Chef and restaurateur Troy Guard is expanding his steakhouse concept, Guard and Grace, to two more locations, one in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a second one in Denver, where his TAG Restaurant Group is headquartered.
He already operates a Guard and Grace in downtown Denver and one in Houston, as well as four units of his breakfast concept, Hashtag, two locations of his fast-casual bowl concept, Bubu (named for the Japanese puffed rice called bubu arare), a cocktail bar in downtown Denver called Done Deal, and two Mexican restaurants called Los Chingones.
He just closed his single-unit burger concept, Tag Burger Bar, in late July.
One of the Los Chingones restaurants has been operating for nine years in the Denver Tech Center, where a new modified version of Guard and Grace is slated to open in November.
“The DTC deal came to us just a few months ago,” Guard said, adding that he’d actually looked at the same space around five years ago, “and we just couldn’t get the numbers to work with the landlord.”
Since then, another company leased the space, built it out, and was around 90% done with construction when they pulled out.
“So we pretty much got a fully built restaurant,” Guard said. “We just have to tweak some things, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
Since Guard first looked at the space, other steakhouses have opened in the area, including Eddie V’s and Ocean Prime, so Guard is adjusting the focus of the new restaurant toward seafood and calling it Guard and Grace Surf Club.
Guard is now a veteran restaurateur in Denver, but he grew up on the coast, in his native Hawaii and San Diego. Early in his career he worked for Hawaiian chef and restaurateur Roy Yamaguchi, including work in Asia and a stint as executive chef of the short-lived New York City location of Roy’s, before he ended up working for Richard Sandoval who brought him to Denver.
He also has spent time working in Asia, giving him a diverse seafood background which he plans to use in developing the Surf Club’s menu.
“I’ve been around the ocean a lot, so I have lots of great ideas and flavors I want to bring to the table,” he said.
Guard and Grace already has a diverse seafood menu as well as vegetarian and vegan options, but he plans to expand those seafood choices at the DTC location.
In fact, Guard said steaks now make up just 62% of orders at the steakhouse, down from 85% when the first location opened 13 years ago.
“I think people join us more often and try new and different things, so that’s really cool for us, too, that they’re not just coming because we’re a quote-unquote ‘steakhouse.’”
The DTC location is around the same size as the downtown restaurant — 8,500 square feet and around 250 seats.
But first up is the new Charlotte location, which is slated to open on Sept. 30 and headed by chef Adam Vero, who has long been Guard and Grace’s executive chef and is moving to North Carolina for the project.
The menu will be about 80% the same as other Guard and Grace locations, but with location-specific items including Carolina barbecue items, cornbread dishes, and local oysters.
To prepare for the opening Guard and his team have been partnering with local restaurants to hold popup events including a Carolina-meets-Hawaii luau at The Goodyear House.
“We had a big smoker and I did a suckling pig there. It was a ton of fun,” Guard said.
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