Taproom closer to reality here

It’s not ready yet, but plans are moving full steam ahead on a planned taproom to be situated inside the old Henry Vann Building in downtown Clinton.

That was the word Monday from Ryan Roberts, owner of R&R Brewing in Mount Olive, who was guest of the noon-day Clinton-Sampson Rotary Club and took that time to update members on construction of what he has tentatively named R&R Kitchen and Taproom. Plans now, he said, looked like an opening sometime spring of 2025.

“This is taking longer than we had anticipated,” Roberts said, “but it’s not necessarily a bad thing … I’m a woodworker and I know that, sometimes, to make things last it takes a while.”

Roberts won approval from City Council in February 2023 for the taproom, which will be sandwiched between Fayetteville and McKoy streets just off the courthouse square in the old Vann building at 102 Fayetteville St.

At that time, he had projected a potential open date of spring 2024, but that didn’t come to fruition because of the mounds of paperwork needed to revamp a historical building.

“You have this piece of history that you can preserve, but you have to do it in the right way,” he said in October 2023. “Even though it slows things down, you want to make sure that you keep the integrity and the history of a building like this that has such character because if these small towns lose their character, then they’re just another stop off the highway and that can’t be allowed to happen.”

Roberts reiterated those words to Rotarians Monday.

“Progress takes a while,” he stressed. The work is extensive to get everything as it is supposed to be. Sometimes it feels like we are going two steps forward, then one or two steps sideways, but it is necessary … I think, in the end, everyone will think it’s worth the wait. At least I hope so.”

He discussed his current plans for the building, ideas that include utilizing 2,800 square feet for beverage service with seating, merchandise sales and general patron seating. The remaining 4,900 square feet will be used for kitchen/food prep and a flex space. That flex space will have indoor games, general seating and live entertainment. A small 450-square-foot area will be used for private parties or meetings.

Approximately 900 square feet of the parking lot along the northwest side of the building will be utilized as an outdoor patio with seating, he noted, showing a map of the building to the Rotarians.

In addition to the taproom and its likely offering of R&R’s 13 varities of beer, plans are to have what Roberts called “shareables,” like flatbreads, and “handheld,s” like wraps, along with salads and other quick bites. In addition, he said, there would likely be dinner options, “four or five” entrees, like perhaps shrimp and grits, his personal favorite.

“These are just options at this point. It’s still in the development,” Roberts responded when Rotarians peppered him with questions about the cuisine. “It’s important for us to hear what folks here want to see on a menu. In fact, I might, at some point, do a mass email asking the question.”

In the beginning, he continued, it will be counter service, where taproom-goers will place their order then be seated, with servers bringing the meals to the table. Plans for now include opening Tuesday through Sundays.

Again, Roberts said, all these things were still in the development stage. “All ideas right now. There’s still much to hammer out.”

While the downtown Mount Olive brewery doesn’t have a kitchen — they utilize food trucks, instead — he said he felt one was needed in Clinton, his second venture.

In past discussions, Roberts has said that many of his patrons at the Mount Olive location over the years have been from Clinton and Sampson County, and he believes the addition of an R&R here could help bolster the downtown and bring something residents want. The location wouldn’t be exclusive to a drinking crowd, he noted, as his place in Mount Olive has prided itself on being involved in the community, offering a family- and pet-friendly atmosphere and putting on various activities, game nights, trivia, music bingo, chili cook-offs and other events meant to entice all patrons.

The historic Henry Vann Building and the adjacent parking lot is owned by Anne Faircloth, who purchased it from Vince Burgess and Burgess Group Consolidated LLC. Upstairs, Roberts told the Rotarians, would be several one and two bedroom apartments which, he added, were not tied to R&R.