Now Opening: 'Tavern comfort food,' rise of the janitors and a tea party

Joe Hotchkiss, Augusta Chronicle
·2 min read
Local is a new restaurant in Martinez, opened by the owner of Italian restaurant Cucina 503 on Furys Ferry Road.
Local is a new restaurant in Martinez, opened by the owner of Italian restaurant Cucina 503 on Furys Ferry Road.

A brief look at openings, closings and other changes in Augusta-area business:

FOURTH TIME’S THE CHARM? A corner storefront at 3851 Evans to Locks Road in Martinez has housed a restaurant since 2010. It just hasn’t been the same restaurant.

Now, with a soft opening earlier this month, chef Edward Mendoza – the owner of Cucina 503 less than a mile away on Furys Ferry Road – is operating Local, a new restaurant whose menu is described as “tavern comfort food.”

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“Our restaurant is the kind of place you can relax, eat outstanding and fresh food, or just sit at the bar and hang out with your friends,” according to Local’s website, which promises locally sourced ingredients to its entrees that include a meatloaf made from meat that’s ground on the premises.

The record to beat for a restaurant to stay open in 3851’s corner suite is five years. Tao Asian opened there in 2010 but closed in less than two years. BirdDog Grille opened there in 2012 but closed in September 2017. Bogeys Grille opened in the same spot in October 2018 but stayed open only for about two years.

KEEP IT CLEAN: A lot of people decided during the COVID-19 pandemic to become their own bosses by opening their own businesses. Now there seems to be no shortage of janitorial services – seven cleaning businesses filed for business licenses in Richmond and Columbia counties during October.

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Five are based in Columbia County – Cleanliness is Next to Godliness; Executive Protouch Cleaning; V-Loves Commercial and Residential Cleaning; A Perfect Shine; and Top-Notch Cleaning and Janitorial Service. The new Richmond County businesses are SPG Cleaning Services and Complete Solutions Cleaning Service.

Fortune magazine’s prediction in May 2020 is coming true: a surge in the demand for professional cleaning services. With workers returning to the office, employers want offices to be spotless. Commercial statistics firm Statista projected that janitorial businesses nationwide would generate $46 billion in revenue this year and exceed $50 billion in 2024.

BOBA FÊTE: A new Taiwanese tea room, Gong Cha, held its grand opening earlier this month at 3821 Washington Road, in a storefront formerly occupied by a Subway sandwich shop.

More: Taiwanese bubble tea shop to open new franchise location in Augusta

Augusta’s Gong Cha franchise is the ninth in Georgia but the first one outside the metro Atlanta area. It specializes in Asian-style tea beverages, particularly boba tea, characterized by the chewy balls of tapioca in each cup. New tea leaves are brewed every four hours to ensure the drinks’ freshness.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: New businesses are coming soon to the Augusta area