Popular Wooden Robot Brewery is ready to open its own kitchen at South End site
A popular South End brewery is ending ties with a longtime food service company to open its own kitchen.
Wooden Robot Kitchen will open in March, according to the brewery. Childhood friends Dan Wade and Josh Patton opened the popular brewery in 2015 at 1440 S. Tryon St.
Twisted Eats, which has partnered with Wooden Robot Brewery for several years, will stop food service after Sunday, Feb. 13. Until then, food trucks will be available.
Wooden Robot Kitchen will be the first venture into its own food service for the brewery, which focuses on Belgian-style beers. The brewery’s second location, The Chamber in NoDa, with a taproom, patio and rooftop biergartenteams partners with food trucks.
“We decided to open our own kitchen so that we could more closely integrate our food, beer and service,” Wade told the Observer Tuesday. “Bringing the kitchen in-house will allow our guests to have a more seamless experience, ordering all drinks and food from the bar and keeping everything on a single tab.”
What to expect
Although the menu and other details for the kitchen are still being finalized, Wade said the brewery’s “urban farmhouse” concept will be incorporated into a rotating seasonal menu with fresh, local ingredients.
“We will have more flexibility to use unique ingredients and processes throughout our beer and food programs, and will focus more on beer and food pairings, guided dinners and daily specials,” Wade said.
Menu items will include a mix of classic pub-inspired snacks, sandwiches and other hand-held foods, plus gluten-free and vegetarian options.
Wooden Robot added a 2,000-square-foot gastropub about five years ago in South End, partnering with Rob Masone of Kre8 Xperiences, which includes Twisted Eats. In social media posts over the weekend, the brewery called the separation with Twisted Eats “bittersweet.”
Twisted Eats and Kounter restaurant in SC
Masone said the split with Wooden Robot was a mutual decision. Twisted Eats also focuses on shareable plates with locally sourced ingredients.
The local chef wants to focus on his latest restaurant concept, Kounter, in his hometown of Rock Hill. Kounter opened in December 2020 at 135 E. Main St., Rock Hill, at the historic site of the 1961 Friendship Nine sit-in.
The restaurant serves American foods with a twist for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch, along with a cocktail menu, beer and wine, according to the company website.
Twisted Eats food truck with beer infused food continues service in Charlotte at Hoppin’ in South End and Pinhouse in Plaza Midwood, and other sites and events.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 6:00 AM.