Goopy burgers and dollar, dollar bread, y’all: Find out when The Goodyear House opens
We’ve been not-so-patiently watching the progression of NoDa’s The Goodyear House as we dream of spring evenings on the patio, dining on Chris Coleman’s approachable-yet-upscale suppers, feeling the energy of a modernized mill house that keeps its history on a pedestal.
Extra, extra: We won’t have to wait much longer. The Goodyear House officially opens for dinner at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 4.
You know executive chef Coleman as the recent winner of Food Network’s “Chopped” or in his former role at Stoke (inside Marriott Center City), McNinch House or The Asbury.
What you don’t know yet is his dollar, dollar bread, y’all (with a starter from Bounjour, Ya’ll bakery in Davidson), his devilish egg toast or his smoked cashew mac.
Coleman is partnered with general manager Sean Potter — the two also worked together at Stoke — and owner and commercial real estate developer A.J. Klenk.
The restaurant is aptly named: A good-year house is one traditionally added onto when years are good. Check out the before and after photos of the mill-home-turned-neighborhood-gathering spot:
You’ll be able to meander through the rooms of the restaurant, which seats 165, seeing the clear designation of each. There’s a Victorian-era dining room (the original mill home), a 1970s vacation room bar (think Myrtle Beach, Tweetsie Railroad, Pigeon Forge), a Bohemian botanist room and a backyard beer garden with an American Holly Tree.
Grande Custom Builders worked with Klenk to bring his vision to life. Cluck Design Collaborative was the architect. “It’s been a heck of a challenge renovating a 1900-era mill home. It’s made every step of the way more challenging than if we would have just torn the property down and built from scratch,” Klenk told CharlotteFive this week.
“It’s not something we ever considered — if you want to be a neighborhood restaurant, you want to do what the neighborhood would like to see,” Klenk said. “The last thing the neighborhood would want to see is an old mill home be destroyed.”
Klenk and his wife actually lived in the home for a short time before the renovations began. Here’s part of the interior transformation:
Menu: ‘You won’t see foams and dots and drizzles on the plate.’
The menu will somehow be both comfortable and upscale, simple and complex, Coleman said. “Expect casual, approachable food but with some cheffy touches on it — I’m a cheffy chef,” he told CharlotteFive over the summer.
Locally sourced ingredients will be a top priority, he said. “We really want the ingredients to shine. You won’t see foams and dots and drizzles on the plate — but there will still be a lot of attention to detail.”
The menu will be changed three or four times a year, with some dishes remaining static (so you know your favorite meal will be there).
Here are a few menu items to look forward to:
- Dollar, dollar bread, y’all. Pull-apart sour cream and onion brioche with sour butter and honey ($4). Note: the first one’s free. Of course it is (Coleman knows how to hook us).
- Devilish egg toast. Smashed deviled egg salad, griddled toast, pickled veggies ($6). “Everyone does deviled eggs. I’ve done deviled eggs for the last six years in my restaurants, so I kinda want to not do deviled eggs anymore,” Coleman said in July. “I want to do a fun little nod to a deviled egg — spicy, smashed egg salad on some really good crusty bread with pickled veggies on top.”
- Marinated East Coast shrimp. With a mignonette butter, chili oil, saltines ($9). You’d typically expect mignonette, a sauce with chopped shallots, black pepper and vinegar, to be served with raw oysters. Here, the sauce will be whipped into a butter and then served with pickled shrimp tossed in chili oil. “This dish will be spicy, creamy and acidic, a nice little snack,” Coleman said.
- Pickled farmer’s veggies served with togarashi spice on the side. ($4)
- Roasted spaghetti squash. Romesco squash, lemon, lots of pecorino romano ($12).
- Goopy burger. Shipley Farms beef, cheddar, pickles, onion, goopy lettuce, benne seed bun ($12).
- Fat City noodles. Black truffle king trumpet mushroom stroganoff, creme fraiche, brown miso, parmigiano-reggiano (vegetarian, $14).
Smoked cashew mac. With chile breadcrumbs (vegan, $8). Additionally, several meals at GYH can be made vegan, just ask your server.
- Prime rib dinner. Grass-fed local beef, horseradish crust, rotating steakhouse sides 8 oz. ($32), 16 oz. ($64) or 24 oz. ($90). This dish, off the “biggies” menu, is meant to be shared between 2-3 people (or, the menu says, keep it all to yourself if you prefer).
Apple fritter doughnut. Cinnamon sugar, sour cream glaze ($5).
“We want to create a space where anyone feels comfortable,” Coleman said. “Whether you’re getting off of work and you want to grab a drink with friends, or you work on the construction sites in the area, or you want to bring the kids in, bring Grandma, or bring your dog in — we’re going to have a dog-friendly patio,” he said. “We really want it to be a restaurant for anyone and everyone.”
The Goodyear House
3032 N. Davidson St.
Instagram: @goodyearhouse
Lunch: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. every day.
Dinner: 5-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 5 p.m.-12 a.m. Friday-Saturday.
Bar hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday-Saturday.
Getting there: Arrive via light rail (36th Street Station). Street parking and NoDa’s parking garages and lots are also available.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 5:40 AM.
