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April 2 - 15, 2021
Greater Wilmington Business Journal
wilmingtonbiz.com
RESTAURANT ROUNDUP
BUSINESS OF LIFE
This is a sampling of stories from the Business Journal’s weekly Restaurant Roundup email. Subscribe at wilmingtonbiz.com.
MeMa’s in Burgaw aims to save development project
Since 1975
Commercial Construction
Myra and James McDuffie, owners of MeMa’s Chick’n’ & Ribs in Burgaw, celebrated the official launch of their fundraising campaign in partnership with Genesis Block and Folla Capital, and Hipp Architecture & Development, the week of March 8. The event, hosted by Genesis Block, kicked off a community funding campaign for the multi-million dollar development of The Creek Shopping Center, which will be on N.C. 53 in Pender County. The center’s first building will house MeMa’s new location, planned to include three event spaces, an outdoor dining area, a commissary kitchen and manufacturing facility for the company’s signature barbecue sauce, and a retail store featuring MeMa’s and other locally made products. The McDuffies purchased the land upon which the center will be developed in 2019 and secured funding for the first phase of the shopping center’s development in early 2020, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the bank that had approved their loan eventually withdrew $800,000 in funding. Following a referral from Gloria Monroe of the Small Business and Technology Development Center at UNCW, the McDuffies reached out to Genesis Block, a Wilmington-based nonprofit founded by Girard and Tracey Newkirk that provides business development services for minority-owned businesses. “We attended an open house at Genesis Block and discussed with Girard and Tracey how a partnership might work,” Myra McDuffie said. “We’re very grateful because without their help we might be at a standstill or may have lost the land all together.”
SeaWitch Cafe brings back brunch service
910.350.0554
chambliss-rabil.com
The SeaWitch Cafe & Tiki Bar in Carolina Beach is gearing up for the summer season and relaunching Sunday brunch service after a 2020 hiatus. Owners Jenni Pietch and Alex
Gilewicz had to scale back on pretty much everything last year in light of the pandemic. Brunch service was cut, the menu was pared down to avoid waste and there was a shift toward meals designed for carryout, something the restaurant had never focused on previously. But now brunch is once again being served on Sundays with live music and $5 bloody marys and mimosas. The menu features several traditional breakfast and brunch items such as pancakes, biscuits and gravy, a crab benedict and breakfast quesadillas and sandwiches. The SeaWitch is located at 227 Carolina Beach Avenue N.
Mediterranean restaurant launches new menu items Bahaa Ibrahim recently celebrated the first anniversary of his eatery, Sofra Modern Mediterranean, with the launch of some new menu items and expanded catering offerings. Ibrahim admits that opening the week that everything was shutting down last March and trying to get his restaurant up and going during COVID-19 has been a challenge he never anticipated. “We’ve had some good days and some not so good,” Ibrahim said. “There were some days I didn’t think I was going to be here a year later, but I’m glad I’m still here.” Sofra carries a wide range of Mediterranean specialties including kabobs, beef and lamb kofta, chicken and beef shawarma, falafel, stuffed grape leaves and several types of salads such as tabbouleh, lentil, chickpea and a traditional Greek salad. “We’re always rotating in new salads,” Ibrahim said. “We recently started serving a Moroccan eggplant salad that has some flavors similar to baba ghanouj. We have a grape salad and a new beet salad coming out as well.” While Sofra has been serving up hearty soups throughout the winter, they will soon shift to cold soups such as gazpacho and a chilled cucumber soup. There are also two new flavored hummus options – cilantro jalapeno and chili garlic, as well as karkade, a hibiscus iced tea flavored with lemon, ginger and cloves and served in a mason jar. Sofra Modern Mediterranean is located at 5709 Oleander Drive. -Jessica Maurer
