Out with Old, in with New: Riverfront Eatery opens under a new name, menu – Port City Daily

Wilmington – Walking the center of the river will bring with it visions to a new restaurant: River 128. What was once George has already been rebranded.

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Edson Munka and partner Freddie Lee bought George at Riverwalk three years ago while working with broker Terrie Esperties to provide space for their Brazilian stachaus concept. Although they could never land the right place, they instead found 128 S. Water St.

“And she included real estate,” Munka said on a phone call on Monday.

According to real estate records, Lee and Muneka received the Water Street property for $ 2.5 million in December 2021.

Former George, the restaurant opened in Wilmington in 2004 and is known as one of the many packed tourist destinations during the peak season in downtown Wilmington. A large outdoor dining area strives, covering the view of the Cape Fer River.

Munka said the goal is to change when he and Lee have taken over, but the group has only made moderate updates only in the last three years. By the end of December, they closed the reconstruction restaurant.

“We wanted to modernize it,” said Muneka, removing with darker color schemes of black and gray and brings light wood and sailor blue, green, cream and white.

“Our goal was to give him a more warm feeling,” he said.

128 River Restaurant opens on Tuesday, casual superb breakfast with an updated menu. The restaurants cut him down to make him more practical and simplified during the busy summer days when Diner Counts escalate. Still, the Munka also leaned into their Brazilian steakhouse, two have portfolio restaurants consisting of fine dining rooms and Brazilian steakhausi, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“I grew up in Brazil,” said Muneka, “I’m a little carnivorous.”

Diners will see the addition of Filet Mignon, Bone-in Ribeye, New York Strip and Porterhouse. Still, the group retained some of the more popular George menu elements, such as black bass, and pasta, including Ravioli from Omari and Kajun Penn.

“Overall now it’s just more than a mix,” Munka said, noting that the restaurant also still has a lot of seafood, as indicated in the entree of salmon or shrimp and grits, and Smash Burger remains too.

Andrew Meade, who was a cook when the band bought George, took on the role of chef. Munekata said there were other changes in management.

“We have been pleased with the Wilmington investment so far,” he said. “We just felt it was time to renovate the restaurant and educate it with the others we have.”

Lee and Munka met after the former sold a wonderful breakfast in Charlotte in Muneka after moving from California. Entrepreneur Munka sold her commercial photo shoot and, uncertain in his next moves, visited her sister in South Carolina, where he fell in love with the region and his more affordable costs of life.

MuneKata decided to enter the restaurant game and after buying Lee, he also invests in a sports bar.

“But then the economy collapsed in 2007 or 2008 and I told the broker who sold me the restaurants:” You have to get me out of this damn business because it kills me, “Muneka recalled.

He entered the country of a broker at the Field Restaurant and had a client who wanted to launch a Brazilian restaurant in Colombia but was tightened with money. Munekata invests in it and its partner conducts daily operations in what has become a cowboy Brazilian Steakhouse.

“I told him: I believe in the concept, there is nothing like miles,” Munka recalled, “but I don’t want to run a restaurant anymore. … I went back to the business there, but this concept did so well, we eventually found five places. “

Lee has always been in casual marginal dining establishments, as can be seen in his numerous dining areas, including Bernardini in Charlotte and O ‘Calcuta in Winston-Salem.

Munekata said Lee is “Foodie type”, always remains with the trends in nutrition and scent profiles. He brought some of his sauces from other dining establishments in the 128 menu river, such as curry mustard sauce, presented on the black bass or vinaigrette of the truffle of the baked sea combs.

Together, the two continue to own several of the Brazilian steakhaus, such as in North Charleston and Hilton Head. These are also undergoing rebranding in the Brazilian steakhouse Laso Gaucho – also to become higher.

“A year ago, we rebranded Winston-Salem,” Munka said, noting that they always have a look at the market for opportunities that can arise to bring a potentially one to Wilmington.

But currently, construction costs are being escalated. Munekata estimated that it would be more than a million dollars, just to renovate an existing space in one of their Lasso establishments.

“And if we had to build it from the ground, forget about it,” he said.

The restaurant of the 128 river will officially open to the public on Tuesday; The hours are from Tuesday to Thursday, 11am to 9pm and Friday and Saturday, 11:00 to 10pm Sunday will open 10 am and close at 9:00 pm

“We added an additional shift on Sunday, as we always had people after lunch ended at 3:00 pm, asking for a table,” Muneka said, noting that the restaurant would remain closed on Monday.

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