Charleston Restaurant Report January 2013
January 2013 -- Issue #15
Charleston Restaurant Report
ON THE MENU
1. Green Scene – SCE&G Offers Businesses Rebates For Choosing LED Lighting
2. Local Restaurant News – Food Events Are In Season! Let's Eat!!
3. Restaurant Openings, Closings and Coming Soon!
4. National Restaurant Trends – Rising Beef Prices On The Horizon
GREEN SCENE
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SCE&G OFFERS BUSINESSES REBATES FOR CHOOSING LED LIGHTING
Contributed By Mary Gatch, Owner of DwellSmart, Charleston
Many restaurants are in a good position to take advantage of excellent rebates through SCE&G and their EnergyWise program. This program is only available to SCE&G business customers. The Condon restaurant group took advantage of this program to convert the majority of bulbs in five restaurants to LED bulbs (Triangle Char & Bar in Mount Pleasant and West Ashley, Bocci’s, A.W. Shucks, and Tommy Condon’s). The new bulbs cost $7,300, but SCE&G rebated over $6,000! The new LED bulbs consume just 15% of the power of their incandescent predecessors, and they produce less heat thereby reducing air conditioning costs. The bulbs are fully dimmable and produce a beautiful, consistent color in the warmer tones expected in restaurants. Best of all, the bulbs include a 5-year warranty and are expected to last as much as 50,000 hours or more. Restaurant owner Skipper Condon says “this program has been very helpful to us. It allowed us to make the switch to LED. I look forward to lower utility bills. Most of all, many of these bulbs will last up to 25 times longer and save me from buying and replacing so many bulbs. Many of our bulbs are in difficult to reach spots, and I can save the operational time and risk of employees on ladders." DwellSmart has been helping many businesses take advantage of this rebate programs and move to more efficient fluorescent and/or LED bulbs.
Check out DwellSmart online -- www.DwellSmart.com (http://www.dwellsmart.com)
SCE&G’s Energy-Wise Program Incentives --
http://www.sceg.com/en/small-business/energywise
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LOCAL RESTAURANT NEWS
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FOOD EVENTS ARE IN SEASON! LET'S EAT!!
Restaurants get a little down time after New Years, but the "off-season" seems to get shorter and shorter each year. Restaurant Week is here and some big food events are coming up on the calendar. Charleston has plenty of FOOD events held throughout the year, but the first quarter of the year is especially good to us. Mark your calendars:
January 10th - 20th --- Charleston Restaurant Week (more like eleven days of great meal deals)
http://www.charlestonrestaurantassociation.com/charleston-restaurant-week/
January 27th --- Lowcountry Oyster Festival hosted by the Charleston Restaurant Association
http://www.charlestonrestaurantassociation.com/lowcountry-oyster-festival/
February 28th - March 3rd --- Charleston Wine & Food Festival
http://charlestonwineandfood.com
Squeezed in the middle of that action is the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, February 15-17th, which marks the re-start of tourist season. Plan accordingly...
http://www.sewe.com
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OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!
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Restaurant Openings / Closings / Coming Soon in the Charleston Area
The following list reflects 4th Quarter market activity (October - December 2012):
Openings --
Alchemy (Daniel Island – former TJ’s Beef + Brew)
Brown’s Court Bakery (Downtown – former Hope and Union)
Burwell’s Stone Fire Grill (Downtown – former Gilligan’s)
Café Zest (Downtown)
Cook Out (North Charleston)
Cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse (North Charleston -- former Picadilly)
El Jalapeno (Summerville – former Flyin’ Hawaiian Grill)
Fired Urth Espresso Bar & Bakery (Daniel Island – former Et Cetera)
FreshBerry (Mt Pleasant)
Guadeloupe Grill (Mt Pleasant)
Ike’s Hot Chicken & Fish (Downtown)
Izakaya Ramen (Downtown – former Izakaya Hiro)
Jet’s Pizza (North Charleston)
LG’s By The Creek (Hanahan – former Carolina Crust)
Manny’s (Downtown – former Patat Spot)
Paisano’s Pizza (West Ashley – former Athens)
Phuong Vietnamese (North Charleston -- former Raul's)
Pizzeria de Giovanni (North Charleston)
Pug's BBQ (Mt Pleasant)
Sauer Grapes Wine Lounge (Daniel Island)
Sloppy Cow (James Island – former Skibo’s)
Steak N Shake (North Charleston)
Sticky Fingers (North Charleston)
The Alley (Downtown)
The Gathering Café (West Ashley – former Sweetsmith Bakery)
The Green Door (Downtown)
The Meeting Room (Downtown)
The Ordinary (Downtown)
The Rarebit (Downtown)
The Wreckfish (North Charleston – former Market Street Saloon)
What Sub Deli (Moncks Corner)
Xiao Bao Biscuit (Downtown)
Closings --
Café Kronic (James Island)
Carolina Crust (Hanahan)
Heirloom Eats (Mt Pleasant)
Hucks Lowcountry Table (Isle of Palms)
Izakaya Ramen (Downtown)
Jack’s Cosmic Dogs (West Ashley)
Jon’s Mixed Drinks (Mt Pleasant)
Lucky’s Southern Grill (James Island)
Pace’s Pizza Balls (Downtown)
Sette (Mt Pleasant)
Slices (North Charleston)
Sweetwater Grille (Summerville)
TJ’s Beef + Brew (Daniel Island)
Coming Soon --
Black Bean Co. (West Ashley -- former Burger King)
Blue Marlin Fish House (Mt Pleasant)
Crust (James Island – former Savory Sushi)
Desano Pizza Bakery (Downtown)
Falyn’s on Forty-One (Mt Pleasant)
Five Loaves (Mt Pleasant - moving to former Jon's Mixed Drinks)
Kokomo Joe’s (West Ashley)
La Hacienda (Mt Pleasant – former Gringo’s)
Mex 1 Coastal Cantina (West Ashley – former Jack’s Cosmic Dogs)
Pane e Vino (Mt Pleasant – former Sette)
Republic Garden & Lounge (Downtown – former Chai’s)
Rutledge Cab Co. (Downtown)
Sweeney’s (Johns Island)
The Farm Bar (Downtown)
The Oyster Room (Folly Beach)
The Warehouse (Downtown)
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NATIONAL RESTAURANT TRENDS
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RISING BEEF PRICES ON THE HORIZON
According to a recent Nations Restaurant News commodities report, 2013 will be a challenging year for restaurants with beef-heavy menus. Cattle prices are expected to rise this year due to a smaller U.S. cattle inventory. Less cattle to process with steady demand means higher prices. We may have avoided the recent fiscal "dairy cliff" threatening higher milk prices; however, we may not be able to avoid a fiscal "beef cliff". Restaurants serving beef will most likely see higher food costs which will likely lead to higher menu prices this year. If beef prices rise dramatically, will you give up your burger and filet mignon?
Nations Restaurant News --
http://nrn.com/commodities-watch/fewer-cattle-foreshadow-high-beef-prices