Jamie Grannan outside New River Takeout, is undergoing big renovations and will be rebranded as "Grannan Brothers". Image: Facebook.
Those visiting New River Beach this summer will soon have a new place to grab a bite.
Brothers Jamie and Chris Grannan of The Grannan Group are taking over ownership of New River Takeout. The eatery, which will be separate from the Grannan Group of restaurants, is undergoing big renovations and will be rebranded as “Grannan Brothers”.
Jamie Grannan says the opportunity came about when his brother Chris was approached about taking over the business.
“My brother was approached and was asked if he wanted to have a look at the spot and take over food and beverage operations for the park . . . he approached me and said “do you want to do it?’” says Jamie.
“I came out, looked, saw the potential and we just said ‘yeah this is good.’”
The location is undergoing some big renovations, including a 1,500 square foot deck on the front and a complete interior redesign.
“We’ll have a bar top, TV’s and music going, stools. We’ll have live music on the weekends,” says Jamie. “I bought a van and we’re going to shuttle people from town on the weekends so they won’t have to worry about coming here and drinking and driving.”
Jamie says the food offering will include fish and chips, homemade hamburgers and fishburgers, and an assortment of different kids meals so the whole family can enjoy. The eatery will also be licenced. If you’re a fan of any of the Grannan Group restaurants in Saint John, you’re bound to find something you’ll like.
“I would like to say we’re kind of similar some of the different items at Church Street and some of the different items at Grannan’s, we’re going to kind of amalgamate everything,” says Jamie. “Grannon Brothers is going to do what we do good all at once.”
The goal for Grannan Brothers is to draw for more people to visit and vacation at New River Beach.
“We want people to come 20 minutes to New River instead of going two hours to Parlee [Beach],” says Jamie.
“There’s a lot of locals that don’t have a restaurant or bar to go to around here. We want to be in close proximity to the campsites. We just want to make it as comfortable for people. Instead of having to pack a thousand things to come here, they know they can get it when they’re here.”
The plan is to have Grannan Brothers open for the summer season, but if there’s an opportunity to be open longer, they’ll consider it.
“If we’re still busy and the park closes, I don’t know what we’re allowed to do,” says Jamie. “If we could extend on in until the snow starts to fall and we’ve got people coming, we’ll stay open as long as we can.”
The last year has been especially tough for the restaurant business, but with restrictions on track to be lifted soon Jamie says they’re confident in the new venture.
“As soon as I saw this place and I see that the restrictions are lifting, I was 100 percent confident that this would be a great opportunity with the number of people that are going to want to get away from around the province and the other provinces,” he says. “For me, it was a no-brainer.”
Renovations to are expected to wrap up in about two weeks.
Cherise Letson is the associate editor of Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
