WILMINGTON – After two years, Grace on 2nd will close its downtown location this month, but with plans for an early summer opening for a new restaurant in Leland.
Grace on 2nd will serve its last meals on April 29. According to owner Anthony Perry, the restaurant will serve “deeply discounted” drinks and half-priced entrees.
“It’s kind of a going away party, and a thank you to our regulars,” Perry said.
Perry said the closing was motivated by a host of factors, including the restaurant’s location being “a bit too far off the beaten path,” and maintenance issues with the downtown Wilmington building where Grace and 2nd is currently located.
He added that, at the same time, the rapid growth and development of Leland – and Brunswick County – made it an appealing location for a new restaurant.
The official name of Perry’s new venture is still under wraps, but it will be located in the Waterford shopping center in Leland, next to the Harris Teeter.
According to Perry, the new location will do things a little differently.
“We’re gonna take it from around forty items down to about ten – when you have a smaller menu you can just pay more attention to everything,” Perry said. “We’ll be branching out from seafood a little bit, with more American cuisine dishes: Cajun chicken alfredo, hand-cut ribeye, those kinds of dishes. But we’ll definitely keep our seafood – crab cakes, all fresh fish, for sure,” Perry said.
Perry said the new restaurant will continue to focus on fresh and local seafood, including shrimp supplied by Perry’s mother, who runs a seafood company in Varnamtown, in Brunswick County.
“The only thing that is ever frozen is our Salmon, which is flash frozen about 20 miles off the coast, and we take that and filet it in-house, so it’s still very fresh,” Perry said.
While the logistics of setting an opening date for a new restaurant can be tricky, Perry said he was aiming for June 20.
On the map: Grace on 2nd
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