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Longtime Upstate restaurant group to open third location in Mauldin

Krys Merryman //January 26, 2023//

Longtime Upstate restaurant group to open third location in Mauldin

Krys Merryman //January 26, 2023//

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The two stone arches on the right side of BridgeWay's Main Street will house the third Stella‰Ûªs Restaurant Group location. (Rendering/Hughest Investments Inc.)

Longtime regional restaurant group Stella’s is making its way to the under-construction mixed-use development BridgeWay Station in Mauldin.

Hughes Investments Inc. announced the new concept by Stella’s Restaurant Group on Thursday.

Owners Julia and Jason Scholz opened Stella’s Southern Bistro in 2008 in Simpsonville and their second restaurant, Stella’s Southern Brasserie, Parkside Provisions, and Café, in the Hollingsworth Park Verdae neighborhood off Woodruff Road in Greenville in 2017.

Their BridgeWay Station location will be the third restaurant venture for the Scholzs, and first new venture with Chef Anthony Gray, their longtime associate and culinary director who became partner of Stella’s Brasserie in 2020. The space will occupy approximately 3,000 square feet of ground floor retail space on BridgeWay’s Main Street, according to a Hughes Investments news release.

This new venture will honor the Scholzs’ established, longtime commitment and mission in sourcing products locally and regionally first, and always striving to support the community that supports them, the release said.

Julia Scholz has managed a wide variety of restaurants for many years, and met her husband and business partner, Jason Scholz, in Charleston, where he was an executive chef at High Cotton. Together, they moved to Greenville and opened Stella’s Bistro, “the product of Julia’s imagination and Jason’s passion and revered precision in the kitchen,” according to the release.

“Jason and I, along with Chef Gray, are looking forward to expanding the Stella's family of restaurants to this area of town with the unique opportunity of being a part of Bridgeway Station,” said Julia Scholz said in the release. “The third restaurant in our group will be nestled right between our Greenville and Simpsonville locations. This area is where we personally call home, and we recognize how much capacity there still is for locally owned, high-quality restaurants and retail to serve the growing Mauldin, Simpsonville, and Five Forks area.”

Gray, who has more than 13 years of culinary experience, appeared on Bravo’s “Top Chef” television show, earning the title, “Atlanta Rising Star Chef” after opening Southern Art and Bourbon Bar in Atlanta with Chef Art Smith in 2011 and after opening Bacon Bros. Public House in Greenville in 2013. Since Gray joined the Scholzs’ in 2020 to lead the kitchen at Stella’s Southern Brasserie, he currently oversees Stella’s Southern Bistro, Stella’s Southern Brasserie, and future concepts from the group as executive chef and culinary director, the release said.

Southern food with a flair

The new restaurant concept — name has yet to be announced — will be a full-service restaurant and bar, and will serve elevated, seasonal, and sustainable Southern comfort food with a distinct flair. The menu will focus on small plates, shareables and handpicked ingredients, designed for patrons to create their own meal among dining parties of any size, according to the release.

The interior design will incorporate archways, special brickwork and unique stone features. The 12-seat bar will be tucked away under a mezzanine of arches and low lighting.

“We are thrilled to have a local favorite join the ‘Dining District’ at BridgeWay,” said Phil Hughes, owner and president of Hughes Investments Inc., in the release “Their versatility and distinct ability to deliver high quality food in a welcoming setting is sure to be an attraction for residents, community members, and visitors alike. We feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with their leadership team and start this new chapter at BridgeWay Station.”

Stella’s Restaurant Group joins Cohesive Coffee, Belladina’s Italian Market, The Junkyard, Plum: A Lifestyle Boutique, Yogi’s Cups and Cones, Cocobowlz, City Market at BridgeWay Station, Poogan’s Southern Kitchen, and Old Europe Desserts as other Phase One retail tenants, along with a few others that will be shared publicly soon.

BridgeWay Station broke ground in April 2021 and is currently under construction, featuring 69,939 square feed of retail, 210,824 square feet of residential, 81,000 square feet of institutional development (GREEN Charter Upstate High School), 75,000 square feet of office, 24,691 square feet of plaza and pavilion public space, and more than five acres of parks connected to the Swamp Rabbit Trail via the new pedestrian bridge spanning Interstate 385 that is also currently under construction.

The pedestrian bridge is slated to open early this year, and BridgeWay Station’s grand opening is slated for spring.

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