By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer

As far as Paul Stracey and Mickey Bakst were concerned, it was time for a Charleston Grill change.

Stracey, general manager of downtown Charleston’s Charleston Place Hotel, of which Charleston Grill is a part, and Bakst, general manager of the Mobil Four-Star restaurant, closed the restaurant in January to give it a $500,000 face-lift.

Restaurants usually re-do themselves every seven or eight years, Stracey said.

“You want to renovate before the restaurant needs it. If you don’t continually change, you slip back,” Stracey added.

It had been nearly a decade since any substantial renovation had been done to Charleston Grill. But there was more to the makeover than freshening up the restaurant simply for the sake of doing it.

Stracey and Bakst want Charleston Grill to appeal to a larger market, namely Charleston residents.

Appealing to the local crowd will help keep the restaurant busy during the slow months of Charleston’s tourist season, Bakst explained.

“Unquestionably, when the tourism season is slow, we, as well as all of the restaurants in the area, experience a major slowdown. Filling the restaurant is always a priority, but for me having locals in is more than just filling seats. To me, a restaurant is about people and the relationships that are developed. Relationships between servers and guests give the restaurant a heart, if you will, that creates the feeling of the place,” Bakst said.

The better customers feel about a restaurant, the more they will visit, “and locals are, obviously, the ones who can come most often,” he said.

The impression most locals had of the restaurant was that it was geared primarily toward Charleston Place Hotel guests, Stracey said.

Bakst agrees. “It was a little too formal and dark,” he said of the restaurant.

In renovating the restaurant, “we wanted to keep its integrity but lighten it up,” Stracey added.

To help make Charleston Grill “lighter, brighter and more accessible,” the restaurant’s dark-green marble floors were replaced with light-colored wood. New furniture, including chairs with cream-colored seats, a new bar, new artwork, new drapes and new fixtures were installed, Stracey explained.

Following the restaurant’s new lighter and brighter theme, the menu now offers lighter fare and more dining options while retaining the signature dishes of Chef Bob Waggoner.

“People who love Bob’s food will still love it,” Stracey said.

The menu has four sections: “Pure,” consisting of simple dishes like lamb chops, salmon, lobster salad and other lightly seasoned plates; “Lush,” consisting of substantial French dishes; “Cosmopolitan,” consisting of dishes from around the world; and “Southern,” featuring dishes such as crab cakes, pork chops, shrimp and catfish.

Prices for appetizers range from $9 for white bean soup to $135 for caviar. Entrees range from $26 for the shrimp-and-catfish dish to $46 for beef tenderloin with prawns.

“Hotel rates demand that we provide the absolute best for our guests,” Stracey said.

Nightly lodging rates at Charleston Place range from $259 for a room to $1,900 for a suite.

Charleston Grill reopened March 7. Bakst believes the restaurant’s more open and accessible look is just the right touch to attract Charlestonians and at the same time appeal to the hotel’s guests.

“We’re appealing to a broader audience,” Bakst said.

Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.

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