Peculiar Rabbit to close as restaurant, remain open for private parties
The Peculiar Rabbit, the Plaza Midwood restaurant known for its rooftop skyline views and Van Gogh-inspired mural with a rabbit drinking a beer, is closing for business as a restaurant after Sunday.
Owner Rob Nixon told CharlotteFive the space will remain available for special events and private parties. “We will continue on, just not as a full-time restaurant,” he said.
The Peculiar Rabbit opened in 2012, serving English fare mixed with Southern influences. In addition to its cocktails and weekend brunch, the restaurant is perhaps best known for its rooftop patio with sweeping views of uptown Charlotte. “We had a great run,” Nixon said. “The food can be mediocre but the experience has to be great,” he said. “We haven’t been great in that department.”
With new restaurants opening every day, the competition is tough, he said. Nixon put his restaurant up for sale last spring. At the time, he told The Charlotte Observer he found the restaurant industry exhausting. “My partner and I are getting kinda old. This is a younger man’s game,” he said.
He told CharlotteFive that labor costs are behind the decision to close. “Poor sales to offset, lots of new competition,” he said. “Events allow us to control our profitability and costs better.”
Events are easier to cater rather than have a full staff, he said. “When a restaurant is not busy — especially one our size — when it’s not busy, it looks dead.”
The space can host private parties as small as 30 people or as large as 300. “Parking is an issue of course, but it’s an Uber generation,” he said. Between CIAA and the Republican National Convention, Nixon said he foresees lots of private events working well in the space., which spans three stories, with two patios and three bars.
Nixon also owns Smooth Monkey, Jackalope Jacks Sports Bar and The Rabbit Hole. The Peculiar Rabbit’s kitchen will continue to serve Jackalope’s. Pro tip: the brunch menus are the same at both restaurants, so you can still order all your morning favorites even with Peculiar Rabbit closed.
This story was originally published January 5, 2020 at 5:42 PM.
