Monday, October 26, 2009

Ballantyne restaurant closes ... again

The Flat Rock Grille in the Ballantyne area has closed -- for the second time.

The seafood and steak restaurant, part of a Southeastern chain, first opened in Charlotte in 2005 and closed the Ballantyne site in mid-2007. Ownership changed more than once in the restaurant's history, and a Ballantyne site was resurrected, but WR Hospitality Group, which operated three Flat Rocks, announced today it has closed the 15719 John J. Delaney Drive store. The company cited decreased sales and traffic at that location, but emphasized it will keep its restaurants in Hickory and Asheville going. If you've got a gift card, those two sites will honor it, says WR.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was hard to tell they reopened, this hurt and no media campaign. They should have changed the name and menu, since the first concept did not work.

Anonymous said...

Oh well. We have too many chain restaurants anyway.

Anonymous said...

Maybe this was due to their confusing niche: what exactly is "upscale-casual"? I dropped in once, and was surprised how expensive they were.

To be honest, their location was also a problem. You couldn't see them from Johnston Road, and to get to them, you had to fight horrendous traffic into the Ballantyne office park. Two other restaurants right next to them have also closed. The restaurants around the corner on Ballantyne commons side are (mostly) doing better.

Anonymous said...

Everyone always bashes the chains but they employ a lot of locals. Would you be happy if a neighbor worked there?

Anonymous said...

I wish we could get some other area restaurants out here, like La Paz. Too bad George Sheilds and the Bissels are charging outrageous rents, even in this economy. Your store or business is a loss leader right out of the gate.

Anonymous said...

Went back only once when they re-opened and never felt it was the same place I originally liked. They lost something when closed the first time.

Anonymous said...

People who bash chain restaurants don't know what they are talking about. Almost all restaurants are chains. Thank you for allowing us to laugh at you guys.

Anonymous said...

I think people are referring to large national chains vs multi location restaurant. Just because Cantina 1511 has two locations doesnt mean they should be compared with Applebees 2000 locations.

So to be clear- almost all restaurant are NOT chains.