Updates: Wing Boss, Mamma’s Pizza, Beamers 25
Readers have asked whether the Wing Boss restaurant is still coming to The Shoppes at Blue Hills Village off Challenger Avenue. The last information Amanda Codispoti reported was that the project had been delayed by paperwork and interior renovations that were taking longer than expected.
I talked to owner Gene Brown this morning, and he said he is definitely still opening the restaurant. He expects to open it sometime in September. He said the main hold-up at this point is installing the hood duct work.
When it opens, the family sports bar-style restaurant will reportedly serve such foods as wings, Angus burgers, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs and fries.
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I also talked to Stephan Parry, who is involved in the opening of Beamer’s 25 at The Lofts at West Station on Salem Avenue in Roanoke. Here is Amanda’s original blog post about this restaurant, which is affiliated with Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer. The restaurant will reportedly serve local food and 25 craft beers.
The last Amanda reported was that Beamer’s 25 would open about Aug. 1, but as anybody who follows restaurants knows, these initial estimates are usually a bit optimistic. Parry said they are still waiting for their liquor license and furnishing the interior, but they are now shooting to open in mid-September. He declined to provide any details about the menu at this point.
Parry is already a successful restaurateur. He owns the following businesses: Fry’s Spring Station (Charlottesville), Q Barbeque (multiple locations), Downtown Grille (Charlottesville), Shoemakers Grille (Lynchburg), Sette Pizza (Richmond), Waterstone Pizza (Lynchburg), Jefferson Street Brewery (Lynchburg) and The Craddock-Terry Hotel (Lynchburg).
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UPDATE 2:20 p.m.: I just got a call from a reader named Debbie who said she stopped by Mamma’s Pizza the other day to pick up a menu and saw a sign on the door that said they were closed for vacation. Whew! Sounds like they’ll be opening back up in the near future. END UPDATE.
Another reader recently asked whether Mamma’s Pizza in Salem is still open. I’ve been calling the restaurant for days only to get an automated “system on – enter access code” message. I believe Mamma’s Pizza is still owned by the same family that owns Mamma Maria’s in Salem, but when I called Mamma Maria’s I got a message that the restaurant is closed until later this month for vacation.
It is highly possible that Mamma’s Pizza is also closed because of vacation, although if that is the case, I wish someone would leave that information on the voicemail system so callers do not get the wrong idea.
I will continue to see what I can find out about these restaurants and will post any new information.
August 13, 2012 - 11:03 AM
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Ahh, so Beamer’s is delayed in opening? What a (Casablanca) shock!
So, the huge, overwhelming crowds they expected to flood the restaurant after Austin Peay, Bowling Green, and Duke games might find the restaurant not yet open? Again, Casablanca.
It’s funny, they don’t seem to be concerned about the other 360 days of the calendar year, just those of autumn Saturdays with Hokie home football games.
I really hope Frank Beamer is getting some solid cash out of selling his name to hopeful restauranteurs who pretend he has opened yet another high priced steakhouse.
Tired format, tired menu (before it’s even written, you know it’s true), and tired attempts to prop up some unsuccessful business locale.
I welcome the new & improved Beamer’s menu (version 5.0), just to see how eerily similar it is to all the other Beamer’s restaurant menus from all those other restaurants that have failed.
For all those cheerleaders who are eager to criticize my cynicism, try to accomplish this – try to actually think about this scenario…
An honest productive viable citizen decides to make their own mark on the world, to deliver something that people will clamor for, but that the people don’t yet know it. The classic case of entrepreneurship.
Do it right, and treat the people right, and make the world, or at least your hometown a better place.
You decide to start a restaurant, based on local themes. You determine that the face of the restaurant will be a local famous person. You study the local dining options, you hire a consultant to make you more successful, you negotiate leases and supply chain contracts. You interview and begin to hire employees, as well as the all critical chef/cookstaff.
Is there anything you’ve forgotten?
Oh, yeah!?! What is the theme of the restaurant? What is the restaurant’s ‘mission’ for success?
Who knows? Does it even matter? After all, you paid Frank Beamer for permission to use his name, so it MUST be a gold mine of success. Never mind the several other restaurants that operated exactly the same way and every single one failed. never mind the local clientele, the market base, the economic factors or the geographic factors.
It’s full speed ahead!
See you in 9 months when you declare bankruptcy!
Mamma’s Pizza is still open. It is still owned by the same family that owns Mamma Maria’s, both restaurants are closed for vacation and will reopen Tuesday August 21st.
Looking forward to Wing Boss opening! There is a need for great local restaurants on this side of town. They have yummy sauces and great people slated to work there. Wing Boss is sure to be one of my favorite places to eat.
I know from a friend traveling in Italy that everything is closed for the month of August in Italy and that is probably why Mama’s Maria’s and Mama’s Pizza are closed. They did this last year as well.
Update: I just changed the blog entry to reflect this, but a Salem reader also called and said there is a sign on the door at Mamma’s Pizza that says they are closed for vacation.
Mike’s Grill in Blacksburg pretty much closes the day after students leave campus for the summer, and is seldom open prior to the week they return.
Dude’s made a solid living doing that for three plus decades now. maybe father/son or whatever, but the point remains.
I was just going to suggest an RT review of Mike’s, since it is a Blacksburg institution, and I could never remember a review of it in the old timey newspaper.
I was double checking online to see if I might have missed it, and found this tidbit of info. There were fifteen reviews of McDonalds in the online restaurant review section. Fifteen!
First question – Who needs a review of any franchise fast food restaurant as established as McDonalds?
Second question – McDonalds? Who in the USA needs a review of McDonalds for any reason?
Seriously, people…
The Roanoke Times reviewed Mike’s in June: http://www.roanoke.com/entertainment/insideout/stories/wb/309833
I don’t know why the user-submitted reviews feature so many McDonald’s reviews. I guess because they are user-submitted and that’s what some people like.
Thanks for the link, Lindsey. When I checked on the reviews link on here, the only things it showed were a review from July 2011 and a review from June (I think) 2010. It did not show the review you linked.
Regardless, for those interested in visiting Mike’s, they also have some really good barbecue, in addition to their burgers. I’ve never had a calzone there, but I understand they are really huge and really good. I have trouble straying from the cheeseburgers.
Does Stephan Parry still own Blackstone Grill in Christiansburg? I understand they brought in a new general manager.
Bill, Blackstone Grill was not listed as one of Parry’s restaurants and he didn’t mention it when I asked him to verify the accuracy of that list I shared in the blog post.
Hello -
Does Stephan Parry have a Parry Restaurants website or contact info available by chance?
Thanks!
Kate
Kate, I would suggest contacting one of his restaurants and asking how best to reach him.
Mama Maria is closed for vacation. Bthat would explain Mammas Pizza.