The owners of Charleston’s Uptown Social, Bodega and Share House are preparing for the opening of three new venues in 2024, including one that is co-owned by two “Southern Charm” stars.
As soon as February, Uptown Hospitality Group will add its second local Bodega in Mount Pleasant. The current operation shares its 23 Ann St. address downtown with lively indoor-outdoor bar Share House.
First launched in 2020 as a pop-up operating out of the group’s King Street bar, Uptown Social, Bodega’s second brick-and-mortar location will be located at 414 Coleman Blvd. in the space previously occupied by Andolini’s Pizza. Like the original, Bodega Mount Pleasant will serve New York City bodega-style breakfast sandwiches paired with lunchtime handhelds like the ever-popular Gropfather: named after Director of Culinary Operations Alec Gropman and piled high with a chicken cutlet, fresh mozzarella, provolone, pesto and nduja.
As Bodega prepared for the new larger location, Gropman began testing out fresh dishes downtown starting in August, expanding the offering to include daytime items like eggs benedict, pancakes and a quinoa bowl topped with avocado and smoked salmon or chicken. Those bites remain on the downtown menu and will likely make an appearance in Mount Pleasant.
When patrons walk up to the new location, they will find a coffee bar entrance to the left and the main entrance to the right, near a long indoor-outdoor bar. The coffee bar will open at 6:30 a.m. daily, and the dining room, with seating for close to 100, will start serving at 8 a.m. daily. Bodega will also utilize its drive-thru, meaning there are three different ways diners can order their coffees, matcha lattes and breakfast sandwiches.
If the location succeeds, the hospitality group plans to add more Bodega locations in the Charleston area, Uptown Hospitality Group co-owner Keith Benjamin said.
As Bodega expands, the group will add another bar to its portfolio. Located in the 45½ Spring St. downtown Charleston space previously occupied by Warehouse, a tavern the group is calling By The Way will open in mid-2024. The bar will be co-owned by ‘Southern Charm’ stars Craig Conover and Austen Kroll.
“Charleston has grown so much in the last few years and brought in a lot of travelers, so we wanted to create a space where locals and travelers could hang out together and enjoy the neighborhood,” Conover told Entertainment Tonight Jan. 19.
While By The Way will be a new kind of bar for Charleston-based Uptown Hospitality Group, it will have some of the qualities locals grew to love about Warehouse, a bar and nightlife destination that was founded in 2012 by childhood friends James Groetzinger and Joey Rinaldi.
By The Way will offer a familiar neighborhood atmosphere, though the bar won’t look the same inside. The “darker, moodier space” is being designed by Home Studios, the New York City-based firm that designed popular West Village bar The Spaniard. Much smaller than Uptown Social and Share House, By The Way will serve elevated pub fare and cocktails in a cozy, intimate atmosphere.
“It’s certainly a notch above in terms of the vibe, in terms of the elevated experience the guest can expect,” Benjamin said. “What we’re doing with By the Way is something completely different.”
As By The Way is swinging its doors open later this year, Uptown Hospitality Group will be putting the finishing touches on a new event space at 94 Stuart St. downtown. The former home of Baker & Brewer, which closed in September, is in the process of being transformed into a space that can host indoor and outdoor events, including wedding ceremonies and receptions.
The yet-to-be-named space will handle the bar service, while food will be outsourced to catering partners. Benjamin hopes to be hosting events by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025.
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