Asheville Scene: Downtown restaurant Solace is closing

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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From my story for Asheville Scene:

Restaurant Solace, an eatery that opened at the corner of Haywood Street and Battery Park Avenue in downtown last year, is closing, co-owner Annie Kimmett said Wednesday. The restaurant’s last day is Oct. 28.

“We opened a year and a half ago and we had a pretty good first year,” Kimmett said.

“This second year has not been as good. It just got to the point where we’re looking at the winter time and we didn’t want to invest any more money in it,” she said. “Sometimes when you have a business, it’s not worth it. There are probably 20 reasons I could give about why, but I don’t want to say anything negative.”

Image link for restaurant Solace.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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12 Comments

  1. Auggie Mae October 15, 2012

    The customer service at this place was just terrible. I only gave them one chance but it’s hard to back for a second time after the lousy service we received. Plus the space is a little wonky. $12,000 a months sounds nuts but that is one heck of a location. Maybe some big city independent can come in and hopefully offer better service than soli. The best place to people watch in Asheville.

    Reply
    1. Orbit DVD October 16, 2012

      $12,000 a month? I predict a chain will be coming in soon.

      Reply
      1. local yocal October 17, 2012

        A chain will not touch that space. The kitchen and main restaruant are downstairs. No one wants to go into that sad space. What is also hard is that the hotel does not want a “bar” in the cafe/outside area. You can not make the money in that location that you need to survive without the bar. That space is also way more than $12,000.

        Reply
  2. Orbit DVD October 13, 2012

    Here’s a question. Many people say this location has the best corner and patio downtown. What would you do with it? Would you let anyone sit there?

    Reply
    1. Mr. Yuck October 15, 2012

      Whatever you do with it, be prepared for monthly rent in the 12-14K range.

      Reply
  3. bill October 13, 2012

    Glanced at menu a few times, but no vegetarian food.

    Lame.

    Reply
  4. imjonnyquest October 11, 2012

    there ya go. once again arrogance has shown its price. great location, couldn’t miss. another example of smart peoplr doing stupid things.

    Reply
  5. ThePhan October 10, 2012

    It didn’t help that the restaurant also had the same name as a hospice care facility here in Asheville.

    Reply
  6. downtondrinker October 10, 2012

    I must say that I NEVER went to Solace, where as I was a regular on the patio when it was still the Flying Frog.

    It’s a hard space to make work, but at least I felt welcome at the frog.

    Hopefully drinking and smoking will be permitted on the patio when the next restaurant opens there. It has some of the best people watching in the entirety of Asheville.

    Reply
  7. Jeff Green October 10, 2012

    Got to have decent food and cater to the locals if you want to survive outside of the tourist season. Solace did neither.

    Reply
  8. local yocal October 10, 2012

    Just goes to show that if you piss of the locals they won’t be back! Almost everyone I talked to had some kind of problem there. From “forcing” you off the patio if you were not eating to charging a cover to sit and have a drink at the empty bar downstairs. Hopefully who ever opens there next will be kinder to us locals!

    Reply
    1. Jeff Murphy October 10, 2012

      The place certainly has its fair share of bad reviews on the various websites: urbanspoon, trip advisor, etc.

      Reply

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