Some downtown Knoxville companies are suffering from report highs, though many others are experiencing document lows. Chef Jeffrey DeAlejandro owns 1 of just about every.
HenHoc butcher shop in the Aged Metropolis has closed its doorways, with DeAlejandro citing more people eager to dine out during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic and fewer people needing freshly slice meat to cook dinner at property.
On the other hand, DeAlejandro told Knox Information, his OliBea cafe is experiencing some of its very best enterprise on document. But that will not make shedding HenHoc substantially much easier.
“At the finish of the working day, it was surely a enthusiasm task,” he mentioned about the butcher shop. “I’ve generally desired to do it. It was one thing I wished to do just before OliBea.”
Sunday was the very last day in enterprise for the butcher shop, found at 123 S. Central St.
HenHoc is just the hottest in a new string of downtown dining establishments saying their closures. Po’ Richard’s also had its very last day in business enterprise Sunday, marking the initial food stuff corridor vendor to go away Marble Metropolis Industry, although Wicked Chicken has shut to make home for a downtown Harvest place on Homosexual Avenue.
DeAlejandro said HenHoc’s downward trend started off about five months back again, with 2 times-a-week consumers beginning to come in just the moment.
But the past two years in organization has taught DeAlejandro a lot — and so has the earlier week, he explained, as tips have been “swirling” in his head about what to do next with the house.
DeAlejandro explained he has a longterm lease and hopes to have anything new in the area upcoming month. It could be a new eating thought, a pop-up or a partnership with another business enterprise.
“Correct now, I’m unsure what the future action is,” he claimed. “You will find some actually cool strategies I have been contemplating about. … We are just grateful for our sweet tiny Aged Metropolis and downtown and Knoxville for supporting us.”
The butcher shop was found just next door to the first place of OliBea, which moved to 211 S. Central St. in February 2020.
The former OliBea location is undergoing renovations to grow to be Alchemy, a lounge and cigar bar at 119 S. Central St.
Ryan Wilusz: Knoxville’s downtown explorer and urban reporter
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This short article at first appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: OliBea operator closes Old Town butcher shop HenHoc in downtown Knoxville