Like the taste of Buffalo? This Fort Mill restaurant will bring the New York flavor
The Towne Tavern site on Main Street should reopen soon. This time with an all-things-Buffalo menu.
“We’ve got a strong western New York background,” said owner Dan Holmes, “and we’re not going to hide it.”
Holmes said Thursday the goal is to open the week of Nov. 4. The Main Street restaurant recently closed down after it, like others, was hit hard by a worker shortage. Workers at the restaurant were moved to one of the other four Towne Tavern locations in York County and Indian Land.
The Main Street site, opened as Towne Tavern Express, is different from others in Fort Mill, Rock Hill, York and Indian Land. It was set up more for to-go orders and to serve catering needs for the company.
Now, more people live and work in the downtown area. There is increased food traffic. Once it reopens the revamped restaurant space will have seating for 42 inside, and another dozen on the sidewalk. Another issue common to many Main Street establishments, parking, was addressed with new dedicated spaces behind the restaurant.
“We think we’ll probably serve more dine-in than takeout, and we’re prepared for that,” Holmes said.
Yet the biggest change is the focus of the menu. Items on it range from pizza logs and stuffed banana peppers to beef on weck and several fish options. Of course there are wings, served with about a dozen different options. The menu essentially is a food pass to Buffalo.
“If you spent a three-day weekend in Buffalo, you’d probably eat one of every one of them every day,” Holmes said.
Though there are plenty of transplants here, Holmes has learned it isn’t just New Yorkers with a taste for the upstate. Locals tend to enjoy it too. Some of the items have been regular menu staples at locations since he started the first Towne Tavern on S.C. 160 in 2004, between Fort Mill and Tega Cay.
“It’s not a giant city,” Holmes said of his native Buffalo, “but boy is it one great eating town.”
