CINCINNATI — After an “outpouring of love and support,” Boomtown Biscuits and Whiskey in Pendleton will not be shuttering its doors after all.
What You Need To Know
- After initially planning to close, Boomtown Biscuits and Whiskey in Pendleton will stay open
- The downtown Cincinnati eatery was slated to close Jan. 23
- Chef Christian Gill cited ongoing challenges, such as staffing and supply chain, as a response for need to close
- Boomtown also plans to host a crowdfunding options that will allow diners to become investors as well
Chef and owner Christian Gill announced two weeks ago that his hip brunch-and-dinner spot was going to have to close due to ongoing hardships related COVID-19. The last day was slated to be Sunday, Jan. 23.
News of the impending closure quickly swept across social media, prompting fans of Gill — who has appeared on several national food-centric TV shows over the years — and his eatery to vocalize their support and share hundreds of memories of the restaurant in the comments section.
Gill said the public response to the situation over the past few days prompted him to make the decision to give his flagship location “another chance to strike gold."
"The outpouring of love and support from the community has been overwhelming and we are taking another shot to save the biscuits that Christian (Gill) and PJ (Neumann) worked so hard to bring to downtown Cincinnati,” Gill wrote Friday in a new Facebook post.
The reasons for the planned closure of Boomtown were simple: Doing business has been a challenge as a result of the 2-year-old pandemic.
In announcing the initial plan to close, Gill said the situation in downtown Cincinnati had become "untenable" due to a variety of factors affecting the food and service industry. He planned to keep open his second Boomtown location in Union, Ky.
Gill spoke to Spectrum News in July about the struggles he and other restaurants faced. He mentioned things such as supply chain issues, evolving diner behaviors and staffing shortages.
"There isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel currently. Labor shortages are creating new hurdles that are difficult to navigate as the demand for dining increases,” he said at the time.
Gill said COVID-19 hardships and the current staffing situation necessitated "backup plans for backup plans." It even led him to change the recipe to his signature "classic laminated punched" biscuit to a more-efficient-to-make buttermilk biscuit.
"There is not a clear end in sight,” Gill said back in November. "Winter is coming and it will be a rough one.”
Gill said a part of the stay-open plan includes what he called a "crowdfunding opportunity" to raise capital for the business. Those who donate will be investors of sorts, Gill said, adding that community members who take part in the crowdfunding will own shares of Boomtown.
Through that effort, “perseverance”and the support of business partners, like Cincinnati-based Model Group, Model Group, Cincy Seeds Investments, they "will be able to save and maintain the 16 industry jobs of its hard-working team and management,” Gill said.
Gill opened Boomtown--Pendleton in 2018 along with Neumann, his friend and business partner. Neumann passed away unexpectedly in January 2020.
"With the anniversary of PJ's passing, we knew we had to come up with something to try and keep the gold in Pendleton,” Gill said to his thousands of Facebook followers. "We are grateful to have this chance to risk it for the biscuit and provide 24K service for Biscuit Brunch in downtown Cincinnati."
In order to make these moves, Gill said they're actually going to expand hours of operation in Pendleton.
Starting Thursday, Jan. 27, they plan to operate seven days a week — Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. 2 p.m.