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Local Restaurant Changes - The Hot Dish on Area Dining

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Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Preferred Realty

The Beef Barn, 400 St. Andrews Drive, is changing with the times.

Owners Bob and Donna Simon, who purchased the 42-year-old Greenville steak house in 1994, are changing their business plan and converting the venerable barn-shaped restaurant into a catering venue that also serves nightly meals to a smaller number of patrons.

"I'm very reenergized about the whole thing," said Bob Simon, who began managing The Beef Barn in Cary in 1980 and moved on to head the Greenville restaurant in 1983. "This is going to be our vehicle for growth. Donna and I are so excited about this."

Donna Simon has been focusing on catering for the past four years, and she's been working to convince her husband that catering was the best place for future growth.

"It's a decision Donna had encouraged me to do over a year ago, but I wasn't receptive to it then," Bob Simon said. "Especially in the steak business, competition from chains in the last 10 years has been tremendous. I'm not worried about competition, but when we looked at our business plan, we realized what used to work doesn't work any more.

"Catering has been Donna's passion for the past four years, and her business has doubled every year since she started it.

"Our five-year goal is to be the biggest caterer east of Raleigh," Bob Simon said.

Catering will be available both on-site and off, with a fleet of catering vans and trucks in the works. The Beef Barn will charge a room fee for on-site catering, and a delivery charge and a minimum order of 10 people for off-site deliveries. Catering orders must be placed at least 48 hours in advance.

The first phase of the new business plan is to stop serving lunch to the public beginning Monday. The Beef Barn will honor all of the lunches that have been booked through the month of August, Bob Simon said.

But starting Monday, the restaurant will open to the public at 5 p.m. And when it does, there will be fewer seats available. The number of walk-in diners that can be accommodated will be downsized from 250 seats to 80 seats.

"The booth area (main dining room) and bar area will be available for dinner," Bob Simon said. Part of the downstairs dining area will be converted into a large catering kitchen. The "golf room" downstairs and the upstairs private dining area will be used for catered events only.

And reservations will no longer be accepted for dinner.

"Shrinking from 250 to 80 seats will allow us to be a better restaurant," Bob Simon said. "You can be more discerning, more qualitative when you have a smaller restaurant."

The menu also will be shrinking, he said.

"We have way too much available. We will have steaks, because we are still The Beef Barn. We will have the same rib-eye steak they've been eating for the past 42 years. It will still be here.

"There will also be some chicken and seafood, and dinner specials. And we will have more freshly prepared entree salads.

"But the salad bar is gone, as of Sunday," Bob Simon said, citing the outrageous cost to continue offering the restaurant's signature 45-item make-your-own salad station in today's market.

"The only thing I feel really bad about is the salad bar," he said. It is the end of an era, and it's an emotional decision."

Call The Beef Barn at 756-1161. For catering, call 412-6729.

Saeng Thai House

In celebration of the Queen of Thailand's birthday on Aug. 12, Saeng Thai House, 3400 S. Memorial Drive, will offer any item on the menu at 10 percent off Tuesday when you wish the queen happy birthday. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Call 754-2244.

Fourth Street Wine Bar

Greenville's Fourth Street Wine Bar now is serving lunch on Mondays from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

The wine bar, on the second floor above Fourth Street Wine Shop, had been offering lunch on Tuesdays-Fridays.

The menu includes soups, salads and a variety of sandwiches including cold roast beef, club grilled cheese, chicken salad and BLT. Lunch items range in price from $4-$9.

Sides are $1-$2 and include chips, pretzels, potato salad, pasta salad and fresh fruit.

In addition to a selection of wines, the wine bar offers tea, Pepsi products and juices.

Fourth Street Wine Shop & Bar is on the corner of Fourth and Evans streets in the Jefferson Blount Harvey Building.

Call 758-6900 or visit www.4thStreetWine.com.

Farmers' market

Fresh produce available this week at the Pitt County Farmers' Market, 4560 County Home Road, includes: string beans, pole beans, bush beans, cucumbers, blueberries, peaches, cantaloupes, plums, watermelons, cabbage, collards, lima beans, butter beans, crowder peas, a variety of squashes, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, banana peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, green tomatoes, radishes, corn, field peas, okra, white onions, spring onions, red onions and daikon radishes.

A food demonstration featuring squash will be held from 9 a.m.-noon Saturday with Stephanie West-Puchett and The Vegetarians of Pitt County. Samples will be offered from several recipes, and educational materials will be available. The demonstration is sponsored by the Pitt County Health Education Foundation, Pitt Partners for Health, local farmers and the Pitt County Health Department.

The Pitt County Farmers' Market is open from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Fridays. Call 355-7612.

Wine tastings

Fourth Street Wine Shop, corner of Fourth and Evans streets, will feature a complimentary wine tasting from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday. Call 758-6900.

Finelli's Café will hold a wine tasting from 6-8 p.m. the first Thursday of each month in conjunction with the artists' openings at neighboring City Art Gallery. The tastings are held on the Finelli's patio, 511 Red Banks Road. Call 695-0020.

Village Point Market, formerly Lopaus Point Market, will hold a Spanish wine and hors d'oeuvres tasting from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the market, 620 Red Banks Road. Cost is $5 per person. Call 321-FOOD.

Nibbles

House of Mandarin, the Asian buffet restaurant at 803 S. Memorial Drive, appears to have closed. The telephone has been disconnected.

K&W Cafeteria, 1916 W. Arlington Blvd., now is serving breakfast only on Fridays and Sundays. Breakfast hours are 6:30 a.m.-10 a.m. Lunch is served beginning at 11 a.m. daily. The cafeteria had served breakfast daily since it opened at its Arlington Boulevard location. Call 756-7577.

O'Charley's, 610 S.E. Greenville Blvd., is holding a "Stuff the Bus" drive through Sunday to collect school supplies to be donated to the local Boys and Girls Clubs to Pitt County.

 

Hot Dish is a weekly column of restaurant and food news. To submit items for consideration, call Jane Hudson at 329-9577, fax 754-8140 or e-mail jhudson@coxnc.com.  For more information on Greenville Living, simply visit www.1SearchMLS.com.

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