A Scottish-themed restaurant chain that relies on a mix of suds, sports and sex appeal plans to open five or six stores in Greater Baltimore over the next two years, investing about $8 million in the region.
Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery will debut its first restaurant at the Avenue at White Marsh Aug. 3, says the company's Vice President of Development Mark Hanby. The company will spend $1.3 million to open an 8,000-square-foot restaurant at 8133 Honeygo Blvd.
The Tempe, Ariz-based restaurant chain is also interested in opening restaurants at the Inner Harbor, Annapolis, Hanover and near Baltimore Washington International Airport. It expects to hire up to 800 employees over the next two years and about 140 for the White Marsh location.
Tilted Kilt management liked the White Marsh's area's demographics. According to Baltimore County data, the town has about 213,000 residents who live within a five-mile radius and have an average household income of $60,000.
"The demographic is phenomenal there," Hanby says. The White Marsh store is about one-third larger than the typical store, which is about 6,000 square feet. "We think we'll be really busy. We think we can accommodate as many guests as possible."
Waitresses at the Tilted Kilt sport short tartan skirts and bare midriffs. The restaurant looks for the "girl-next-door cheerleader type," according to Hanby.
It's not just the scantilly-clad servers that bring in the crowds. "The costume gets people in the first couple of times but we have a great menu," Hanby says.
Menu items include the "Fat Bastard's" meatloaf sandwich � an open-faced meatloaf sandwich with a Guinness barbeque sauce � and Gaelic Chicken � chicken breasts with saut�ed mushrooms and onions, and an Irish Whiskey cream sauce. The restaurant also features 24 beers on tap.
Another draw are the plasma TVs. Each restaurant features around four dozen, 50-inch plasma TVs.
Source: Mark Hanby, Tilted Kilt
Writer:Julekha Dash