One bar and restaurant opens, one about to open on The Avenue at Broadway at the Beach
One new bar/restaurant on The Avenue at Broadway at the Beach has opened, and another is set to open next week.
Bar Louie opened Thursday at the former site of Broadway Louie’s, and Melt is expected to open to the public this upcoming Wednesday or Thursday in the space previously occupied by The Original Shucker’s Raw Bar.
Bar Louie defines itself as a “gastrobar” that serves shareable chef-inspired food, craft cocktails and local beers in a “free-spirited space.”
The national chain includes about 140 locations and the Broadway spot is operated as a local franchise by managing partner Thomas Stevens.
The building was entirely remodeled, . “We totally redid the whole place, down to the studs and all the way back up,” Stevens said.
The interior is redesigned, and the bar has a more centralized rectangular bar location. There are two outdoor patios and a rebuilt kitchen, and a stage has been eliminated.
Bar Louie has 25 televisions, and the bar features 30 beers on tap and several specialty drinks. Stevens is considering different forms of activities and entertainment including karaoke and trivia.
Stevens was previously a restaurateur in Atlanta and Texas, and his wife’s family is in the Charleston area so the couple wanted to move closer to them.
Bar Louie food choices include appetizers designed for sharing, flatbreads, salads, burgers, scratch-made sandwiches, sides, a handful of entrees including braised short ribs and seared salmon, and deserts. There is also a full children’s menu.
Bar Louie serves its full menu from its 11 a.m. opening to 1:45 a.m. close, opens at 10 a.m. for brunch on Saturday and Sunday, features happy hour drink specials and half-priced select apps and flatbreads, and has private party rooms available including a large second floor overlooking the first floor.
Acoustic musical entertainment will be featured on weekends.
Bar Louie’s space initially opened as Sloppy Joe’s upon Broadway’s opening and later housed bars and nightclubs including Blarney Stones, the Martini Lounge, Country Roads and Rodeo.
Melt has four local partners headed by managing partner Blake Leek who all met each other years ago while bartending and serving at the Broadway at the Beach establishments of Hard Rock Café and Broadway Louie’s.
Melt has a Marra Forni brick wood-fire pizza oven and makes its own dough and pizza sauce daily, and also offers salads, soups, sides, appetizers including pork belly cracklings and southwest rolls, numerous melts, a few entrees including a local catch, ribs and Cajun pasta, and four desserts.
The owners plan an opening for friends and family on Monday or Tuesday and a soft opening on Wednesday or Thursday.
“You don’t want to open and not be ready. A first impression is huge,” Leek said.
Melt has an outdoor patio and upstairs bar area, and plans to have acoustic entertainment at least occasionally.
