1906 Ale House going in former Isaacs space
Brown has applied for a mixed beverage permit. Photo by Lindsey Nair.
After dinner at Norberto’s on Saturday night, Howard and I spotted this notice for an ABC license application taped in the window of the former Isaacs Mediterranean restaurant space in Roanoke. The name of the new restaurant: 1906 Ale House.
I have since learned the new restaurant is being opened by Dan Brown, who is currently the general manager over Fork in the Alley, Fork in the City and Fork in the Market. Brown, originally from Iowa, started as a line cook at Fork in the Alley eight years ago and worked his way up to GM of that location within about two years. He helped to open both of the other locations and said he has enjoyed that work a lot. He plans to stay on the Fork payroll for the next month or two as he simultaneously gets his place ready to open.
Brown said he’s wanted to open his own restaurant for several years and looked at a few different locations before he decided on the space at 1910 Memorial Avenue SW in Grandin Village. When that location still housed The Isaacs Mediterranean (it closed in March), it was extensively remodeled with a solid oak bar, hardwood floor and other nice wood touches, which all caught Brown’s eye. He said all he’ll need to do is some painting and adding light fixtures and a few other touches.
The name 1906 Ale House, he said, is an homage to the date when Grandin Village was founded. The menu is not official but Brown said he is definitely going to do deli sandwiches with high-quality ingredients. He said there will also be entrees. He has applied for a beer, wine and liquor license and will have 20 taps and a lot of craft beer from Virginia and beyond, as well as an extensive wine list.
Brown added that he plans to have live music, which he thinks will be a good addition to the Grandin Village scene. “It’s got a great space for a stage,” he said. “I think that’s something that Grandin Village lacks.”
Brown is shooting for a September opening.
July 9, 2012 - 3:28 PM
RSS feed 
Whoooooo hoooooooooo!
That sounds good! Best of luck to Mr. Brown. This is yet another “coming soon” venue w/ lots of taps! Yee hi! Roanoke is finally getting there!
Sounds boring to me.
Can’t wait!!!
This is good news — glad this space now has an occupant. We are looking forward to giving it a try.
awesome!!!!!!!!!Perfect for Grandin!!
Sounds pretty nice and as a quality beer aficionado the 20 taps are a plus.
Was hoping for something there that would be a little more than deli sandwiches and the like though. The Grandin area has plenty of places to get a good sandwich and basic food like that.
Isaac’s was good for something different.
If someone ever decides to open an Asian style restaurant in the Grandin area I bet they will do really well. There is no Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. type of food served exclusively in the 10-12 eateries located in that 2-3 block radius.
Sounds like a good fit for the Grandin area. Hope, since it’s in the development stage, maybe you can offer Mr. Brown some ideas that would make it less “boring”. What would you do/serve there?
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!! Cannot wait!
My husband and I were hoping for a Tapas/Wine Bar. Even Sushi would do well in our neighborhood (Hey Ben Gui, want to expand?). I wondered if Alejandro’s might give our neck of the woods a go. We do like the idea of live music in our neighborhood, but can only get so excited about sandwiches. Let’s hope there is more in store.
Another restaurant with the same theme in Grandin. Why do we have so many of the same restaurants in such a small radius. I do agree that the beer selection will be nice but please make the food different from what we already have. How are you going to make the neighborhood more appealing when places keep opening with the same menu as a place a few doors down.
I am not sure how it’s possible to judge a menu that hasn’t even been created yet. If it is nothing but deli sandwiches, then perhaps that would be boring and not much competition for nearby restaurants. But Dan Brown said he will have other stuff on the menu. Maybe these comments will help to inform some of those decisions for him.
I agree that several other restaurant concepts, such as sushi or tapas, would probably go over well in Grandin Village. I wonder how many available spaces there are left for restaurants, though.
It’s an Ale House people. I’m thinking his niche is going to be beer. Nothing like that in Grandin.
Thank You Bryan. . .you beat me to the punch!
A pub atmosphere that focuses on beer and mentions deli sandwiches without any concrete ideas of other food seems pretty easy to characterize.
