New craft cocktail bar to open in former Pizza Hut on Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach
Jason Trinh moved to Myrtle Beach four months ago from Dallas, where he consulted for restaurants and bars and created cocktail programs.
In surveying the Grand Strand, he noticed his area of expertise wasn’t being utilized here.
“I came out here and saw a need for a cocktail bar,” Trinh said. “. . . Every single restaurant and bar in Dallas is moving toward that. The one thing we found was the cocktail scene was somewhat lacking. Craft beer is really big here, (but) there just aren’t a lot of places you can get just a really well made cocktail.
“We talked about it and we decided we wanted to be the first craft cocktail-focused cocktail bar and restaurant in Myrtle Beach.”
Trinh and his wife Jeannie Nguyen, a Myrtle Beach native and Socastee High grad, have signed a lease and are transforming a former Pizza Hut on North Kings Highway into JEM Social.
“What we’re opening here is an elevated social lounge with a focus on craft cocktails,” Trinh said. “We’re hoping people kind of forget it was a Pizza Hut when they walk into a nice lounge with a beautiful interior.”
Trinh hopes to open by mid-May.
He plans to initially open for dinner at 4 p.m. and remain open late at night, at least midnight or 1 a.m.
Specializing in cocktails
Trinh said his bar team from Dallas will be in town for the first few months after the opening to serve drinks and help train the bar staff.
“They’re expected to know 75 of your basic classic cocktails, so everything from Old Fashioned, Sazerac, Vieux Carré, you name it they should be able to make it and make it very well,” he said. “Then we have about a dozen signature cocktails that are specifically designed for our concept.”
The food menu will include about 15 shareable appetizers and about six entrees, four sandwiches and four salads, and it will be “elevated American pub fare with the highest quality of ingredients,” Trinh said.
Offerings will include a pan-seared steak frites topped with truffle butter and confit potatoes, fish and chips, a smash burger with bacon-onion jam on a brioche bun, and shrimp and grits featuring a sauteed kale chorizo beurre blanc sauce served on a poblano pepper cheddar grit cake.
“Those familiar classics, just slightly elevated with more quality ingredients and a little flare to them,” Trinh said. “We want people to come in, grab a cocktail and share a bunch of different appetizers.”
Changing the decor
The building at 7601 North Kings Highway is 3,100 square feet and will seat approximately 100 in the dining room with additional lounge and outdoor seating.
“Our focus is not packing the house,” Trinh said.
The owners plan to paint the exterior and create an open-air, tree-shaded patio with approximately 10 picnic tables and additional lounge chairs.
The interior decor will feature white granite or marble countertops, tile floors and velvet seating.
A spacer wall will separate the dining room from a lounge area with couches “where you can sit down, grab a couple cocktails and just conversate,” Trinh said.
Planned interior colors include velvet blue, emerald green and velvet pink, and the building will be dimly lit with candle light and spotlights on the bartenders.
“Pretty much every seat in the house should be able to see the bartender work,” Trinh said. “We created a couple different atmospheres within the building. The bar is the main focus. It will be front and center when you walk into the building.”
Trinh said prices will be appropriate for the market.
“Our price points are going to be pretty comparable to a lot of other restaurants and bars. We just want to elevate the overall experience and atmosphere,” he said. “When you walk in, we want you to feel a little bit of that luxury without breaking the bank.”
Trinh plans to have a “countdown to cocktails,” posting 60 different cocktails with their history on the bar’s social media pages as the opening approaches.
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 2:16 PM.
