Wine Down Bistro is not winding down.
After announcing a week ago that the business would temporarily close, owners Georgia and Marcus Garner said they will reopen their New American eatery for full service Monday and its adjacent sister restaurant, Neighbor of Wine Down, for brunch Saturday. Both restaurants will operate at their normal hours.
In a phone call, the Garners said the restaurants experienced some recent “operational hardships” no different than what other small businesses and mom-and-pop shops have encountered. A sign posted on the door Wednesday cited unforeseen circumstances.
“We went through a hard time last week, and we decided that we need to take a step back and rethink this thing and replan it and come back with a stronger purpose and a stronger plan,” Marcus Garner said.
(READ MORE: Ooltewah restaurants Wine Down Bistro and Neighbor will reopen, owners say)
The owners didn’t delve into the finances of the business.
“A lot of blessings have happened in the past five days,” Garner said. “I’m not going to go into exactly who did what for us, but I can tell you that if it wasn’t for the help and the prayer circles that people have given for us and our faith and just chasing our dream and digging heels down and saying ‘I won’t quit,’ none of this would be possible.”
Although they’re not yet ready to share details, the Garners said the business could see some changes in the coming year. Those changes were in progress before the establishments briefly closed their doors.
Staff photo / Wine Down is seen in 2015 at Cambridge Square in Ooltewah.“We just hit a bump in the road,” Georgia Garner said. “Maybe a hill or larger than a bump, but we were able, thankfully, with the support of our community and with the support of Cambridge Square and lots and lots of prayers to work through and come out much better on the other side.”
The Garners mentioned potentially making some cosmetic changes to the business, but they have absolutely no intention of leaving Cambridge Square, a mixed-use development in Ooltewah full of local dining and retail brands.
“Same feel, same service people have always gotten,” Marcus Garner said about the restaurant. “We’re just elevating our position in the community, and we’re looking to stand out and still be all our regulars’ place to come.”
Garner said the business is retaining many of its staff members, although some employees did leave.
“We do have new faces coming in,” he said. “We have a lot of the old faces who are still here, and some people have gone on to other things as well. It’s a time where people have to do what’s best for them. We support them.”
Wine Down was among the first businesses to open at Ooltewah’s Cambridge Square development in 2015. The Garners started out with about five or six employees. By 2020, the restaurant had outgrown its building and had an opportunity to take over the space next door.
Wine Down Bistro focuses on modern American cuisine, Garner said, a wide umbrella that doesn’t pigeon-hole the restaurant to one style. Many of its dishes are reimagined Southern classics and comfort food. It’s an upscale dining experience in a casual setting, he said. Neighbor of Wine Down, their more recent concept, serves breakfast and lunch.
The Garners said they wouldn’t be reopening the businesses if they weren’t committed to keeping the lights on.
“We weren’t trying to put a Band-Aid on a volcano,” Garner said. “The only way we were going to come out of this is if we had a lot of prayers answered and miracles happened, and they did. These miracles have fortified us and given us a sense of security and comfort that this won’t happen again.”
Contact David Floyd at dfloyd@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.
Staff photo / In 2018, Marcus Garner, who owns Wine Down Bistro with his wife, Georgia, is seen at the business in Ooltewah.