A new Charlottetown restaurant and bar is calling on Islanders to dust off their boots and get ready for a new place to party.
Work has been underway for weeks now converting the old Piazza Joe’s on Kent Street into The Factory Cookhouse and Dancehall, a country rock establishment that is aimed a the mature over-35 market on the main floor and the summer lobster lovers.
Best Restaurants P.E.I. Inc., which owns Hunter’s Ale House and Globe World Flavours, purchased the building that housed Piazza Joe’s for 15 years and the Tradewind Club for 23 years prior to that.
Business partners Steve Barber and Jacob Hiemstra felt the time was right to expand their successful foray into restaurant/nightclub establishments.
“We’re a couple of weeks away from starting with hammer and nails,’’ Barber said Wednesday, referring to renovating the inside into a country restaurant.
Once the city approves a permit, work will begin on the building’s façade.
During the summer, one of the floors inside will be dedicated to the lobster crowd and aptly named The Olde Lobster Factory Cookhouse and Dancehall. That side of the operation will be marketed completely separate from the country cookhouse.
“The local (P.E.I.) resident will only know it as The Factory.’’
The Factory, the year-round portion of the business is all about smokey barbecue cooking like pulled pork, brisquette, a restaurant featuring a southern menu.
“We’ll actually purchase a smoker that’s going to sit there and smoke the food right away,’’ Barber said.
Entertainment, depending on the time of year, will feature music Thursday to Saturday starting around 8:30 p.m., geared towards the 35-plus market — music like local band Vintage or some John Cougar Mellancamp.
“There’s no country room in Charlottetown, no country rock room. The more mature market is being under served, in our minds. The barbecue smokehouse is definitely not around.’’
During the summer, there will be shades of entertainment people are used to seeing down at the shellfish festival, perhaps a fiddler or a jig in the afternoons.
The Factory will have capacity for 180 people. The floors will be hardwood and the ambiance will be cookhouse in flavour. The outdoor patio stays.
Barber said he took Heimstra out to Calgary to expose him to some country atmosphere.
If all goes well, The Factory will open on Mother’s Day. Right now, Barber is in the process of hiring staff, approximately 40 to 50 people.
