A new craft brewery is poised to bring its history-meets-industry steampunk vibes to downtown Belmont later this year.
The
Jekyll and Hyde Taphouse and Grill expects to open its doors by the end
of 2019 at 10 E. Catawba St., according to owner Frank La Fragola. The
some 12,000 square-foot-space was previously occupied by the 10 Catawba
bar and restaurant, before La Fragola purchased the property this year.
It was also a former automobile dealership.
It will be his
steampunk-themed brewpub’s second location. Its lone location in
Matthews opened in 2016, and many of the elements that have made it
successful will be replicated in Belmont.beer brewing equipment
The
Matthews location keeps about 50 craft beers from around North Carolina
on tap, along with wine, smoked bourbon and specialty cocktails —
including several paying homage to its fictional late 19th-century
namesakes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The bar and restaurant areas are
designed to reflect the personalities of each character made famous in
the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 work “The Strange Case
of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
“I want to walk in the restaurant, sit
down and have fun before I’ve even done anything, before the servers
come and give me a drink, before I have my meal I just want to have a
good time,” said La Fragola, who is originally from New Jersey who has
owned several Charlotte-area restaurants in the past. He is a
self-proclaimed history buff.
“Once you walk in, the music is
different too. We play rock n’ roll at the bar and adult contemporary in
the restaurant. So literally it’s two restaurants that are mashed
together.”
The brewpub serves made-to-order English, Irish, and
American-inspired dishes. Hungry patrons can try tasty fare such as the
Irish Cobb salad, Hyde’s shepherd’s pie, Guinness-glazed salmon and a
number of gourmet burgers. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday, and the
business also does catering.
And La Fragola says to expect all this
and more at the Belmont brewpub, which will employ around 70 people who
will form the backbone of what La Fragola says is most important:
Customer service.
The new brewpub will essentially have three separate rooms of
entertainment; one with a bar facing the front entrance off Catawba
Street, which opens into a larger main dining room with seating, another
bar and spaces for live music. That bar will also open to an outdoor
concrete patio space and beer garden that will be filled with fire pits,
seating and corn hole boards.
A large event space is located
upstairs, which can be rented out for weddings, corporate events, and
other private affairs. In the ceiling beams are old nails and parts
numbers from the old auto dealership.
And most everything—from décor
to furniture to lighting will tie in with the steampunk theme, which is a
genre of science fiction that brings together historical settings —
such as Victorian-era London — with industrial machinery and decor. That
means guests will see restored machining equipment throughout the
interior, along with lots of reclaimed wood, metalwork and other
custom-made pieces from steampunk artists. They include a “steampunked”
butter churn, drill press and a vehicle diagnostics machine with a large
switch that guests can throw to power up certain lights on the wall.He
purchased about 1,000 late 19th-century books from a long-defunct
library in Kentucky. The books will adorn the walls of a throughway
known as “the library” that connects the front bar with the interior bar
and restroom areas. Hidden bookshelf doors will add another layer of
mystery to the library.
