Redwood Rotisserie + Grill opens at old Carrows site

When the former Carrows restaurant closed its doors at 860 E. Plumb Lane in Reno a several years ago, Steve Williams couldn’t wait to get his hands on the property.

Long enamored with the site, Williams saw a prime opportunity for a restaurant concept on the corner of Plumb and Kietzke lanes.

He immediately turned to business associates Justin Owen and Ryan Gold of Hospitality Consulting Associates to see if they would be interested in becoming partners on a new restaurant concept.

“As soon as (Carrows) closed they called us,” Gold said in an interview at Redwood Rotisserie + Grill last week. “(Williams) didn’t have the experience in the restaurant industry, so he came to us and we collaborated on the project.”

Owen and Gold’s company owns and operates four other establishments in the area: Imperial Bar and Lounge, Lincoln Lounge, Old Granite Street Eatery and Royce Neighborhood Bar.

The trio’s vision came to reality with the opening of Redwood Rotisserie + Grill late last month.

“People who’ve lived in Reno for any length of time, are seeing a major transformation in this city,” Williams said a prepared statement. “The re-development of the property at Plumb and Kietzke into Redwood Rotisserie is just the most recent chapter in that ongoing narrative.  We took a dilapidated restaurant that had sat vacant for years and created something unique and exciting on a major corridor through the heart of this town.

The interest and support that we’ve received from the community for this project has been overwhelming at times. Seeing the vision finally come in to reality has been truly gratifying.”

During renovations, they uncovered natural redwood trim under layers of paint from its previous tenant. They complimented the existing elements with redwood accents, stone tiles and dark leather booths in the 5,000-square-foot space. They also added a few other amenities including several flatscreen televisions above the dining and bar areas. Gaming options such as video poker should be installed soon once the owners receive approval from the Nevada State Gaming Control Board.

“When we came in for renovation, we had a warm cabin feel, and we wanted to go after that warm and familiar feel to people,” Gold said. “We call it a contemporary or modern cabin.”

They created a bar but left behind a coffee corner from the former Carrows. Most of the interior construction is complete, although Gold said they might tinker with the decor. He also added the property’s existing parking lot needs to still be re-paved and repainted.

Renovations started in January and took five months to complete. Hospitality’s affiliated company, Group West Construction, handled the renovation project.

The restaurant’s menu is anchored by rotisserie chicken and tri-tip, but also includes other entrees such as burgers and soft tacos and fish. It also features a variety of beers on tap from local breweries. The partners try to include as many local food products and ingredients as possible.

“At the heart of the menu is our rotisserie and a lot of the menu items branch off of that,” Gold said. “We also have a few sandwiches and salads that use rotisserie chicken and tri-tip.”

Gold hopes Rotisserie will earn its own niche as a local favorite as time goes on and indicated the early turnouts have been very positive.

“When you open up a restaurant you always want to differentiate yourself or do things a little bit better, and that’s what we did here,” Gold said. “I think we want to add that local, mom-and pop feel to the area.”

Redwood Rotisserie + Grill is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit redwood reno.com.