Managed IT Servicesin Mount Pleasant, SC

Cinco de Mayo is one of everyone’s favorite days of the year. We Americans don’t mind taking a reason to celebrate the day beloved to our neighbors to the south. La Hacienda in Mount Pleasant has just undergone a face lift and can’t wait for patrons to celebrate with them this time around. This local favorite opened its first restaurant location in North Charleston 30 years ago. Now, with multiple locations throughout the Lowcountry, it has become a family staple.

The Mount Pleasant restaurant opened its doors 10 years ago and strives to give our community the best customer experience possible. Their recent renovations allowed for the bar to be totally redone, the flooring to be changed out and new furniture and equipment to be installed. The patio is still a work in progress but is undergoing major changes and upgrades as well. Remodeling came because the staff wanted to be up-to-date with aesthetics and had a desire to make customers feel as comfortable as possible.

The owners stated that the new space, “makes you want to go in and have a great meal with your family and enjoy some awesome cocktails.”

In addition to the new atmosphere and overall vibe of La Hacienda, the restaurant has also updated their bar menu. It will now include fresh juices and 100% agave tequila. New cocktails and margaritas have been added just in time for Cinco de Mayo!

This restaurant loves to help customers enjoy Mexican fare while enjoying their experience and time together. What is better than chips and queso surrounded by those that you love? Even sweeter, it can all be enjoyed with an ice cold margarita in your hand that comes in a variety of flavors. The staff and family at La Hacienda want to provide the best customer service possible and are excited to share their revamped space with the community they adore. Although it may look different, it is the same quality and experience that residents have enjoyed for over a decade. Owners added that “we would love to invite all to come and visit us to enjoy our remodeled space. Our patio should be ready by May so everyone can come celebrate Cinco de Mayo with us.” The space will be decorated for the holiday, and they can’t wait to show off the work that has been completed. If you are looking for a way to celebrate in style, the newly renovated and consistently pleasing La Hacienda in Mount Pleasant (or any of their locations) has you covered. See you there!

For more information, please visit LaHaciendaMexRestaurants.com, or call 843-388-7636.

By Cari Lawson

The Nest: A New Place to Roost in Wild Dunes Memories Matter at Mount Pleasant Gardens: Meet This Best Of Winner Putting the Savvy in SAVI Local Restaurant and Wine Bar Claims Plethora of Wins Dig in the Park: Best Happy Hour in Park Circle Can you “DIG” it?

Another dining venue is coming to a former Mount Pleasant restaurant, and several new shops are now open across the greater Charleston area.

Farm Haus Butcher & Beer Garden is renovating a site at 604 Coleman Blvd. in Moultrie Plaza Shopping Center.

Farm Haus’ menu will feature house-made sausages and burgers using heritage-breed pork and grass-fed beef that will be ground fresh daily.

The space previously housed Asian eatery Bambu.

An opening date for Farm Haus has not been announced. A restaurant representative did not immediately respond for comment. The company also operates a location in Indian Land near Charlotte.

New perk

A new coffee shop is now welcoming customers on the Charleston peninsula, the second in the past month to open.

Big Kick Coffee recently launched at 476-D Meeting St. behind a Sherwin Williams paint store.

The 1,450-square-foot space offers retail, roasting, packing and online orders.

Big Kick comes from Veggie Bin owner Fraser Young, who operates another cafe at 125 S. Market St. in downtown Charleston. It joins the recent arrival of Mudhouse Specialty Coffee Roasters at 375 King St.

Filling up

Two new businesses are coming to southern Moncks Corner, and another opened on May 2.

Fast-food restaurant Wendy’s and Valvoline Instant Oil Change plan to open in Foxbank Towne Center on U.S. Highway 52 near the Publix-anchored Moncks Corner Marketplace, according to Charleston-based developer Twin Rivers Capital.

WenJai Restaurant Group, one of the largest Wendy’s operators in the Southeast, recently broke ground and is expected to open in the second half of 2023.

Kentucky-based Valvoline, with more than 1,500 locations that offer stay-in-your car vehicle maintenance services, intends to break ground later this year and open by year’s end.

