Downtown restaurant to open Friday

Published 11:36 am Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Vicksburg is now home to a downtown sports grill with multiple televisions and lots of food, drinks and games for everyone.

The Brick Sports Grill & Billiards is opening at 5 p.m. Friday at 1414 Washington St.

“It’s going to be a good place to just hang out, relax after a long day of work and have a drink or have something to eat,” one of the owners Justin Wright said. “For those who are the extreme sports fan, if you want to sit here all day and watch every game that’s played we’ll be the place to do it.”

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Two bars and 19 televisions fill the space with 15 50-inch screens and four 60-inch screens for every possible sporting event to be displayed for patrons to cheer on their favorite teams.

“There’s a reason why we’re not calling it a bar. We’re the place that we want you to come and we know your name and you hang out and everybody enjoys themselves,” Wright said. “We don’t want to be just the corner bar. We want to be a place where people can come and have dinner and they can on Saturdays and Sundays come and have lunch.”

The menu will have a lot of grill standards with accommodations for multiple diets. The restaurant promises a vegetarian offering of a Portobello, lettuce and tomato sandwich as well as gluten free options like a lettuce wrap for burgers and French fries cooked separate from breaded items like fried chicken. By being cooked in a separate fryer with separate oil, the French fries and potato skins will keep their natural gluten free status.

“We’re trying to make sure everybody’s taken care of,” Wright said. “We’re trying to be conscious of our customers and their needs.”

Multiple appetizers, salads, potato skins, rib eye and a build your own burger opportunity will help round out the menu with options of applewood smoked bacon, roasted poblano mayonnaise, four cheeses and grilled Portobello mushrooms to name a few.

There will be five 7-foot pool tables, one 9-foot table and a foosball table. Wright also sprung for an arcade style golf game called Golden Tee because he had many requests for it, though he said he isn’t sure he’ll make his money back on the purchase.

“It’s something my customers wanted, and so we’re providing it for them,” Wright said.

Named for the many exposed brick walls the restaurant boasts, The Brick will display multiple historic bricks that have been framed, from the original 1923 Yankee Stadium, the 1912 Fenway Park and The Brick’s very own 1860 wall.

“We actually tore down a fully sheet rocked wall just to expose the brick because it’s just too pretty to cover up,” Wright said.

The restaurant takes up three sections of the 1860 building, which is over 5,200 square feet. Wright has made sure to feature memorabilia from multiple sports stars and teams including Mark Ingram and Dennis Rodman.

“We really wanted to preserve a lot of the natural look of the building. The tin tiles [in the ceiling], we’re leaving those just natural the way they were. All of the brick work, we’re exposing as much as brick as possible just because it’s a beautiful place,” Wright said.

Wright had hoped for an Oct. 1 grand opening, but he is thrilled they were able to get it done by Oct. 16 because contractor Daryl Hollingsworth projected a Nov. 1 opening date. Crews have been working hard to get the place up to code. The city, fire department and health department have been accommodating to Wright during the past few weeks.

“I want to thank all of those people because they have been an integral part of us being able to open,” Wright said.

Once they get the health departments approval they will be able to apply for their ABC license. While this license may not be secured in time for this weekend, they will still have beer and wine available for the opening.

Wright and his wife Melissa of Brandon and Reggie Chatman of Bolton are collaborating to open the restaurant. Both Justin and Chatman have experience, 12 and 30 years respectively, in the restaurant business and chose to invest in Vicksburg because of the potential from the population growth and the development of downtown.

“We really feel like this is the place we needed to be,” Justin said. “We’re real happy to be here.”

The Brick will open at 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday and noon Sunday. The closing time will be left open to “until.” The fourth floor of the parking garage on the corner of South and Mulberry streets will have direct access from the walkway to the restaurant’s front door on the side of the building.

Justin has a special giveaway planned for opening night. To enter, go to their Facebook page at The Brick Sports Grill & Billiards to like the page and share the indicated post.