Out With The New, In With The Newer..

CafeCaturraPatioOn Monday many of us saw this Status Update hit our Facebook News Feed; “Sunday, May 25th will be the last day of operation for Cafe Caturra at Trenholm Plaza. We thank you for all the support over the past couple of years, and we hope you can make it out one last time so we can thank you in person!”

Hmmm. Confuse Me?

I’ve heard many times over how difficult and fickle the restaurant business is. That said, to minimize sensitivity and controversy, I’ll keep my opinions on the chair side of this keyboard.

Over the past few weeks I’ve listened to many rumors about what’s going on, most of which is doing nothing more than manufacturing more rumors. That said, for disclaimer purposes if I type anything incorrectly, I admit on the front end not being able to explain it correctly from a computer, and will change/take this post down accordingly.

Here’s the rub. A group in Virginia owns “Café Caturra.” They own the concept, intellectual property, design, logo, and whatever else that entails. Well, said partners sold a license to a group of folks who brought the concept to Trenholm Plaza.  For clarity, this is not a franchise store, it’s a licensed store.  As we all know, it’s a winner. Fast forward to this week, and the group who brought the ‘Caturra’ to Columbia has chosen to go another direction. Enter, Tazza Kitchen.

If you haven’t noticed, Tazza Kitchen is a culinary play on words; “Taco/Pizza.” The website makes the place look pretty cool. Interestingly, the other Tazza Kitchens are not open for lunch.

Again, I don’t pretend to know much about the restaurant business, but I feel like I know a winner when I see it. In short, Café Caturra hit the Columbia scene super hard and has been a home run ever since its ‘soft opening’ a couple of years ago.

We’ll see, but I’m pretty sure Columbia won’t be without a Café Caturra for long. It’s just too popular. Just check out the FBook Update. As of 2AM, the post has been shared 56 times. Not “liked”…Shared. That’s a truck ton.

In case you’re wondering why or how I know about any of this, one of the Café Caturra partners and I are cousins (Brown fam from Anderson, SC).

Stay tuned on this one…

Thank you!

Franklin

Comments

  1. Courtney Kastner says

    We sure would love a cafe caturra in Lexington! Come on over fellas!

  2. Benjamin Johnson says

    So could it be a likely possibility that the ownership group knows the location in a winner and they will introduce a similar concept that doesn’t require them to pay a license fee?

  3. Holly Easterby says

    Please don’t close we love your food and atmosphere!

  4. Tell your cousin that MoMo’s just closed (so I hear) and some of us (me!) would love a Caturra in that location!

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