Sam Miller’s closed earlier this 12 months. (BizSense file photograph)
It didn’t take lengthy for the previous Sam Miller’s space to get snapped up.
Elevation Sports Bar is making ready to open within the space at 1212 E. Cary St. in Shockoe Slip, the place longtime restaurant and oyster bar Sam Miller’s ended a decades-long run earlier this 12 months.
Elevation is led by Lorenzo Cheatham and Javontae Jones. Jones additionally owns the close by Eden Restaurant & Bar and beforehand owned The Riviere within the Arts District and Fan membership Aura Bar & Grill. The enterprise is Cheatham’s first as a restaurant proprietor.
Elevation’s menu remains to be being finalized however Cheatham mentioned it’ll embody wings, lamb chops and different fried staples. He added that they’re contemplating paying homage to Sam Miller’s on the menu.
(Courtesy Elevation)
“We’re looking at keeping oysters, considering that it was Sam Miller’s and they were known as an oyster bar, just to keep that legacy going and to help draw in that clientele that went to Sam Miller’s for 50-something years,” Cheatham mentioned.
Cheatham and Jones not too long ago signed a lease for the whole 6,100-square-foot space. Thalhimer’s Annie O’Connor and Katie Siegel repped the owner, local investor Alex Griffith, and their colleague Reilly Marchant represented Elevation.
Cheatham mentioned they felt there was room out there for a sports activities bar within the Slip, notably after the Buffalo Wild Wings a couple of blocks down closed three years ago.
Elevation’s deliberate to have over 35 TVs, together with a pool desk and dart boards. Cheatham mentioned they’re wanting into having a “FanDuel Lounge,” an space sponsored by the sportsbook with units on which individuals can place bets on video games.
The sports activities bar is deliberate to be open each day for lunch and dinner service, and keep open till midnight in the course of the week and till 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Cheatham mentioned they’re seeking to open in October, and that they’re seeking to carry Elevation to different markets.
“The plan is to franchise this thing eventually to different cities,” he mentioned, providing Charlotte and Atlanta as choices. “This is just the first.”