Restaurant Debut
The Cutting Board opens for business
By MARY DOLAN Staff writer Published: June 30, 2010
After more than a year of planning, start-and-stop construction and ownership changes, the much-anticipated restaurant The Cutting Board welcomed locals to a grand opening ceremony Monday night.
A hundred or so people – city and county officials, public figures and interested local residents – squeezed into the restaurant to herald its arrival in downtown Reidsville. Located in the former Bank of Reidsville building at the intersection of Morehead and Scales streets, the building’s transformation from rundown and vacant to sleek and restored seemed to impress most.
Reidsville Chamber of Commerce President Beth Simmons praised “the arrival of a long-awaited, nice, full-service restaurant” in an area the Chamber and city officials are trying to revitalize.
Simmons spoke into a microphone over the excited chatter of people milling about and enjoying glasses of wine from the restaurant’s bar and introduced restaurant owner John Burton, whose original Cutting Board site in Burlington has become a staple in that town.
After meeting Burton a year and a half ago, Simmons said the idea began to brew that perhaps the perfect spot for a second location of The Cutting Board might just be in the long-empty building downtown with the unique turret on the corner.
With the possibility of being demolished, however, after years of sitting in disrepair, Reidsville City Council intervened and purchased the building, Mayor James Festerman told the crowd.
As plans for the restaurant began to move forward, it became clear the facility needed ownership that could put money into the project, as well as outside investment. Greensboro-based Crest Construction Services started construction in the fall of 2009, but work halted in November after original investor RANA, LLC could no longer afford to back the project.
To see the project through to completion, Tim Hight, owner of Crest Construction, and his wife Lindy Hight purchased the building themselves. The total cost of their investment, for the facility and improvements, was about $1.1 million, he said at that time.
With financial backing from Familiar Federal Credit Union, the Hights and Crest Construction trudged forward. And, on Monday afternoon, just hours before the 5:30 p.m. grand opening, the facility received final building inspections.
“We’re tickled to death,” Burton said of the opening.
He asked for a show of hands from those who have eaten at the Burlington location of the restaurant, and dozens of hands shot up.
“Well, that’s going to make things a lot easier,” he said, laughing.
The restaurant will open at 11 a.m. and serve only lunch this week. Next week, The Cutting Board will begin serving both lunch and dinner.
The restaurant occupies the entire first floor – about 6,700 square feet – and consists of a kitchen, dining area, bar and banquet section. Upstairs space equaling a similar square footage is available for other businesses.
On the restaurant’s menu, customers will find hamburgers, steak, seafood, chicken and pasta. According to the restaurant’s online menu, the Bacon and Cheese Chuckburger costs $7.99, a 12-ounce chef’s cut ribeye steak costs $17.99 and Baja Chicken Pasta costs $12.99. “We hope that we can make you happy,” Burton said on Monday.
The Burlington site is located at 2699 Ramada Road. For more information, visit http://www.cuttingboard.com.