I seriously doubt anyone will go to 1906 in the future because of their delectable (fill in the blank). Everyone will go for beer and to fill their stomach with something to absorb the beer. Otherwise known as a Macados-type listing of deli sandwiches which only eversoslightly differentiates you from the Applebees, TGIFridays, O’Charleys, etc. of the world, mostly in that you’re not a franchise.
I know the idea here is to cheerlead any new dining establishment in the newspaper’s region, but let’s not get too critical of those who have seen it try and fail dozens of times before, and are thus a little bit jaded. It’s not like the RoVa is exactly a mecca for dining experimentation.
After all, the obvious is out there, yet everyone seems afraid to attempt the certain success story.
What? Copy the Homeplace, only in a different location. Everyone has been afraid to even try. Is there a more successful model for this region? Honestly? Putting aside all delusions to grandeur ala Taubman distortions, the Homeplace is the model that NOBODY even tries to emulate.
Find a different grassy field, with easy road access, and make a fortune. Or… try to copy another decades old concept without admitting it, and without recognizing how that concept nearly failed several times, and make a fraction.
@Crooked Road, there is a restaurant in Salem called the Salem House Restaurant that’s very similar to the Homeplace. They are located in a big house across the street from the post office and they serve family-style dinner with choice of meats, etc. We reviewed it a couple of months ago: http://www.roanoke.com/food/reviews/wb/308270
I believe the Pine Tavern also does a homestyle menu.
Also, people love beer and sandwiches. I know I do. There is always room for good, well run restaurants of all kinds in Rke. Good luck to Dan!
Wow. After reading that review of the Salem House, let’s hope they wake up and try to compete.
As for Howard’s enjoyment of yet another (of the dozens) place to grab a beer and deli sandwich, I guess that is why people camp out for the opening of a place like Chipotle. Not exactly a beer and deli sandwich kind of place. Maybe the attraction is from desperation for ANY kind of different format.
My last visit to a Fork (the one on the Market) last week was disappointing–untrained servers, slow and indifferent service, mediocre food, obnoxiously loud blaring music…and the American-style beer (meant to be served cold) was barely cool. I hope they can do better than that in Grandin Village!
The Homeplace is a nice destination place because of the view and easy access from the hiking trails. The food is, for the most part, dreck. Kids flock there because its all-you-can-eat, but the vas quantities of food are as much as can be said about it.
Meze tried to be a tapas place and failed fast. As for the other places in GV, between Rock Fish, Local Roots, Surf and Turf, Graces, and Pop’s (I’m sure i missed a few), the area doesn’t seem over saturated with good sandwich places. And certainly not good pubs with a great beer selection. Give it a chance…sheesh.
The Homeplace serves wonderful food! Great home cooking and a beautiful atmosphere to dine in. The servers are always friendly and the man who seats everyone has been there forever and keeps that place moving!
I’m very excited for Dan! I think an Ale House with good food, even if it’s sandwiches, is awesome in my book! Good food and good beer! Is there really anything to complain about? Good luck to you Dan! I can’t wait!
My husband and I dined at 1906 for lunch today. Highly disappointed!! We love Oysters Rockefeller and have had them in many restaurants in various locations in the US. The ones at 1906 were only lukewarm and had no spinach or bacon as is generally used. My husband tried the mac and cheese and left most of it. My onion rings were limp and soggy and also left behind. All in all, a disappointing meal. To top it off we watched one of the chefs pick up a knife a customer had dropped and put it back on the customers’ table. Ugh! We will NOT be back.
My husband and I were excited to meet friends at 1906 for dinner last night for dinner. Unfortunately, it was a let down. They were very busy and there was a 45 min. wait which was a good sign for us. We got a walk up spot at the bar and ordered drinks. The beer selection was extensive, but not the wine list. In fact, it reminded me a lot of the lackluster wine list from Fork, down to the tiny 3 oz white wine glasses. We witnessed 4 broken dishes/glasses while we were there. The tomato/ cucumber salad had to be sent back because the feta was spoiled. Our dinner was as bland as the decor. Oh well I would say better luck next time, but for us there probably wont be one.