Beautiful Day Cafe owner finds new tenant for space — one that serves late-night diners
Earlier this month, it looked like Charolett Knapic had a second tenant for her Beautiful Day Cafe space at 2516 E. Central when Shea’s Sol Kitchen’s owner announced plans to start serving her vegan fare from the building.
Since then, though, that deal has fallen through, Knapic said. But it left an opening for another young restaurant entrepreneur whose business was in need of a new home.
The Appetite 316 owner Marcus Wooley and Knapic recently worked out a deal that will allow him to serve his home-cooking fare out of the Beautiful Day space five nights a week. Starting on Tuesday, Oct. 3, Wooley will start serving burgers, wings, catfish, chicken and waffles and more out of the space from 5 p.m. until 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, from 5 p.m. to midnight on Sundays and from 5 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays.
In late July, Wooley — a young chef who studied with Butler Community College’s Culinary Arts program — opened his first restaurant in the spot at 2959 S. Hillside that over the years been home to concepts like The Angry Elephant, Birrieria La Nieta De Villa, Azul 21 and Senor Burger.
His last day in the space, though, was Sept. 14, Wooley said. Business was so slow, he tried putting his grill outside and cooking in front of the restaurant to draw attention and customers. But even that didn’t work.
“I just couldn’t get enough traffic out there,” he said.
He said he likes the former Beautiful Day Cafe location better: It’s near other restaurants, and when he was considering moving into the space, he said, he watched traffic in the area and concluded it was much busier.
Nourish ICT, which operates a meal-prep business out of the space, will still use the kitchen in the mornings, and Wooley will use it for dinner and late-night service. He’ll also open up the dining room for dine-in customers.
Knapic closed her Beautiful Day Cafe in late 2021 after six years in business, but she still has the building and has been looking for people who want to rent out time in her commercial kitchen.
Wooley said he’ll celebrate opening day in the new space on Tuesday by offering $1 sliders from 5 to 9 p.m.
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