I. Texas Roadhouse continues overseas expansion
With two locations already in Taipei, Taiwan, locally-owned Texas Roadhouse is expanding again on the International market. An outlet of the Texas-themed steak chain is scheduled to open in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab emirates, by the end of the month.
Abu Dhabi is noted for terra-forming its limited land mass with artificially-constructed geometric islands and peninsulas. These new constructions include upscale malls, which will harbor a number of big chain stores–Cheesecake Factory, Victoria’s Secret, Pottery Barn–and Texas Roadhouse will join them.
While the first outlet in Abu Dhabi, it is not the first in the Middle East. Texas Roadhouse has three locations in Dubai, also in the UAE; one in Kuwait City (with another planned to open there in December); and one in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. All the restaurants are located in fancy malls in those cities.
II. Rush Inn up for sale
The Rush Inn Bar & Grill, a fixture on Lower Brownsboro Road for decades, is up for sale.
The owner of Rush Inn, Jeff Rand, is selling both the building and the business – the building for $460,000, the business for $85,000. The tan brick building, built in 1885 on the corner of Brownsboro Road and Mellwood Avenue, is zoned C-1 – restricted commercial use – but has always been a restaurant and/or bar.
III. For Goodness Crepes to open soon on Baxter Ave.
Abby Peak and Carrie Ramsey had been dreaming about opening a crepes restaurant for some time, and now their dreams and planning (buying a crepe maker, testing recipes, looking into the finances, creating a business plan) is coming to fruition.
The space at 619 Baxter Ave., a former furniture refinishing shop, will open, they hope, by December as For Goodness Crepes, after considerable remodeling. Their concept is to offer a fast-casual style eatery with a combination of specialty crepes and you-build-it options. They have created proprietary sauces for offerings like a Buffalo Chicken Crepe, a Delicious Cheeseburger crepe, and Asian Ginger and Dill Ranch sauces for other fillings.
There will also be salads or bowls available gluten-free options, soups and coffee and dessert options as well–Cookies and Cream and S’mores, for instance, and a variety of fruits paired with a vanilla cream sauce.
IV. Kentucky whiskeys rate high in 2015 Whiskey Bible
“Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2015,” what some look to as a definitive source of objective appraisals, lists several Kentucky products as among the best in the world in their class.
Murray judges that best bourbon in the world this year is William Larue Weller 2013, which he also judged to be the second best whiskey in the world, after The Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry 2013. We leave it to others to judged if the Weller’s bottling at 136.2 proof had anything to do with his opinion.
Other Kentucky products were at the top of his lists. The third best rated whiskey is Sazarac Rye 18yo 2013, and the best single cask bourbon is Four Roses Single Barrel Limited Edition #3-4P.
