‘It was nuts’: New Meridian bar opens quickly — then closes after a day. Here’s what’s up
When the Growler Guys taproom closed in Meridian, new owner Amanda Mumford was eager to reopen the space with a modified concept.
Fast.
She and her fiance, Dustin Boswell, grabbed brushes and repainted the interior. She redid the wallpaper in the bathrooms. Hired an installer to cover the bar’s concrete floor with faux-wood vinyl planks.
“We barely slept,” she says. “... It was nuts.”
The Growler Guys’ final day after nearly a decade at 2020 E. Overland Road? March 3.
Dusty Rose Reserve opened March 7. Then closed again the next day — its current status.
Chalk it up to enthusiasm. And inexperience.
“I didn’t realize how all the permitting stuff worked,” Mumford admits, “because it’s my first time owning a business. I had to go back through and do some things with the city so that we could reopen.”
It should happen soon: Friday, March 22, with luck. At this point, Dusty Rose Reserve is at the mercy of city officials’ paperwork expediency. “I want to do everything correctly,” Mumford says.
When Boswell starts pouring beers again — he’s the day-to-day manager — Dusty Rose Reserve should feel like a familiar, upgraded version of its longtime predecessor. They even hired back the Growler Guys’ employees.
Like its predecessor, Dusty Rose Reserve has 54 taps pouring beer and hard cider. It still fills pints, growlers and crowlers. But now there’s also wine to sip. And canned cocktails.
Plus, Dusty Rose Reserve will be a bar and grill. A small kitchen will be installed by May — assuming a few more permit hurdles get cleared. “Now that I know more!” Mumford quips with a chuckle.
The food menu is already online at dustyrosereserve.com. It’s divided into starters (mostly $10) and entrees (mostly $15). Starters range from street tacos and soft pretzel bites to onion rings and fried mushrooms. Entrees include nachos, wings, pork sliders, finger steaks, fish and chips, beer-battered shrimp and more.
Named after its operators (Mumford’s middle name is Rose), Dusty Rose Reserve seems poised to please not only former Growler Guys customers, but new patrons, too.
Mumford and Boswell have dreamed of owning a restaurant for awhile, she says. They shopped around for about a year before pulling the trigger. “When I went into the Growler Guys the first time, I just fell in love with the space,” Mumford says. “It felt more like a coffee shop than a bar.”
With overflow traffic from Biscuit & Hogs restaurant in the same strip mall, not to mention moviegoers from nearby Cinemark Majestic Cinemas, Mumford feels optimistic about the couple’s pub concept.
“I think it’s going to do really well,” she says.
This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 4:00 AM.