A popular Fort Mill restaurant and pub just closed. Here’s what people are saying.
Killingtons Restaurant & Pub closed its Fort Mill location but will remain in business at its Huntersville, North Carolina, spot.
The Baxter restaurant posted on its Facebook page Sunday night that its six-year run in Fort Mill is over.
“We had a very difficult decision to make but when it comes down to it, we have to close,” the restaurant stated. “Today was our last day, but we are grateful for all the amazing people that we got to work with and be friends with in this community.”
The message invited customers to visit the Huntersville site, where gift cards from the Baxter site will still work.
Online comments following the announcement largely focused on employees who will now have to find other employment during the holiday season.
“Unbelievable,” Stanley Williams posted in a Fort Mill Eats food group on Facebook. “Killington’s was our favorite restaurant. They had so many wonderful employees, and the food/service was always great. I am heartbroken for the employees.”
Several other restaurants, some near the Killingtons site, posted job opportunities in the same online group. Others posted they’ll miss the food or atmosphere.
“So sad, I’m hoping the employees are able to find something nearby,” Shelley McCraven Lassiter commented. “I feel like a lot of the waitstaff are like family because we ate there so much.”
In early 2018, owners Greg and Shannon Roderick announced plans to open their second Killingtons site at 940 Market St. in Baxter. It opened about six months later, replacing Beef ‘O’ Brady’s after that restaurant’s 14-year run in one of Baxter’s most prominent eatery spaces.
Killingtons brought an “American fusion” menu with bacon encrusted meatloaf, barbecue salmon and Gold Rush chicken wings. The gastropub menu paired with handcrafted cocktails.
Restaurant changes in Baxter Village
The Killingtons closing isn’t the only restaurant change in Baxter. This summer, owners of Jekyll & Hyde Taphouse & Grill bought the former Lucky Duck restaurant space at 993 Market Street. That’s the same restaurant where Six Pence Pub operated for a dozen years prior to Lucky Duck.
Jekyll & Hyde, a taphouse, grill, brewery and distillery, has three other Charlotte-area locations.
Baxter is a dining destination in the Fort Mill area with spots like Fish Market, Ilios Crafted Greek and Grapevine Wine. There are several more dessert, bakery, chocolate or beer garden stops.
This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 10:34 AM.
