Creekside Restaurant (and Catering) resurrected
The Cave Spring restaurant owned by Tim Ayres and Greg Blanton is open four days a week.
New restaurateur Tim Ayres believes that he and business partner Greg Blanton are going to succeed where others have not because he’s just a little bit stubborn — and insistent on quality.
Ayres and Blanton are the latest to make a go of it in the old Creekside Restaurant location in Cave Spring, now known as A & B Creekside Restaurant and Catering.
Ayres, who has a long history in the catering industry, decided it was the right time to have a fixed location and felt like the building that overlooks Little Cedar Creek and Rolater Park was the ideal location.
The partners are moving deliberately and not trying to stretch themselves too thin. The restaurant will be open Thursday through Sunday for the time being.
The restaurant, which Ayres said features a typical American menu, is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
From A1
on Sunday.
“We don’t use any product that makes its way through China,” Ayres said. If you like smoked this or that, there’s a good chance you can find something on their menu to tempt your palate. Ayres offers everything from a smoked salmon cheesecake appetizer to baby back ribs to smoked pork and smoked Atlantic cod.
The seafood entrees also include shrimp and grits as well as fish and grits. Both the shrimp and fish — Atlantic cod — can be ordered fried or pan sautéed.
“We’re hoping eventually to expand, but right now we’re moving slowly in that direction so as not to overwhelm ourselves,” Ayres said. “We don’t look for the cheapest product, we look for the best product. I think the majority of people appreciate what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Ayres has a little pit room attached to the restaurant, with two smokers.
“We even smoke our burgers all the way through, which is a little bit different from what most people do,” Ayres said. “We also use brioche buns.”
The deck overlooking the creek has been a popular spot:
“Especially when the weather is good enough and sometimes even when it isn’t,” Ayres said.
Cave Spring Downtown Development Director Sandra Lindsey said the fact they change the menu up is a big positive in her mind.
“It’s not always the same thing, they offer you lots of different options, people have a choice,” Lindsey said.
The restaurant does have a beer and wine license.