Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar brings southern fixings to Upper Arlington
After opening 22 years ago in the South and expanding throughout the country, Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar has made its first venture into Ohio with a home in Upper Arlington.
“Upper Arlington is a vibrant neighborhood in Columbus that we felt would be the perfect spot for our first Ohio location," said Christin Prince, the chain’s senior vice president. "Its proximity to the (Ohio State) university, great food scene and the tight-knit community are all things we look for when choosing locations.
"Also, the building itself had ample space for us to build the large kitchens we need as a scratch kitchen.”
The Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar, a 5,500-square-foot eatery at 1678 W. Lane Ave., officially opens Oct. 26.
The company is based in Ashville, North Carolina, and according to its website, tupelohoneycafe.com, the restaurant "is a revival of Southern food and traditions rooted in the Carolina mountains we call home."
The includes “lunches and suppers that bring family and friends around the table for scratch-made and responsibly-sourced Southern fare," the site states.
Columbus is the 20th location, with three more expected to open soon to expand the company's reach to 15 states.
The restaurant's hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.
Upper Arlington officials said they're excited to see another dining and entertainment option come to the Lane Avenue corridor.
"Tupelo Honey is located in the Lane II mixed-use project developed by Crawford Hoying," said Chad Gibson, the city's community-development director. "The city welcomes Tupelo Honey to the community and believes its success will enhance the vibrancy of the Lane Avenue corridor, as well as provide another high-quality dining option for residents and visitors."
Prince said the Upper Arlington restaurant's kitchen would be led by chef Raymone Hogue, a 12-year industry veteran from Huntsville, Alabama.
In addition to a range of scratch-made Southern favorites, she said, several signature dishes are available, including the fried chicken, which, Prince said, "took years to develop."
"We brine the birds for 18 hours to increase the tenderness, dredge in a signature blend of spices and, after frying, top with our special ‘bee dust,'" she said.
Other signature items are the New Orleans-inspired Roast Beef Debris, which is a sandwich on a griddle hoagie bun with beef roasted for hours in its own juices to create "a rich, flavorful gravy," Prince said.
Additionally, she said, the cathead buttermilk biscuits are a signature item offered since the original restaurant was opened in 2000.
"They are called ‘catheads’ because it is a Southern saying that literally those biscuits are as big as a cat's head," Prince said. "They are served with scratch-made blueberry jam and all the profits (from the biscuits) go directly to our employee relief fund.
"We started this during COVID to help any employee facing financial hardship and have (donated) $525,000 to employees so far."
Prince said that initially, Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar would support local suppliers through partnerships with Holiday Sausage Co., 10 local breweries and two local distilleries.
She also highlighted two signature cocktails: Peach Don't Kill My Vibe Sangria, which she described as "sangria made sweet like the South, (as) peach and pineapple unite with our house-made honey liqueur and Blue Ridge bubbly sparkling wine 1025,” and Carolina Dreamin', "a light and spritzy vodka Collins, with South Carolina-made Dixie wildflower vodka, blueberry hibiscus syrup, lemon and soda."
Happy hour (3 to 6 p.m. weekdays) will feature $4 snacks, $3 beers and $8 signature cocktails, she sid.
Lunch combos with a half-sandwich and selected sides are available for $13.95 until 4 p.m. weekdays, and brunch is served until 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
The restaurant and bar are expected to employ 110 full- and part-time employees, Prince said.
"We have an expansive outdoor patio, (and) we have a beautiful mural on the exterior of the building from local artist Sarah Hout that captures the history of Upper Arlington’s communal gardens with a small nod to Tupelo and our Tupelo tree," Prince said.
nellis@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekNate
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar opens in Upper Arlington
