Tilted Kilt in Myrtle Beach closing Sept. 30

Tilted Kilt, a Celtic-themed pub known for showcasing scantily clad servers, will close its Broadway at the Beach location later this month.

Beth Sansone, the restaurant’s general manager, said via email that staff learned of the closing Saturday. Sansone said franchisee Paul Kim was bought out by Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., which owns Broadway at the Beach. The restaurant will close Sept. 30.

“The owner simply wanted to sell,” Sansone said. “The lease still had 17 years left. B&C payed (sic) a sum. They will own the lease, the rights to Tilted Kilt in Horry County and most of the physical inventory in the building."

Lei Gainer, a spokeswoman for Burroughs & Chapin, declined to comment on the company’s plans for the site.

The first Tilted Kilt opened at the Rio hotel in Las Vegas in 2003.

The pub, whose slogan is “A cold beer never looked so good,” touts the appeal of its waitresses, who are called “kilt girls” and wear short plaid skirts, matching bras and skimpy white tops tied above their abs.

The Tempe, Ariz.-based chain expanded to South Carolina in 2011 with the arrival of the Myrtle Beach pub.

Tilted Kilt replaced Tony Roma's, which had called Myrtle Beach home since Broadway at the Beach opened in 1995.

Sansone said she doesn’t know what will happen to the 8,500-square-foot building once Tilted Kilt closes.

A Tilted Kilt is opening in Wilmington, N.C., next month, but it’s unclear if any of the Myrtle Beach staff will be able to land jobs there.

“I have reached out to all of my contacts in the area for job leads,” said Sansone, who added that both she and her husband will be out of work.

This story was originally published September 2, 2014 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Tilted Kilt in Myrtle Beach closing Sept. 30."