Update (10/3/2018 at 8 a.m.): Carolina Craft Butchery will remain open due to lease restrictions, but will close for the month of October. More to come. 

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for restaurants. We announced that Babalu closed its Dilworth location in late September, then The Rogue, just down the street on East Boulevard, announced it was shutting down as well. (The Rogue’s owner declined to comment).

Cantina 1511’s Uptown location announced on Sept. 30 it was providing its last day of service:

The team at Cantina 1511 is saddened to announce that our Uptown location is closing.

Our Stonecrest and Park Rd locations will remain open, and we will move forward with our Poco 1511 concept!

Until then, today is your last chance to stop in Uptown, watch some football and grab some lunch!

And we also lost Carolina Craft Butchery in Davidson this past weekend. The old-school butcher shop provided quality, local meats as well as artisan local foodstuffs. Here’s what owner Lee Menius posted on Facebook:

Saturday September 29 will be our final business day open. We have unfortunately been unable to find a business model that doesn’t compromise the well being of our family and the integrity of what we have built over the past 20 years.

This decision has consumed a great majority of my mental time over the past several months. Is it the right thing to do? How long do we try? Where to start? What to say? How to say it?

Let me start with THANK YOU. Thank you to my wonderful wife who has worked 7 days a week for the past year to make this work. Thank you to my teenage sons, Rosty and Charlie, who have given their weekends and summer vacation to make this work. Thanks to my parents who have given countless hours of all manners of support to make this work. Thanks to my friends that have stepped in to listen, help, promote, and support us in countless ways to make this work. Thanks to the awesome producers and artisans that provided us with top notch products that we could be proud to sell to make this work. Thanks to our loyal customers that have made the choice support what we stood for and to spend their money with us to make this work. Unfortunately, it just hasn’t worked but it wasn’t for lack of try or integrity and for that I am thankful. I am TRUELY grateful for the opportunity and I would like to give a heartfelt thank you for the support everyone has given.

In 2015, after 9 years at the Salisbury Farmers Market and 8 years at the Davidson Farmers Market, we left with the intention of fulfilling a dream that began in 2012 with a chance meeting with some of the national craft butchery leaders in 2010. This idea was stoked by countless customers that yearned for a place to buy fresh locally raised meats that wasn’t limited to a few hours each week. Years of planning and visiting butchers all across the USA have led us to this project. During this journey we have made some great friends and have parted ways with others. We have learned so much from this that we will carry forward and hopefully can help others be successful where we have failed.

Many have asked “what’s next?” “Will you go back to the farmer’s markets?” We will not be returning to the markets. We plan to downsize Wild Turkey Farms over the next year and I plan to focus on a new job and family.

Restaurant profit margins are shrinking as labor costs and rent are quickly rising in the city. These closures are a reminder to make sure we’re spending our dining money wisely, because there’s less and less to go around. —Kristen Wile

 

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