Spring Break
High Street Grill to close for redesign
Vince Alexander
Issue date: 12/9/08 Section: Front Page
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"We are not going out of business," Hoelzer said. "We are restructuring our building."
Hoelzer said Dec. 13 will be the last day that High Street Grill will be in operation.
"We are not selling a lot of our high-end items like we have been over the past eight years," Hoelzer said. "Sales have been down so we are going to reinvent ourselves to gear more towards college students in the current economy."
Hoelzer said that customers do not come for lunch anymore and dinner traffic during the week has also slowed.
According to Hoelzer, the new lounge bar will open in mid-January and will serve high-end liquors and beers. Hoelzer said that the new bar's atmosphere will be comparable to Tonic's.
"We are going to serve more high-end alcohol and everything will be served in bottles or glasses," Hoelzer said.
Hoelzer said they are trying to be more in touch with the Miami University population, catering toward professors and students.
"It is going to be a lot more casual but still very trendy at the same time," Hoelzer said.
According to Hoelzer, the new bar will serve food items mostly under $10 that can be shared by a group of people.
"We are looking to serve different types of hummus, bean dips and locally grown foods," Hoelzer said.
According to Hoelzer, the new bar will also feature local talent such as acoustic guitar players and singers.
Hoelzer said the bar will also be available for private parties to rent out until 2 a.m. and food will be served until midnight.
Hoelzer said that Miami architect students are working on the layout of the inside décor.
"We are working on the color scheme, furniture and layout design," said Miami senior architect major Spencer Simms.
Simms said there are significant issues turning a restaurant into a bar such as flow and overall atmosphere, but the end goal will be a laid-back bar that serves the local and graduate level.
"Alcohol is recession-proof, when things are bad people drink, and when things are good people drink," Hoelzer said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 20
jack
posted 12/09/08 @ 6:11 AM EST
The reason people stopped coming is that you jacked up your prices to astronomical levels and the quality of your food sucks -- don't need a Harvard MBA to understand that. (Continued…)
'70Redskin
Interested Alum
posted 12/09/08 @ 8:12 AM EST
I am saddened to see one of the few decent sit down restaurants in Oxford leaving. The comments of "jack" notwithstanding, I have always found the food at High Street grill to be very good, though the prices were certainly out of the range of most college students. (Continued…)
Kim
posted 12/09/08 @ 10:38 AM EST
For the most part I agree with "IA" however, I have to disagree that "DiPaolo's" is the only nice place to have a good dinner - how about Paesano's, Stella's, Alexander House, Rohan India. (Continued…)
Interested Alum
posted 12/09/08 @ 10:52 AM EST
Kim, you are correct. I forgot about Paesano's because I was thinking uptown. Never tried Alexander's because of some comments I've read about the food and service there, not to mention the prices. (Continued…)
FormerRegular
posted 12/09/08 @ 11:34 AM EST
Jack is correct about the quality of the food going down while the prices went up. When they originally opened, the food was fantastic & the prices were reasonable. (Continued…)
Rich
posted 12/09/08 @ 11:43 AM EST
Looks like the High Street grill adopted the Miami model--raise prices and lower quality. Ain't no way to run a restaurant, ain't no way to run a university. (Continued…)
Hopless in Otown
posted 12/09/08 @ 1:18 PM EST
this is Miami's fault. They need to pay teachers better. Oxford needs to create pockets where professors want to live in or near the mile square. Maybe Miami could donate some land for a new professor oriented neighborhood. (Continued…)
Interested Alum
posted 12/09/08 @ 4:45 PM EST
"I don't think Jack is too far out of line here. High Street doesn't serve THAT great of food for the prices they charge. Just because they have decent cuisine doesn't mean you can charge out the whazoo. (Continued…)
Redskiner
posted 12/09/08 @ 9:47 PM EST
The owners never tried to market HSG towards the students....it was always geared at adults. Let's be frank here....most oxfordites either can't afford this place or don't want to eat at this snobby establishment. (Continued…)
Food Lover... Again
posted 12/10/08 @ 1:31 AM EST
My bad if I came off sounding pretentious (and after reading it again, I definitely did). All I meant to say was that, given the prices at High Street and the general opinion of the posters upset over it's closing, one would believe that it was a spectacular restaurant with high quality food. (Continued…)
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