The Mill interior

Serving Up Nostalgia

In December 2022/January 2023, Eat, Feature Stories by Matt Lardie2 Comments

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Raleigh Magazine first broke the news of The Mill in December, and now we’ve got the exclusive first look and an updated opening.

The Mill Patio

The Mill (a nod to its former name) is slated to open mid-April, a culmination of a yearslong dream of Kevin Jennings to get his hands on the spot. “I tried to buy it multiple times and it never worked out,” he says. 

For more than two decades, the bar part of now-defunct and lamented Edwards Mill Bar & Grill served as the neighborhood dive of choice. Regulars will be the first to tell you the real scene wasn’t in the much-neglected dining room—you skipped right past the tables and headed for the dimly lit bar. 

One of those regulars was Jennings, co-owner of Urban Food Group (think Vivace, Coquette). “I spent many nights there,” he recalls.

Now, Jennings and his team are back in that very bar as the owners prepare to open a new restaurant that pays homage to the space’s history while charting a new, refreshed course for the future.

Clearly, luck favors the patient, and when the space came up for grabs, Jennings pounced. “We have long wanted to execute another concept that had its roots in Porter’s City Tavern,” he says. The Hillsborough Street restaurant, which closed in 2013, was known for a menu rooted in Americana steakhouse fare—think big shrimp po’boy sandwiches, double-thick pork chops, and hearty salads topped with sliced steak.

“It’s a dive bar-meets-a quality American steakhouse in some senses.”

—Kevin Jennings

“The Mill will be that concept, but dusted off and modernized,” says Jennings. The actual restaurant itself is also being dusted off and modernized. For all its nostalgia, the space just physically didn’t work anymore.

“It [needed] to be totally gutted,” he explains. “The dining room wasn’t active; the carpet was sticky… it was just sort of run down.”

Jennings turned to designer Amy Price of Atlanta’s Starling Studio to work her magic (Price also designed UFG’s Vivace and Bar Marcel in Charlotte), with the charge of not changing the footprint of the restaurant too much.

The result is a dining room filled with booths and banquettes in true steakhouse style, and a garage door that will open onto the revamped patio. The bar area itself—the beloved heart of the restaurant—has been painted black. “Our designer called it dark and sultry,” says Jennings. It’s as though the dive bar went out and bought a little black dress—same attitude, new look.

The food got a refresh too. A nod to Porter’s City Tavern, the new menu will be split between classic bar nibbles (wings, burgers and hyped-up nachos) and elevated classic fare like pastas, local fish, and thick juicy steaks cooked over the new wood-fired grill Jennings had installed. To boot, the opening menu will feature a filet with crab ravioli, grilled asparagus hollandaise sauce and a side of tobacco onions. “It’s a dive bar-meets-a quality American steakhouse in some senses,” Jennings explains. 

Whereas before most folks made a beeline for the bar, now diners will have the choice of a relaxed bar experience or the slightly more upscale dining room. A choose-your-own dinner adventure if you will.

“We love what we do, and we are hoping the neighborhood does as well,” says Jennings. As far as how he’s going to feel when he sidles up to that bar again? “I’m gonna feel pretty great.” And so will we. urbanfoodgroup.com

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Comments

  1. Is Jules back as the bartender? She is the reason I came. Food and decor are OK, but you go for the people…

  2. Pingback: It’s Giving Generous - Raleigh Magazine

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