WSTB

Never eaten there but it’s been in that shopping center next the post office for at least 15 years. If longevity means anything along with the reviews it’s probably pretty good!

Mystic Ginger is closing and to be replaced by a burger joint.

We never made it there but peeps (among whom is an expert in Indian food) were mightily unimpressed. They took in the tables from the sidewalk just before pandemic too. Strange.

New chef worked at Krankies and the Honey Pot (really nice upscale restaurant at that location before Mystic Ginger). So he knows the space and the downtown clientele. Fingers crossed they put back the sidewalk tables!

I made it there on numerous occasions and was very impressed by the food - though it was painfully obvious that the owners, however kindly, had no idea how to run a restaurant.

But another burger place? Really? Does anyone actually peruse the Downtown dining landscape and conclude that what's missing is a place to get an overpriced hamburger? smh

Anyway, no restaurant has succeeded at long-time jewelry store location, so this latest meat temple will likely be short-lived.

Hops Buger Bar abruptly shut down a few days ago. TBJ has article that provides info from co-owner as to why. Could someone with a subscription give a synopsis as to what was said. Place seemed pretty busy usually, although I know parking was a pain.

"We just had to shut it down," said Martin, who co-founded the concept in Greensboro with Dave Essa in 2013. "We have no plans on opening back."

Although Hops was a popular spot for Winston-Salem residents, Martin cited that there were "a lot of reasons" for shutting down.

"Labor and turnover were the largest reasons for us having to shut it down," he said.

As an outsider, it appears that Hops has trouble with expanding. They shut down their Chapel Hill restaurant before the pandemic (and cited the distance from Greensboro being a primary factor). Now they shut down the Winston restaurant due to staffing turnover, when every business in the country is dealing with similar issues. Perhaps they are better suited to stay within the Greensboro city limit...?

I’d say that’s a spot on assessment WSBornNBred. I remember that they had a spot on Franklin Street. That’s ground zero for Chapel Hill & thought it curious that they couldn’t make it there. Labor issues are universal in that industry so that appears to be a weak excuse. This seems more like a case with Crafted, where the owner was retrenching in order to manage the business in a hands on way.


Regardless, it’s more a reflection on them than Winston’s dining scene

At first, I thought: There are so many burger bars that we've reached the point where one opens and another closes. I think when Barcelona Burger was proposed, Local 27101 may have closed? Heff opens and Hops closes. It's possible none of those openings and closings are connected in any way, but the thought does enter my mind. The pie of customers for burger bars is only so big and can only be sliced so thin before the closings start. To open a burger bar, you have to be perfect and out-perform your many competitors in price, service, atmosphere, beer selection, and quality of the food. Good isn't good enough when you have so many competitors. The under performer will be the location that closes. This is why new restaurants should try something different.

Then I heard local employees and people in the local restaurant industry say it closed due to how they treated their employees? I don't know if that is true or not, but the restaurant (in recent stories) did link the closing to hiring and retention. Retention issues can lead someone to believe their competitors are paying better, connecting with their employees better, and creating a better workplace?

Maybe I should add treat your employees better than your competitors to that first paragraph? Maybe it's some of both? If there are too many burger bars and you have hiring and retention issues, it could be a good excuse to just exit the over-crowded burger bar market? I don't see the loss of a burger bar as bad. The loss of Dom's was bad. And Hops is not downtown. It's in one of these we want to say we are downtown, but we don't actually want to be downtown, locations that are often easy to lease. It's one of the better of those locations (and a great building), too, so it should be easy to fill that space. It would be interesting to know the impact of the theatre group moving? It had to be nice for Hops to have a dinner and show location, with live theatre in their building.

I suppose the good news is that at least it has been proven that a restaurant can draw a good crowd at that location. The way the building was repurposed is a great example of what is possible with many of the buildings around town.

We live nearby and tried it a couple of times. Meh is an overstatement. Did not understand what the buzz was about. Among our gripes was an inside dining room that was very poorly laid out — noisy and reeked of grease. Bar service was sloooow. Outdoor tables got better umbrellas during pandemic but it was perplexing that they still had cars drive right up to dining area for pickups. Overall, just really hard to see why folk bothered.

The previous Italian joint was a bit better fit. Maybe a pizza place would work there? We don’t have a deep dish style option in center so that would be distinctive. Fondue maybe?

Thought I saw a headline that they’re going to retain the name & actually open additional locations.

There's a lot of entropy in the restaurant world.

That a restaurant does or doesn't make it often can't really be pointed at specific faults.

Food trends change. Traffic patterns change.

A bad run of luck with staff can happen.

A bad run of luck with regulars leaving the area can happen.

Any set of these types of things happening alongside a lease coming up or owners own outside issues can damn a restaurant to closure.

Long story short, there's hundreds of restaurants in the area.

Many will be turned over every year.

Some will have a clear shortcoming..

Others just happen to not make it because of the capricious nature of food and beverage.

What I mean is, there's not much point in trying to diagnose from the outside.

Unverified rumors circulating on social media today report that the iconic Little Red Caboose Sandwich Shop at 4294 Patterson Ave. is closing after today. Very sad if true.

Jeez, I hope its not true. A true Camel City tradition!