Glenwood South Restaurant/Bar Renovations

TheNightHawk · March 29, 2019, 12:52pm

@RobertSanderlin I agree… this would be a great spot for a building like what the Hibernian did. At least a second story with balcony

John · March 29, 2019, 1:33pm

@RobertSanderlin and @TheNightHawk I don’t know if either of you saw it, but @Drew mentioned in his earlier post (from TBJ) that this project is getting a second floor added to it!

Drew · March 29, 2019, 1:34pm

They are building a second story with a balcony. That’s what I was implying when I referenced workers being on the roof preparing for the addition. See the plans below

Edit : Thanks @John

TheNightHawk · March 29, 2019, 1:47pm

Nice! Thanks for sharing

evan.j.bost · March 29, 2019, 2:14pm

That’s great. If this is strictly a country bar though I’ll never go inside lol

R-Dub · April 5, 2019, 2:52am

While not new, but at least on this same block…

The Rockford seems to be struggling and I don’t get why. Had dinner there tonight and we were the only people there. Great service. Good drinks. And great food. Why are they struggling? I’m a big fan.

John · April 5, 2019, 3:07am

I think that their humble presence on the street makes people forget that they are there. That said, they were “there” when there was no “there”, there.

GucciLittlePig · April 5, 2019, 3:24am

Ive been twice. Really impressed. But I never think to go back there. Not sure why. Maybe John is right. Maybe it’s because people associate Glenwood South with shitty bars and clubs, so good restaurants get forgotten. Kind of like Red Room on GS and Frazier’s and Porter’s on Hillsborough St. Loved those places, but they were misplaced. All would’ve thrived in the new Warehouse-Union Station district.

R-Dub · April 5, 2019, 3:32am

Well shout out to all the readers here…go to The Rockford!!

GucciLittlePig · April 5, 2019, 3:40am

I’ll put that on my list for this month. Unrelated really, but I went to Jose and Sons tonight and I always forget about this place too (it’s in the Depot, not GS). Such delicious food and nice ambiance. I like the Mexican-Southern fusion, too. I always worry restaurants I like but forget about…that everyone else does the same, and then they close. But the chains always remain.

niko · April 5, 2019, 11:45am

It’s a place with a lot of potential but they need to adapt to today’s time as the restaurant/bar business is unforgiving. Update the interior a bit, do some marketing…

OakCityDylan · April 5, 2019, 11:57pm

We live around the corner (as you know @R-Dub) and have been once in a year. Not front of mind and I seem to remember odd hours?

R-Dub · April 6, 2019, 2:30am

Closed Sunday and Monday I think.

mike · April 8, 2019, 12:48pm

Carolina Ale House is having the official watch party for Thursday’s playoff game 1 Canes vs. Caps. They are also shutting down part of Tucker St for an outdoor screen.

Loup20 · April 8, 2019, 1:59pm

I’ll weigh in on the Rockford conversation.

When I first moved downtown in 2007 I lived in the Boylan Apts. My friends and I would walk down to the Rockford 2 or 3 times a week. Sometimes we’d grab dinner but mostly we’d just go late night and just have beers. It stayed open until midnight I believe.

At that time it really was filling its niche and it knew what it was. It was a place that was just unpretentious and took it’s food/drinks seriously.

Bartenders were great. Cheeti Kumar (now owns Garland) and Rob Nation (works w/ Person St now) were there most nights. They played great music, the art was always being changed out, the plaster walls were missing chunks so you could see the lath, and the only sign was on the door. It just gave off the cool vibe. Kinda felt like it was a locals hang that wasn’t trying to fit in with the Glenwood’s changing clientele.

Then it was sold.

Cheeti and Rob moved on. The walls got fixed. They repainted the whole place. Put up new art (mostly plack and white abandoned cityscape shots), and painted a big sign on the building. The food took a quick dip and the music took a big step backwards. They did however, fix up the patio out back and opened it to the public.

While the new owner probably thought all of those changes would increase business, what happened was that the vibe completely changed and the regulars went elsewhere. The place was still there and the menu was still good, but the soul seemed to be lost.

The food picked back up and the patio is still a hidden gem, but other than that, I really can’t nail down the niche they’re filling or the type of people they are focused on bringing in and I think that is the problem. No one feels like its ‘their place’ anymore, and that is important when you have a hidden little spot with a small dining room and not much margin for error.

This is just my personal take. I like the Rockford still, but I never think to go there anymore. There are just too many other options that are similar and a little more sure of who they are. For what its worth, most of the regulars I used to drink with up there now are regulars at Person St.