Charleston Restaurant Report October 2019
ON THE MENU
1. Green Scene – CLEVER NEW SUSTAINABLE FOOD PACKAGING PRODUCTS
2. Local Restaurant News – RESTAURANT FOOD DELIVERY -- IS IT A GO OR NO-GO?
3. Restaurant Openings, Closings and Coming Soon Lists!
4. National Restaurant Trends – GHOST KITCHENS ON THE RISE
GREEN SCENE
CLEVER NEW SUSTAINABLE FOOD PACKAGING PRODUCTS
This year's NRA Food Show in Chicago featured many innovative new products to reflect the public's shifting attitudes toward more sustainable and secure food packaging. Products ranged from wheat hay straws to compostable, glue-shut and bamboo-based To Go containers, as well as butterfly-shaped coffee cups. The designs are focused on reducing waste, eliminating potentially harmful chemicals in packaging, and improving food security down the food handling chain. Check out these products in Nation's Restaurant News.
LOCAL RESTAURANT NEWS
RESTAURANT FOOD DELIVERY -- IS IT A GO OR NO-GO?
As restaurant food delivery becomes more and more popular, operators must decide if delivery service is a Go or a No-Go for their restaurants. And it's not an easy decision to make. What seems like an easy way to boost sales comes with its own obstacles and costs. Certain types of food just don't travel well. Food packaging is not cheap or easy to store in most restaurant kitchens with limited space. Delivery services take the end product out of the restaurant's control and take a monetary bite out of each sale. See what local operators say in Charleston City Paper.
RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!
Openings + Closings lists reflect 3rd Quarter 2019 market activity (July - September):
OPENINGS --
Agaves Cantina (Mount Pleasant)
Antica Napoli Pizzeria (Summerville)
Bacon Station (Mount Pleasant)
Big Bad Breakfast (Downtown)
Bishopp’s Chicken Biscuits (Downtown)
Burger King (Moncks Corner -- reopened)
Burger King (Summerville – reopened)
Butcher & The Boar (Mount Pleasant – former The Southerly)
Dashi (North Charleston – former El Chapin)
Dog & Duck (Cainhoy)
Dunkin Donuts (Knightsville)
East Bay Deli (Summerville)
Eggs Up Grill (Ladson)
Emoji Poke (West Ashley)
Florence’s Lowcountry Kitchen (Downtown – former Swig & Swine)
Food Fight (James Island – former Roadside Seafood)
Forte Jazz Lounge (Downtown)
Ginza Grill (West Ashley)
Hall’s Chophouse (Summerville)
Jimmy John’s (Downtown)
Kahuna Poke Bar (Mount Pleasant)
Meeting Street Eats (Downtown)
MESU (Downtown)
Panera Bread (North Charleston)
Poke Stop (Downtown)
Quan’s on King (North Charleston – former Dellz on the Macon)
Saber’s Pizza (Downtown – former Luke’s Craft Pizza)
San Miguel Mexican Bar & Grill (Mount Pleasant)
Spanglish Cocina + Bar (West Ashley – former Bluerose)
Stones Throw Tavern (West Ashley – former Parson Jack’s Café)
Wok N’ Roll (Summerville)
CLOSINGS --
450 Pizza Joint (Sullivans Island)
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (Downtown)
Gilligan’s (Mount Pleasant)
Hardee’s (Mount Pleasant)
Jack’s Café (Downtown)
King Street Bait & Tackle (Downtown)
Manny’s Mediterranean Grille (West Ashley)
McCrady’s Tavern (Downtown)
Michael’s On The Alley (Downtown)
Pizza Hut (James Island)
Smoke BBQ (Downtown)
Tasty Thai & Sushi (Downtown)
Tradd’s (Downtown)
WildFlour (Downtown)
COMING SOON (expected to open in 4th quarter '19) --
Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar (Summerville)
Bangkok Lounge (Downtown – former King Street Bait & Tackle)
Bar George (James Island – former Bowties JI Speakeasy)
Binky’s Seaside Oyster & Liquor Bar (IOP – former Banana Cabana)
Chasing Sage (Downtown)
Coquin (Downtown – former WildFlour)
Eggs Up Grill (West Ashley)
Estadio (Downtown)
Fuji Sushi (Mount Pleasant)
Gale Italian Restaurant (Downtown)
Jersey Mike’s (Cainhoy)
Kiss Café (Johns Island)
Locals (West Ashley – former Manny’s Mediterranean Grille)
Neighborhood Tap House (North Charleston)
Paisano’s Pizza Grill (Mount Pleasant)
The Woodruff (Johns Island)
...AND 55+ more openings coming in the next 4-12 months...
NATIONAL RESTAURANT TRENDS
GHOST KITCHENS ON THE RISE
A recent NRN article featured a multi-unit burger chain serving as a ghost kitchen for one of the parent company's sister wing restaurant brands that had no locations in the same state. The ghost kitchen idea of a single concept restaurant offering a secondary concept menu for delivery-only already exists in Charleston. And with the rising popularity of delivery food service, one can only expect this practice to become more common. There are certain food types that travel well, and there will be plenty of quick-serve concepts that can succeed as a virtual restaurant, without needing the overhead burden of a dining room and associated staff.
A young ghost kitchen company, Kitchen United, is getting press for its plans to open large footprint virtual kitchens in several big cities nationwide in order to capitalize on the increasing trend toward foodservice delivery. They hope to create lower overhead opportunities to reach food delivery customers that may be out of the operators' normal reach. Read more about it in Nation's Restaurant News.