The interior of Green’s View Grill offers a relaxing dining environment. Photo by Luke Gair (C’21).
By Luke Gair
Executive Staff
It’s no secret Sewanee has only a small selection of restaurants to choose from, but in January, Green’s View Grill opened with a robust menu that enriches the food scene on the Domain. General Manager Michael Beutel said the restaurant hopes to “provide a legendary local burger with our AA locally-sourced grass fed beef and farm fresh toppings.”
Paired with flat screen televisions and a full bar, it provides the perfect place to “catch sporting events” or relax after a round of golf. Guests place orders on a “scorecard” where they mark items and pay up front. This convenient and simple formality offers students an opportunity to grab a quick bite to eat without cutting into their busy work days.
In the dawn of its operation, Beutel has found “the restaurant has been very popular with the students, faculty and staff as well as some locals.” Management expects golfers will be a “part of the mix” once the spring season rolls in.
Oftentimes, restaurants make adjustments to their menu after becoming acclimated to a customer base. Although they do not plan on changing anything thus far, Beutel said they “will continue to evaluate our product mix as we go along.” He continued, “we’ve found that our burgers, milkshakes, pimento cheese french fries and our sweet potato fries have all been a huge success.”
College students are among some of the most difficult groups to bring into restaurants due to their lack of funding and crammed calendars. The Grill is “currently developing a website, Facebook Page, Instagram account and Yelp page” to combat this. They additionally plan to hire an undergraduate student to run “social media agenda to reach the student base.”
When questioned about any difficulties that accompany running a restaurant in the Sewanee area, Beutel replied that as long as one serves “a quality product and [provides] an upbeat, inviting atmosphere, Sewanee is a great place to operate a restaurant.”
The University and the Inn both “felt that this space had the potential to be something very special.” Sitting right on the edge of the Golf Course at Sewanee, along with its “indoor and outdoor seating, made this a perfect location to dream up [the] concept.”
Whether it’s the “Ecce Quam Burger” or a serving of kale slaw, Green’s View Grill presents a menu diverse but hardly excessive. Moreover, it boasts a clean atmosphere that still contains all the charm of classical Sewanee buildings: sandstone and vaulted ceilings. General Manager Beutel’s favorite item: pimento cheese fries with crumbled bacon and jalapenos.
“AA locally-sourced”?