Fine dining restaurant, raw bar headed to Old Town Bluffton
As early as Christmas, another eatery will be added to the burgeoning restaurant scene in Old Town Bluffton.
Old Town Dispensary, at 15 Captains Cove, is undergoing an expansion that will include a fine dining restaurant called The Depot and a raw bar, according to chef and owner Matt Jording.
Jording, who also owns The Sage Room on Hilton Head Island, said the idea to expand Old Town Dispensary has been in the works for two years.
"The area we have, (including) the ravine, is so beautiful," he said. "We want to set it up (like) a privately owned town center."
He added the three sections of the Old Town establishment will be connected by a network of decks, allowing customers to move between the raw bar, tavern and restaurant. A basement pathway will allow employee access between the restaurants.
Jording said the raw bar will serve "new age, modern food," including ceviches and tartares, in addition to traditional raw bar offerings such as steamed crab legs and May River oysters. He said the fare to be offered at the fine dining restaurant is "very similar" to what the menu at The Sage Room, with mostly steak and seafood entrees.
Old Town Bluffton seems to be positioning itself as a foodie destination in Beaufort County.
In the past several months, many new restaurants have been announced or have opened in Old Town Bluffton: Fat Patties, a burger restaurant with an in-house brewery; Agave Sidebar, the Promenade's new taco and margarita bar; The Midnight Bakers Bistro, an expansion to the current Promenade bakery; and FARM, a restaurant expected to open in 2016 with menus based on local produce. Currently, between the Promenade and Calhoun Street, customers can eat at 10 restaurants and swirl vino at three wine bars.
But the age-old question remains: Where are all these diners going to park? Old Town Dispensary has its own parking lot -- one of the few businesses in Old Town with this amenity -- but with the new construction, Jording said, parking would get relocated to the corner of Lawrence and Calhoun streets.
Let's just hope the next restaurant in town doesn't need to shuttle customers in from Bluffton Parkway.
Follow reporter Ashley Fahey at twitter.com/IPBG_Ashley.
Related content:
- Neapolitan-style pizza restaurant coming to Hilton Head , July 30, 2015
- 58-year-old Beaufort flower shop to reopen in August , July 23, 2015
- Food truck court coming to Tanger Outlets Center 2 , July 16, 2015
- Town approves Hilton Head dog kennel; nearby church will appeal , Sept. 23, 2014
This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Fine dining restaurant, raw bar headed to Old Town Bluffton."