Charleston Restaurant Report APRIL 2022
ON THE MENU
1. Local Restaurant Scene -- TASTEMAKERS CHS & LOCAL RESTAURANTS RAISE MONEY FOR UKRAINE
2. Restaurant Openings, Closings + Coming Soon!
3. National Restaurant Scene – FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY HAVING TROUBLE RETAINING EMPLOYEES
4. COVID: Measuring The Damage -- FEDS NOT SENDING MORE RESTAURANT RELIEF FUNDS
LOCAL RESTAURANT SCENE
TASTEMAKERS CHS & LOCAL RESTAURANTS RAISE MONEY FOR UKRAINE
Local foodie social media club Tastemakers CHS rallied Charleston restaurants to donate a $1 for every sale of one chosen food or drink menu item in March to Global Giving's Ukrainian Crisis Relief Fund. As of this writing, Global Giving's relief fund has raised over $23 million to support Ukrainians in need. More than 25 Charleston restaurants participated. Read more about it in the Charleston City Paper here.....
RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!
Openings + Closings list reflects 1st Quarter 2022 market activity (January - March):
OPENINGS --
Alamo Ranch (North Charleston)
Bexley Fish & Raw Bar (Summerville)
Bodega (Downtown – former South Seas Oasis Tiki Bar)
CAVA (Mount Pleasant — former Zoe’s Kitchen)
Charleston Wine Co. (Downtown)
Chill Charleston (James Island)
Coach’s Canteen (Cainhoy)
Codfather (Summerville)
Crust Wood Fired Pizza & Bailey’s Oyster Bar (Downtown)
Dunkin Donuts (Mount Pleasant – former Browns BBQ)
Emoji Poke (Mount Pleasant)
Gala Cafe & Bakery (Mount Pleasant)
Great Greek Mediterranean Grill (James Island)
Kairos (Summerville – former Sticky Fingers)
Kickin’ Chicken (Downtown)
Locals Raw (Mount Pleasant)
Marco’s Pizza (Moncks Corner)
Pier 101 (Folly Beach — reopened after pier construction)
PizzaVola Express (James Island – former Domino’s)
Playa Bowls (Mount Pleasant)
Share House (Downtown – former Scarecrow)
Tattooed Moose (North Charleston)
Thailicious (West Ashley — former Tiney Bangkok)
That’s My Dawg (Moncks Corner — former Ladles)
The Front Porch Coffeehouse & Creamery (Mount Pleasant)
The Press (Downtown — former Taco Spot)
Tierra Al Mar (Mount Pleasant — former Golden Garden)
Toast All Day (Downtown — former Monza)
Well Hung Vineyard (Downtown – former Florence’s)
CLOSINGS --
d.d. Peckers Wing Shack (West Ashley)
Ladles (Johns Island)
Moe’s Southwest Grill (Downtown)
Monza Pizza Bar (Downtown)
Tattooed Moose (Downtown)
Wiki Wiki Sandbar (Folly Beach)
COMING SOON --
After at least 29 restaurants opened in the first quarter, the number of restaurant projects on the Coming Soon list has dropped a bit from around 75 (Q4 '21) to the low 60's (Q1 '22). With that many projects in the works, there is still clearly a lot of optimism about the Charleston restaurant marketplace....As I've stated before, the general staffing shortage will continue to be a big obstacle for new restaurants looking to open in 2022...
NATIONAL RESTAURANT SCENE
FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY HAVING TROUBLE RETAINING EMPLOYEES
In February, just over 1,000,000 people were hired in the U.S. Foodservice & Lodging industry, however, almost 800,000 employees in the industry voluntarily left their jobs. There is not another industry in the country that has a higher rate of job vacancies (almost 10%). The healthcare industry is a close second with an 8.8% job vacancy rate. As the unemployment rate drops nationally, the employee shortage in the hospitality industry seems to be getting worse. Restaurants and Hotels have a real challenge on their hands as they try to figure out how to find and retain talented employees. Read more about it in Restaurant Business Magazine here...
CORONAVIRUS: MEASURING THE DAMAGE
FEDS NOT SENDING MORE RESTAURANT RELIEF FUNDS
A second round of Restaurant Revitalization Funds was not included in Congress' latest omnibus spending bill. RRF payments had been halted last summer, leaving thousands of approved applicants wondering if the funds would ever show up. It looks like those funds will not be coming after all. Senators in support of the measure may try to bring up a separate bill for restaurant relief. Read more about it in Nations Restaurant News here...