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I'm on the mailing list for the wine bar "Under the Grape" in Ballantyne.
A few months back I noticed they had started a "private cover" with a low (under $5) "membership" price for annual passes to the bar, because they were serving liquor.
This past week I got an email to the list saying that their landlord was kicking them out.
What's the story? Did Barb & Henry start accepting liquor and doing the "private" club thing to skirt legal requirements? It seems awfully shady that suddenly they have a week or so to notify their customers that their lease is being cancelled and they can no longer run their shop or restaurant.
Just seems like the mailing list doesn't get the whole story. What's going on?
Most importantly - will a wine bar of similar quality replace "Under the Grape"? We loved the place but I would not pay a premium (i.e. their membership cover) just so some other people could drink liquor.
Is something decent going to go in there that won't be "killed" for pushing the envelope the way that B&H seemed to want to?
Just there tonight and they are officially closing on Saturday. People said they are moving over to a new location in the same retail section as Fox and the Hound, etc..
I believe that the private club membership in order to serve liquor is not illegal at all. I don't know why that would contribute to their lease termination.
Just there tonight and they are officially closing on Saturday. People said they are moving over to a new location in the same retail section as Fox and the Hound, etc..
i hope they don't close for good. even if they move across the street i'll follow it there. man i love that place. i'd hate for it to shut down.
The owner of Ballantyne Village has terminated our lease. Simply put, he refuses to allow us to serve liquor, and he refuses to allow us to open the doors in the bar so that our patrons on the patio can enjoy the entertainment. Our final day of operation will be Saturday, June 28, 2008. Although we are extremely sad about this development and not seeing all of you again until we open our next location, we are looking at this as a great opportunity to move on to better things.
We plan on having fun this week and hope you will come by to say "see you later" instead of "goodbye"! During the week of June 23, we will offer a 25% discount on all wines in the store.
We will stay in touch with you as we make plans for our new location (which we hope will remain in the Ballantyne area).
THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all of your loyalty and support during the last few years; it means more than you will ever know.
There wasn't anything illegal going on. By NC law, in order to serve liquor, you must either take in a large percentage of your revenue from food sales or charge a cover and be a "private" club. Since they were not equipped to serve large amounts of food, they chose to go the membership route. The landlord would not allow them to open the doors upstairs so that people on the patio could enjoy the entertainment and repeatedly fined them for doing so. When they would not re-negotiate their lease the landlord terminated it. They are currently scouting other locations and hope to re-open soon.
Lease story is complete BS. B&H are in litigation with her sister over ownership of business, and they filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy action last month. That means they are liquidating all assets. Anyone who bought a membership (especially a perferred memebership) got screwed. They are obviously irresponsible con artists who ran a business into the ground.
The principal owners of Ballantyne wine bar Under the Grape have filed for bankruptcy. Henry and Barbara Tyree listed $499,149 in liabilities and $245,768 in assets. The bar, which closed in late June, is listed as a debtor in the filing.
The business is the subject of a lawsuit filed by Barbara Tyree’s sister, Sue Criner, and her husband, Eric. The Criners contend they own about 17% of the company but were essentially tossed out of the business last year by Henry Tyree.
The Criners filed their suit in March and have asked an N.C. Business Court judge to appoint a receiver to handle the bar’s financial affairs. They accused the Tyrees of misappropriating business funds for their own purposes.
The Tyrees have denied wrongdoing.
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Under The Grape