Valvoline also plans a new location on Faison Road across from Costco Wholesale in northern Mount Pleasant.

Also, now open in Moncks Corner is a new frozen treat shop.

Alien Cow Flavored Sno can be found at 2033 Old Highway 52. The shop opened Tuesday and offers mixes of “flavored sno” and “sno cream” which are dairy free, lactose free and vegan friendly, according to the new shop’s Facebook page. Business owners say it’s not ice cream or shaved ice. A food truck park also is planned for the future.

On the way

A new discount store is on the way to Goose Creek.

Tennessee-based Dollar General Corp. recently leased a 1.42-acre undeveloped site on St. James Avenue just west of Myers Road, according to Berkeley County land records.

The 15-year lease can be extended up to 25 years, according to terms of the agreement. An affiliate of Coastal Development Partners of Spartanburg bought the land in January for $295,000, land records show.

Now open

A new organic self-care products boutique is now open in Charleston.

Lost River Naturals can be found at 2317 Ashley River Road in West Ashley. Connie and Ricky Young launched the 1,300-square-foot shop in April.

Connie, an herbalist and aromatherapist, started the business online in 2006 after formulating organic, clean-beauty skin care and herbal products for men, women and children.

The shop also carries herbal teas, herbal tinctures and items such as gemstone jewelry, candles and crafts from other small businesses. Hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Gassing up

An Oklahoma-based convenience store and gas station chain is entering the edge of the greater Charleston market.

Quik Trip plans to open a store at 1857 Bells Highway, just off Interstate 95, in Walterboro.

The Tulsa-headquartered company has two other stores in the eastern part of South Carolina in Orangeburg off I-26 and Hardeeville off I-95. Several other locations can be found in the Midlands and Upstate.

Also, Parker’s Kitchen snipped the ribbon May 1 on its new store at 5644 N. Rhett Ave. in North Charleston. It’s the 75th location for the Savannah-based convenience store and gas station chain.

The company has 12 locations in the Charleston area and 31 in South Carolina. Several others are on the way in the Lowcountry, Grand Strand and North Augusta.

MOUNT PLEASANT — Discount grocer Aldi is beefing up its presence across the Charleston area.

The no-frills grocer recently leased several acres at U.S. Highway 17 and KOA Campgrounds Road for a second East Cooper location.

Aldi plans to build a 23,000-square-foot store on the land next to South Morgans Point Road. The acreage sits across from Joe Bryant Court, on the opposite side of Highway 17, where a new mixed-used commercial and recreational development is in the works.

The company signed a land lease with property owner Oakland Associates LP for 20 years with the option to renew up to 25 years.

Aldi did not provide timeframes for construction and opening.

“We do not have any information to share,” said Shaun O’Keefe, divisional vice president.

The penny-pinching Aldi doesn’t provide free shopping bags and requires a refundable quarter deposit for a shopping cart.

The chain stocks a variety of standard products, mostly under its own label, as well as fresh meats and produce.

The grocer launched its first store in the Charleston region in 2015 off Dorchester Road on the edge of Summerville and North Charleston. The company then followed with a second store on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard in Mount Pleasant in 2017. Both locations were former bowling alley sites.

Aldi opened its third Lowcountry location in 2020 on North Main Street in Summerville, just south of the Earth Fare supermarket. The company added a fourth site later that year in the former Barnes & Noble Booksellers space on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston. A fifth store opened in 2022 on St. James Avenue in Goose Creek.

The low-budget grocer, with its U.S. headquarters in Batavia, Ill., is one of America’s fastest-growing retailers. It will add 120 stores this year. By the end of 2023, it will have 2,400 locations across the nation. It has 48 stores in South Carolina.

Lidl, its competitor that is also based in Germany, opened its first Charleston-area location on St. James Avenue in Goose Creek in 2017. A second location opened in 2022 in Cedar Grove Shopping Center on Dorchester Road in North Charleston, east of the Aldi location.

Lidl signed a lease in 2021 to outfit a former kitchenware shop in Bowman Place Shopping Center on Bowman Road in Mount Pleasant for the region’s third location, but it has not opened. A company representative did not immediately respond for comment on an update for the store.

