Sunny Hyde Up, a stylish new restaurant in Visalia, is expected to open in June.
The restaurant will be part of The Hyde, a venue for weddings, meetings, and conventions that opened on the site of the former Lamp Lighter Convention Center last year.
“I would describe it as Visalia's first brunch restaurant,” said Sam Ramirez, founder and CEO of Revel Events Co., which operates Sunny Hyde Up, as well as The Hyde, Bello Vita, The Woodlands and Watermill Grove in Visalia. “There's a lot of really great places to eat, many of which I enjoy going out to during the week and weekends, that all do a sort of brunch, but I think we're the first that really celebrates brunch as an experience.
“One of the things about brunch is it's a little bit different than going out to lunch with a couple of friends,” Ramirez said. “Normally, you're brunching with a group of people, so we built the restaurant to accommodate those larger groups."
Ramirez said the restaurant is offer some "great classic brunch food," from chicken and waffles, to classic truck stop diner food, to fried rice and Caesar salads.
“A friend of ours says that brunch without booze is just breakfast, so having the full bar program, some great mocktails in there as well, that's all part of it for us," he said.
Sunny Hyde Up will be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., said Ramirez, who may extend the hours on Sunday afternoon, depending on the demand. The restaurant will also be available for special events.
“The great thing is that we have both the banquet space that can accommodate up to 250 guests if you want that type of a setting, but if you want a brunch experience or standard restaurant kind of experience, then we can seat up to 150 guests in the restaurant,” Ramirez said.
What's on the menu at Sunny Hyde Up
The restaurant has been designed to be flexible to host a range of events, especially those scheduled after regular business hours.
“Some folks for their 40th birthday or retirement party maybe don't want to be in a banquet room,” Ramirez said. “Maybe that feels a little too formal, so this would give them an opportunity to do something different and experience the restaurant in a different way. We'd offer some different menu items there as well, so you're not having to have pancakes for dinner. We'll have some pastas and some steaks and some things on the menu that will accommodate that later hour.”
Tables can be easily moved to provide “a pretty cool dance floor” for a party or wedding reception, according to Ramirez.
Sunny Hyde Up will also be able to accommodate meetings.
“We've got podiums, we've got microphones,” Ramirez said, adding that the restaurant can easily host meetings for organizations such as Rotary and Lions Club.
“For us, it's not a lot of setup and tear down,” he said. “It makes it really easy and allows them to be able to have their meetings, to conduct their business in a room that's really interesting."
Sunny Hyde Up started receiving calls about hosting events weeks before its planned opening.
“We've already been fielding inquiries for people who want to do private events here in the evening, sort of full restaurant buyouts, which is difficult to do at some of the downtown Visalia restaurants because you're competing with their own dinner service at that time,” he said. “Here, because we won't offer dinner, it’s solved, we're not competing.”
To make a reservation, Ramirez advises people to visit sunnyhydeup.com, send an email to [email protected], or follow SHUbrunch on social media. They can also call (559) 372-2276.
“We're really engaged on our social media platforms, so if people want to send us DMs, if they want to ask questions, if they want to comment, if they want to tell us what kind of menu items they want to see, they can do all that on social media too,” he said.
Although reservations are encouraged, walk-ins will be welcome.
“We'll definitely have room for walk-ins always,” Ramirez said. “The bar area specifically will be open for walk-ins all the time, but we're encouraging folks to make reservations, especially when it comes to larger parties. We're encouraging people to make reservations so that we can make sure we're ready for them and can accommodate any size group.”
Ramirez doesn’t see Sunny Hyde Up or any of his other local venues as competing with other restaurants in the area.
“We benefit, in our business and this restaurant, from places like Fugazzis and Tommy's and Vintage Press and Bravo Farms,” he said. “I see those as opportunities to collaborate, and the more great dining options here we have, the more great venues we have, the more hotels and museums and things that we have, it's just better for everybody.
“I really believe in that a rising tide lifts all boats, and I've been on many boards and chambers over the years for tourism and that sort of thing, and I think it's just really important to understand what we have in our market and how we can help attract more people,” he said.
Although Ramirez was willing to share a variety of information about the new restaurant, he was reluctant to talk about construction costs.
“I don't want to say as much how much we spent, but I'll say we spent more than we thought we would,” he said. “That's just one of those things when you open up certain parts of a building that's been here for 60 years. So, to be honest, the entire project has been more than we thought, but it was needed in order to do it the right way.”
He described Sunny Hyde Up as “well curated.”
“It's everything from the design of the space, the staff that we have and the training that we've got going on, the music that's going to be in the space, the menus, the food, the drink,” Ramirez said. “All of these are not individual things. They're all things that live together in this ecosystem and allow people to come in and have a really great experience, whether you're into breakfast, brunch, you're here for a cocktail, or you're here hanging out with family or friends.”