For more than six months, the restaurant that used to be Smith & Co. has been empty. This week, it’s open for business again.
“Milford is a great opportunity for another restaurant, because there isn’t a lot of selection lately, so when the opportunity came up to get involved with a location that was already established, we jumped on it,” said Josh Grapski, co-owner of the new restaurant, Abbott’s Grill. It is located on Northeast Front Street, across the road from Bicentennial Park.
Grapski and co-owner Kevin Reading also own Nage Bistro & Restaurant in Rehoboth Beach.
Abbott’s Grill opens its doors at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, with a dinner menu and fully stocked bar. At first, the restaurant will only serve dinner, with the dining room at open at 4:30 p.m. every day, until 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends. The bar will open at 3:30 p.m. and close at midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends.
“We plan on adding brunch very soon after on Sundays, and then we’d like to open up at least four additional days a week for lunch, but we haven’t quite figured that out yet,” Grapski said.
Head chef Ryan Cunningham will prepare a menu covering everything from burgers and fries to prime cuts of steak.
“We’re calling it a casual American grill,” Grapski said. “We want to have more local flair. Everything’s made from scratch, and the whole idea is to have a real nice experience and still be very affordable. We’re serving classic meatloafs, chicken and dumplings and steaks, combined with things that are a touch fancier. You can come in and have a burger and a beer for $12, or you can get a steak and a bottle of wine, and dress up.”
The bar will have its own identity — Bald Jason’s Pub — with a separate menu for food as well as drinks.
“With the bar, we have kind of a separate personality there, with more casual food — lots of sandwiches, including a classic burger and a bison burger, which we get from Colvine Farm, right in Milton,” Grapski said.
There will be live entertainment most evenings, including trivia on Tuesday nights, ladies’ night on Wednesdays, live music on Fridays and a disc jockey on Saturdays. Thursdays will be “Variety night,” switching between different styles of music and barroom games.
“We’re still feeling out the entertainment schedule a bit,” Grapski said.
Anyone who ate at Smith & Co. will recognize Abbott’s Grill when they walk in. The basic layout of the building is the same, but with new furniture, including couch seating in the dining room, and a brighter color scheme. Grapski said he wanted to make it friendlier and more casual than it used to be.
“It was set up pretty well — we just want to put our own spin on it, décor-wise,” he said. “The dining room was a very gray room before, and we’re a little more vivacious than that. We’re trying to bring in lots of different elements of color, but it’s more of a facelift than changing it all.”
The private dining room and patio at the rear of the restaurant are still available for parties and special occasions.
Milford, Del. —