A new restaurant is in the works near a major intersection in Mount Pleasant, and the Charleston area’s eighth Planet Fitness gym is coming to Moncks Corner.

Damon Navarro is asking the town to annex a 1.51-acre tract on Ira Road between Abide A While Garden Center and Life Storage off U.S. Highway 17 at Interstate 526, where the new dining venture is planned.

The property, across from the Walmart-anchored Wando Crossing Shopping Center, once housed Lamb’s Auto Service Center.

Navarro bought the property last September for $2.1 million through 1434 Ira Rd LLC, according to Charleston County land records.

The planned restaurant is coming through a Charleston investors group called High Tide Provisions LLC and will be called Frank and Jack’s on Ira, according to Stephanie Samuels, project manager and investor. It’s named after two now-passed colleagues of the developers.

Plans presented to the town show a 4,600-square-foot restaurant with a potential wrap-around porch. Plans also include a 625-square-foot covered area behind the restaurant and similar-sized flexible dining space with an outdoor fireplace next to it.

The site also would include a 1,000-square-foot courtyard in the rear, a 400-square-foot children’s outdoor play area and 1,875 square feet of outdoor space dedicated for adult games such as shuffleboard and bocce ball next to a bar.

The linear development would include 73 parking spaces and an overflow area in the rear for employees and guests to park.

If annexation is approved, the site’s zoning would fall under the areawide business classification. Samuels hopes construction could begin by August with an opening by next spring, but the timeline is dependent on how quickly plans move through the town’s approval process.

Getting fit

The Charleston region’s eighth Planet Fitness site is in the works.

The workout business plans to open a 21,704-square-foot location at 110 Bi-Lo Drive in Moncks Corner in a shopping center anchored by KJ’s IGA supermarket.

The gym is going in next to Pointe North Church in a building that once housed Walmart before the big-box retailer moved to the northern side of town several years ago. It’s expected to open in September.

A company representative did not immediately respond for further comment.

A food assistance program called Feed Berkeley once operated in the site where the fitness facility is going. Feed Berkeley has moved to 207 Newell St. in Moncks Corner Pentecostal Holiness Church.

Planet Fitness has other Charleston-area locations in Goose Creek, James Island, Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Summerville and West Ashley.

On the way

Two new shops are coming to a developing neighborhood in the Cainhoy area of Charleston.

Viva Tacos & Tequila plans to open in a 4,000-square-foot site next to a 2,000-square-foot Modern Movement Yoga studio at 836 Foundation St. in the Point Hope development, according to Bryan Fogle of Coldwell Banker Commercial Atlantic, who handled leasing for the tenants.

The building is under construction next to a similar 6,000-square-foot structure to be built where Ye Ole Fashioned Ice Cream and Sandwich Shoppe plans to open in about half of the building. The two venues will share a patio between the structures next to Clements Ferry Road. A fall opening is expected for the businesses.

Sweet treats

A new gourmet cinnamon roll bakery will make its South Carolina debut with a shop opening in downtown Charleston on April 7.

Cinnaholic at 415 King St. will host its grand opening 10 a.m.-2 p.m., offering a $2 cinnamon roll special, DJ, giveaways and samples.

The shop has more than 20 frosting flavors and 20 topping choices.

Also part of the Charleston rollout, the downtown location will have three limited-time offerings: lemon icebox pie roll, coconut cream pie roll and lemonberry coffee cake.

Franchisee Kishan Patel also has a location in Statesboro, Ga.

On the way

A new shop is on the way to a shopping center in Goose Creek.

Crafty Beer Sales LLC has applied for a state license to sell beer and wine for both on-site and off-site use at 214 St. James Ave., Suite 160.

The vacant space was once a dry-cleaning shop and is in the Planet Fitness-anchored Shannon Park Shopping Center.

On the way

A new commercial retail building is in the works for North Charleston.

Ironclad Construction recently submitted plans to environmental regulators to build on a 4.6-acre parcel at 8680 Dorchester Road, just west of a retail center that includes Great Harvest Bakery and Cafe and other tenants near Club Course Drive.

