Side Bar Drinkery + Kitchen, the Tex-Mex fusion restaurant that has anchored downtown Greenville's dining scene for five years, is shutting its doors for good. The owners announced that November 21 will be the restaurant's last day of service, closing out a run that began during the pandemic.
The closure comes down to a simple math problem familiar to a lot of small business owners: too many hours, not enough left over for home life. As reported by Yahoo, the owners said that “owning and operating two restaurants doesn't leave us enough time” with their children as they get older. The restaurant made the announcement on Instagram, framing the decision as a trade-off between business ambition and watching their kids grow up.
Side Bar Drinkery + Kitchen was started by Jacob Wilson and Tandi Wilson during the pandemic, according to the restaurant's own account of its founding. Per the Side Bar official website, head chef Jacob Wilson grew up in Houston, Texas, surrounded by Tex-Mex and barbecue, and those roots “heavily influence the menu” the couple built together at the Dickinson Avenue spot.
A Menu Built on Mixed Influences
The restaurant's identity has always leaned on blending flavors rather than sticking to one lane. Side Bar's official description notes its dishes carry “Cajun, southern Spanish, French, and Asian influences” layered on top of that Houston-born Tex-Mex foundation, with tacos, nachos and burritos forming the backbone of the menu.
That fusion approach traces back to the restaurant's earliest days. A 2021 report from WNCT described how Jacob and Tandi Wilson teamed up with chef Kevin Kayes, formerly of Christy's Euro Pub, to bring the Tex-Mex fusion concept to 707 Dickinson Avenue. Interestingly, a separate 2021 account from The East Carolinian described the incoming restaurant as serving “South American fusion dishes, drinks and a bar menu” rather than Tex-Mex, a discrepancy the available record doesn't explain.
Final Weeks for a Downtown Fixture
With just over a week left before the last service, Side Bar Drinkery + Kitchen is encouraging the public to stop in one more time before the doors close. The owners also used the announcement to thank their staff, family and friends for supporting the restaurant across its five years in business, according to the original WITN report on the closure.
What happens next for Jacob and Tandi Wilson, including whether they'll keep running their other restaurant, hasn't been detailed publicly. For now, downtown Greenville diners have until November 21 to get one more taste of the Houston-inspired, fusion-driven menu that helped define Side Bar's five years on Dickinson Avenue.
