SIMPSONVILLE — Some well-known Upstate restaurateurs will take on a venture to add new energy to an established restaurant concept.
Ana and Hector Batista have signed on as operating partners at Vaughn’s Food Hall in Simpsonville. As part of the new partnership, the Batistas, best known for their Sofrito Latin Restaurant Bar, Sofrito’s Rotisserie and The G.O.A.T. Sports Bar, will oversee five of the nine dining concepts at Vaughn’s.
These include Bourbon St. Burgers, Taphouse, Afters, Tackle Box Pub & Grub and the Tiki bar outside.
The partnership comes as Vaughn’s owner, Innovative Hospitality and Development Group (IHD), seeks a chance to improve the food hall's existing offerings, CEO Bryan Beal said.
The Innovative Hospitality and Development Group has operated all of Vaughn’s concepts since purchasing the food hall last year.
But Beal met the Batistas when IHD was seeking tenants for the food hall at The Mill in Fountain Inn. He was impressed.
“Like we do with every project, we are always assessing what’s best for the community,” Beal said. “With everything that they’ve done from a food and beverage standpoint in this area, it was a really unique opportunity for us to work with somebody of that caliber.”
For the Batistas, working in a food hall was never something they wanted, Hector said, but they liked the energy and layout of Vaughn’s. In considering the partnership, the Batistas spent ample time there, observing the flow of traffic, the systems for ordering and delivering food and the way people used the food hall.
They learned a lot.
“It’s a really cool gathering place,” Hector said of the feeling at Vaughn’s. “It’s got a unique feel to it. If it felt like a food hall I probably would not want to be a part of it to be honest.”
Plans call for keeping most things the same but just with a few tweaks to improve efficiency and offerings, but there are plans to change Tackle Box. The seafood concept will evolve into a Mediterranean-inspired one. The menu will lean into a range of flavors and will feature a menu of shareable items, bowls and fresh-made pasta.
Pasta is a passion for Hector, who spent much of his culinary career cooking in finer dining spaces including a long time at a finer dining Italian restaurant.
The Batistas opened Tacos & Mas, a taco-focused restaurant in Greer in 2017. A second location followed in 2018, but responding to customer demand, the owners transitioned the restaurant to Sofrito Latin Restaurant & Bar in 2020 with a more robust menu of classic Latin cuisine, including specialties from their native Dominican Republic.
Fans of Sofrito will also recognize some additions. Plans call for adding some of Sofrito’s signature margaritas and mojitos to Tiki Bar’s menu.
And while some things are changing, more is staying the same. While Tackle Box will become something new, some of the favorite menu items like the wings and the fish and chips, will migrate to Bourbon St. Burgers.
Additions to the dessert-focused Afters will include adding a few more coffee beverages and some new desserts like slices of cake, tiramisu, creme brulee, tres leches cake and banana pudding.
But, the goal is not to overhaul things, but to update and add where it makes sense.
“Vaughn’s is a landmark of Simpsonville,” Hector said. “It’s a great place for families to come together and a great place to share food and to spend time. We wanted to be part of that.”
The Batistas are also still working on their Food Truck Park in Greer. Things are moving along, Hector said, and the goal is to have permitting in place come spring.
To keep up with changes at Vaughn's Food Hall and the latest news, visit vaughnsfoodhall.com and follow @vaughnsfoodhall
Follow Lillia Callum-Penso on Instagram @lpenso