Spaghetti sandwich? Try it at a new Port Royal restaurant with a fun vibe and unique food
A new restaurant is opening at a prime location in Port Royal and the new owners won’t be serving up the same old fare. Food will be fun including menu items like spaghetti sandwiches and fried peanut butter and jelly bites.
A massive outdoor play area is a central part of the unique vibe at this new eatery on the town’s main drag, where kids will be able to romp while adults chill. The name of the new place, GG’s Restaurant and Bar, is an homage to a beloved Charlotte woman who enjoyed a glass of chardonnay along with good food and conversation.
GG’s — play, eat, vibe, drink = community is the motto — has a soft opening Thursday before its Saturday grand opening. Located at 1003 Paris Ave., the new downtown restaurant fills a vacancy at the former home of 4 Island Pizza. And it’s the second restaurant to open on the town’s main street in the past year-and-a-half. Chef Frank’s Bistro opened in the old Black Dog Grill in April 2023.
Husband-and-wife Sarah and Dominic Christofek and David Clifton, Sarah’s brother, who have deep roots in the Port Royal and Beaufort area, say GG’s is a new concept for the local restaurant scene. It was modeled after a favorite restaurant where Sarah and Dominic took their kids when they lived in San Antonio, Texas. That restaurant, Sarah Christofek says, had a large fenced outdoor area where kids could play while the parents could relax and have a drink and enjoy a conversation.
“It was so much fun,” Christofek says.
They enjoyed it so much they figured the Lowcountry would enjoy a similar concept but it took awhile for the right opportunity to come along. “It really had to be the right spot because the outside was pivotal for the whole picture,” said Christofek, who works in real estate.
Then the 4 Island Pizza location opened “smack dab in the middle of Paris Avenue,” where the town holds street dances and many of its festivals. “You can’t get any better than that unless you are on Bay Street,” said Christofek, referring to Beaufort’s downtown business hub.
And it had the right amount of outdoor space, which was so critical to their idea.
Renovations have been occurring for the past year. Clifton is a contractor and did much of the work, often working into the wee hours of the morning.
This week, paper covering the windows was removed allowing curious residents a peek inside at the indoor seating. Outside, an outdoor playground compliments tables with umbrellas and a stage for live music.
As for the menu you’ll find burgers, sandwiches, salad combinations, great starters and brunch. But it will be ever evolving “to keep it fun and exciting and fresh,” with menu items you can’t find anywhere else, but still affordable, Christofek says. The goal, she says, is to “make food fun.”
A sampling includes the caprese smash burger, the super spicy satan smash burger, fried peanut butter and jelly bites for the kids, a pretzel board with fried pickles, beer cheese and sausage dip with brisket and the spaghetti sandwich. “You would not see that anywhere else,” Christofek says of the spaghetti sandwich. “But it looks so good.”
GG’s will open every day at 11 a.m., with brunch served at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Sarah and David were raised in Beaufort. Sarah met Dominic, a Navy corpsman, when he was stationed in the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
The restaurant was named in honor of Ann Coggin, the beloved grandmother of Sarah and David who died last year at age 90. The Charleston woman always seemed to be dressed to the nines and loved to laugh and socialize and she enjoyed a good cocktail along with good food and conversation. When the kids of Sarah and Dominic were small, they couldn’t say great grandma, so Great Grandma Ann became “GG.” It stuck, with Ann Coggin even signing Christmas cards with the nickname. A decision was made to name the restaurant GG’s in her honor. That special name is one reason why David Clifton spent many a night at the restaurant working until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., Sarah says.
Her grandmother, says Sarah, would be proud of her and her brother and their efforts in opening the restaurant.
“Oh my God,” says Sarah, tearing up. “I can just see her smiling.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2024 at 12:50 PM.
