Sign posted at Bluffton’s Wild Wing Cafe says it is closed. What we know so far
Wild Wing Cafe in Bluffton is closed.
A sign posted on the door Tuesday read, “To our Guests: We are closed today as we are working on our facility. We apologize for the inconvenience but do appreciate you stopping by.” It is signed, “Bluffton Management Team.”
The restaurant, located at 1188 Fording Island Road in Bluffton, was dark inside, and chairs had been turned onto the tables and bar.
A similar sign was posted on the restaurant’s location in Mount Pleasant, according to reporting in The Post and Courier. That sign stated the restaurant was closed permanently.
Calls to the Bluffton restaurant went unanswered on Monday afternoon; on Tuesday, a phone company message said the call could not be completed. Likewise, calls to the chain restaurant’s corporate office could not be completed.
The food in Wild Wing Cafe’s kitchen — chicken wings and other types meat along with produce and dairy items — was donated to the nearby Church of the Cross food bank on Monday, according to an email sent to food bank volunteers.
A post on social media said restaurant employees were given no advance warning about the closing, putting more than 20 people out of work.
In February 2023, the original Wild Wing Cafe on Hilton Head permanently closed its doors. The business was started in 1990 by Cecil and Dianne Crowley at Coligny Plaza and later moved to a location on Pope Avenue. The Crowleys opened a second location in Charleston in 1992 and began to franchise their restaurant in 1996. In 2012, Axum Capital Partners purchased the company and later moved the headquarters to Charlotte.
In July 2023, the company filed for bankruptcy, saying it had not been able to recover after the pandemic.
The fate of the chain’s other restaurants was unclear. An employee who answered the phone at the Pooler restaurant said that location remained open on Tuesday.
