Frank & Jack’s Restaurant on Ira will open at 1434 Ira Road in Mount Pleasant late this summer. The property is on just under two acres which its owners intend to utilize for a spacious outdoor area, restaurant and soft-serve ice cream shack.
As the project’s partners fleshed out the identity of the restaurant, project leader Stephanie Samuels said it dawned on her that the lot off U.S. Highway 17 North in Mount Pleasant was of such a magnitude that it might be able to fill a gap in the community — a spot that can handle large groups for birthday or graduation parties.
“I feel like we are such a big market that caters towards tourists and weddings and everything else,” she said. “There’s really not a lot for those small celebrations to happen outside of your home.”
With Frank & Jack’s, Samuels and partner Hunter Floyd Williams say they hope to offer a place for the kids to hang out as well. The restaurant is the first for hospitality group High Tide Provisions. Other partners include Alice Lewis and chef Jonathan Rohland.
Williams, who is helping with Frank & Jack’s design, branding and creative direction, said that its size of the lot adjacent to Abide A While garden boutique, gave them the ability to develop a “chameleon space” as long as the infrastructure was in place. The interior will feature an open floor plan with nostalgic accents in a contemporary space. Along the walls, visitors may find geometric patterns with wood paneling and polished brass.
Nostalgia has also inspired the menu, crafted by Rohland, who met Samuels while working at Nordstrom. The two were part of the opening team for its Canadian restaurant market, which influenced Frank & Jack’s menu.
“The poutine came about as a throwback to Jonathan and I working together in Canada [which is] how we met. We had poutine every night. We fell in love with it,” Samuels said. “So we just took that and made our spin on it and our twist with short ribs.”
A gathering space
Samuels and the rest of the High Tide Provisions team were looking for a gathering place with enough space for kids to run around — that could also satisfy folks looking for a child-free night out.
Leaning on restaurant real estate trends showing a desire for outdoor space and need to carve out a distinct identity, the team found what they needed in the two acre property off of Highway 17.
The team wanted to make sure there was ample parking for guests. The diverse space totals 88 parking spots with the hope of partnering with nearby businesses for additional parking after 5 p.m. The partners also plan to install a restroom attached to the standalone ice cream shack.
“We had this opportunity with this lot next to Abide A While,” said Samuels. “It’s a little under two acres and that’s kind of what Mount Pleasant needed.”
Samuels and Williams explained that there was some apprehension to building a little further from the peninsula.
The team loves the lot, understanding that a location further outside of downtown would allow for the space to hone in their vision, but they also recognized Frank & Jack’s would need to be eclectic.
Overall, guests can expect an enterprise that utilizes its space to envelope the community — and meet the needs of Charleston’s ever-growing suburban population.
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