Tenants have not been announced. The site has 1.88 acres of wetlands with planned disturbance to about 1.76 acres, according to site plans.

Gassing up

A Charlotte-based convenience store chain recently purchased a 6-acre parcel where a nursery once operated in Moncks Corner.

Circle K Stores Inc. paid $1.05 million for the property on U.S. Highway 52 at Ben Barron Lane last month, according to Berkeley County land records. The previous owner was ZZ Real Estate LLC, an affiliate of The InterTech Group of North Charleston.

The purchased site is on the northern end of the former 686-acre Carolina Nurseries wholesale plant farm that closed in 2010. Berkeley Electric Cooperative’s headquarters and other businesses are now located on part of the sprawling tract. A new housing development is being laid out behind the Circle K parcel.

Cleaning up

A Michigan-based car wash company recently broke ground on its first of four planned locations in the Charleston area.

Tommy’s Express is bringing its first Lowcountry site to 3680 Ashley Phosphate Road, next to Republic Services, in North Charleston. Two others are slated for Summerville and another on Tanger Outlet Boulevard in North Charleston.

The wash tunnels are designed with a rounded transparent roof and full-size windows running along the length of the tunnel. Floor mat washers, vacuum stations and membership programs also will be available.

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – A new taco shop is set to open in Mount Pleasant this spring boasting unique flavors set in a tropical theme.

The owners of White Duck Taco Shop, which originated in Asheville, North Carolina, have been renovating the former Sticky Fingers restaurant on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard for the past year.

A complete overhaul of the building included opening the ceiling and removing some walls to create a larger feel inside the establishment. Bamboo is being used to section off seating areas and fresh paint will brighten up the once-dark barbecue joint.

Muralist Lacey Hennessey was brought in from Greenville, South Carolina to help merge the planned color scheme to give the restaurant its tropical feel and showcase floral themes, a large VW bus, and even a surfing duck.

“We’re very proud of what she accomplished here,” said Laura Reuss, who owns the restaurant.

The bar area will feature big-screen televisions and windows will open up to an outdoor lanai with bar service in addition to its deck area. “It gives an open-air feeling even though we’re in the middle of Mount Pleasant,” said Reuss.

Reuss has been working in the restaurant industry since she was a teenager. She left Park City, Utah in 2010 – working in restaurants at ski resorts – to later open the first White Duck Taco Shop in North Carolina.

The idea was to create a fun atmosphere where patrons would feel comfortable enjoying great, from-scratch food at affordable prices.

“We had been working at four- and five-star restaurants. We really wanted to be more approachable to everyone. So, we came up with the idea of White Duck Taco Shop,” she said.

The new restaurant ushered in new life for a part of Asheville that was still in its growth phase – the River Arts District.

“We were in Asheville, we actually moved there to start the brand. It was really a mom-and-pop organization, we just couldn’t keep up—it was crazy,” she said of opening the new shop.

The new location in Mount Pleasant will be White Duck Taco’s 14^th venture.

Reuss and her late husband had roots in the Charleston area. And after reopening its other locations post-COVID-19 pandemic, she decided that it was the right time to bring the restaurant to the Lowcountry.

“I spent about seven, eight months looking for the perfect location with a lot of help from other people, and we came across Sticky Fingers,” she recalled.

A crew came in to determine how best to transform the former barbecue restaurant into a brightly-colored taco shop. After a few bumps in the road, thanks to logistics and delivery woes – White Duck Taco will soon serve customers just in time for the summer season.

Reuss described the menu as unique fusion tacos. “We do everything from fried oyster tacos, pork belly tacos with pickled watermelon rind, we have Thai peanut chicken tacos … the whole idea was to take really cool flavors and just put it in the form of a taco so that you could eat almost internationally.”

If you order a sandwich or burger off a menu, you only get to try one style or flavor at a time. Here, you’ll be able to select three variations in one sitting.

“The taco is the new American way,” she said. “Everyone loves a taco and a beer.”

Reuss is eyeing an opening in mid-to-late April depending upon final approvals from the Town of Mount Pleasant.