 

[westsider28]

Initial Q has opened in the former Leader building (above UnderPin bowling) on Morgan Square.  The upscale barbecue restaurant is only open for dinner now, but they plan to add lunch hours in the future.  I'll be interested to try this one.  Adds another cuisine option to the downtown restaurant scene.

[Spartanburg Dude]

So my wife and I are opening a restaurant! 
Come check us out. 

https://www.goupstate.com/news/20200213/burgers--bakery-to-bring-baber-rhyne-burgers-european-desserts-to-west-side

Edited February 13, 2020 by Spartanburg Dude

[Spartan]

Cool! Best of luck to you!

[Spartanburg Dude]

22 hours ago, Spartan said:

Cool! Best of luck to you!

Thanks a million!

[Sparkleman]

I was talking with a well respected downtown business owner the other day and the question of restaurant health came up. I asked him how many restaurants won't make it back from the Covid 19 crisis. He said that he knew of 5-7 downtown that were already on the ropes before this thing really got cranked up and most others really only had enough money to make it a couple of months AFTER laying almost everyone off. Not sure how its going to break for a lot of folks downtown especially at FR8yard and bowling alley, but hope they find a way around it.

Unfortunately I feel this crisis has stopped the Burg's momentum dead in its tracks although it felt things were beginning to slow a little anyway. I am not sure there is an answer for how a restaurant survives going forward although if you are built for take out like TNT hot wings or New China, you haven't missed a beat.

[westsider28]

Unfortunately, I agree.  We'll almost certainly lose some restaurants to this crisis.

On the bright side, Morgan Square restaurants have partnered with the City to close Main Street from Church to Magnolia to accommodate more outdoor seating while maintaining distancing guidelines.  It starts Thursday at 11 AM.  Great to see this effort to support local restaurants.

[roads-scholar]

On 5/4/2020 at 2:16 PM, Sparkleman said:

I was talking with a well respected downtown business owner the other day and the question of restaurant health came up. I asked him how many restaurants won't make it back from the Covid 19 crisis. He said that he knew of 5-7 downtown that were already on the ropes before this thing really got cranked up and most others really only had enough money to make it a couple of months AFTER laying almost everyone off. Not sure how its going to break for a lot of folks downtown especially at FR8yard and bowling alley, but hope they find a way around it.

Unfortunately I feel this crisis has stopped the Burg's momentum dead in its tracks although it felt things were beginning to slow a little anyway. I am not sure there is an answer for how a restaurant survives going forward although if you are built for take out like TNT hot wings or New China, you haven't missed a beat.

I'm terribly concerned with every small business, not only in Spartanburg but everywhere.  The longer this goes the more casualties we're going to see. 

I think the good news is that downtown Spartanburg has turned a corner and its place as a destination is set.  This should bode well for future investment. 

[Spartan]

I think this is really cool. They're going to close off Main Street along Morgan Square to vehicular traffic to allow restaurants more space to serve patrons outside. It would be great to see this happen more often. I someday dream of the entirety of the Square being closed off to vehicles because there are so many pedestrian it makes more sense to give all of the space to them.

[djh1963]

I understand doing it now because the dining rooms are not opened, but closing off the square  permently IDK shades of the Main Street Mall come to mind..

 

[vicupstate]

Pedestrian malls are a disaster in 95% of the cases it has been tried. They do work in a few places, but not many. 

[Spartan]

Ped malls can work, but you have to have the pedestrians first. Spartanburg tried (and failed) at it because it was a gimmick to compete with the suburbs. Once you reach a critical mass of people (eg: more people than cars), you can shift more and more space to pedestrians and it makes the experience better for people. That said, we're still a long way from anything like that.

[SparkleCity1]

Any idea what is going into the downtown Le Spice restaurant building?  I saw a sign that said Sophia's coming soon.

 

[Spartanburg Dude]

1 hour ago, SparkleCity1 said:

Any idea what is going into the downtown Le Spice restaurant building?  I saw a sign that said Sophia's coming soon.

I know that it's an Italian place, owners are from NY. That's all I've heard. 

 

I 

[SparkleCity1]

I heard a rumor that Wild Ace’s building was leased. Can anyone confirm?

[westsider28]

1 hour ago, SparkleCity1 said:

I heard a rumor that Wild Ace’s building was leased. Can anyone confirm?

I saw some work being done there last week, so it certainly seems possible.

[Sparkleman]

Renato made it pretty clear that he was moving out of downtown due to what he called sky rocketing rents. 10K a month sounds pretty extreme to me so I don't blame him.

Word is that he may land down at the old Clancy's building on Union St. I think that could be very cool and I am sure the rent would be drastically less.

[roads-scholar]

On 7/6/2020 at 6:44 PM, westsider28 said:

I saw some work being done there last week, so it certainly seems possible.

The Wild Ace building will become an events center.  

[westsider28]

On 7/13/2020 at 12:51 PM, roads-scholar said:

The Wild Ace building will become an events center.  

A bit disappointing, IMO.  Waste of the best patio space in town.  Plus it's not as consistently active as a restaurant would be.  

On 7/13/2020 at 10:39 AM, Sparkleman said:

Renato made it pretty clear that he was moving out of downtown due to what he called sky rocketing rents. 10K a month sounds pretty extreme to me so I don't blame him.

Word is that he may land down at the old Clancy's building on Union St. I think that could be very cool and I am sure the rent would be drastically less.

I think the Pine/Union corridor has a lot of potential for renovations for restaurants, etc over the next few years.

Today I drove by and saw that the old Sake Grill on Church St (across from the Marriott) finally has a tenant.  The sign says Kingston Homestyle Kitchen, and it will serve Jamaican/Caribbean food.  Apparently this business is currently a food truck.  Sounds like a solid new option for downtown!

Edited July 14, 2020 by westsider28

[SparkleCity1]

On 7/13/2020 at 12:51 PM, roads-scholar said:

The Wild Ace building will become an events center.  

Seems like  a very risky move to open an events center during Covid 19 when there are no events happening but maybe long term it could be successful?

Edited July 16, 2020 by SparkleCity1

[Spartan]

On 7/16/2020 at 12:53 PM, SparkleCity1 said:

Seems like  a very risky move to open an events center during Covid 19 when there are no events happening but maybe long term it could be successful?

My thoughts exactly.