New family-owned American grill planned for Devine Street

A Hickory, N.C., family-owned restaurant wants to open a second location on Columbia’s Devine Street.

Bryan Norris, owner of Hickory’s popular Backstreets Grill, said the new restaurant will be identical to the North Carolina location, which he described as “halfway between fine dining and neighborhood sports bar.”

Developer Frank Cason is seeking a parking variance for a former small office building at 3006 Devine St. He is asking that the project be allowed to go forward with 18 parking spaces rather than the required 36.

The Board of Zoning Appeals will consider the variance Tuesday.

The restaurant would be located next to the new Urban Cookhouse.

Norris opened the Hickory restaurant in 1996. Its motto, oddly enough, is “Great Food. Good Friends. Bad Parking.”

The family chose Columbia, Norris said, because his stepson, Casey Peissel, graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2014 and loves the city. Peissel will run the Columbia restaurant.

“I’m going to help him start,” Norris said. “But he’s been in the restaurant business since he was washing dishes at 14. There is not one position he can’t do in this building.”

Cason, who has visited the Hickory location, said the restaurant serves family-friendly American fare “from fish tacos to filet mignon.

“We feel it will fill a void in the market for mid-priced, family-friendly restaurants,” he said.

This story was originally published March 9, 2018 at 9:07 AM with the headline "New family-owned American grill planned for Devine Street."