A rendering of the forthcoming Cross Grain location at RIC. Courtesy Richmond Region Airport Commission.
Cross Grain Brewhouse plans to open by July in the airport’s Concourse A. The 1,900-square-foot restaurant will open in space formerly home to Sam Adams and Vito’s Market.
The RIC location will be the fourth Cross Grain Brewhouse to open in the last 15 months, according to Steve Bass, a regional vice president for Delaware North, which owns the Cross Grain brand and has had the concessions contract at the airport for 30 years.
The Buffalo-based company has opened Cross Grains in Boise, Idaho; Fort Lauderale, Florida; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
“It’s really all about craft,” Bass said, adding that Cross Grain will sell craft beer, cocktails and sodas along with upscale food.
The restaurant is taking shape behind closed walls.
“With the shift in today’s beer demand from domestic to crafts, we needed something to help highlight that,” Bass said. “Cross Grain allows us to do that.”
The restaurant will have beers on draft, most of which will come from Richmond breweries. Bass could not say exactly which Richmond beers will flow from Cross Grain’s taps.
He said the budget for getting Cross Grain up and running at RIC is $1.5 million, and that Delaware North is paying for it. Richmond-based Terra Group is doing the construction. Oklahoma City-based Prairie is the architect for the job.
In addition to developing Cross Grain, Delaware North has been sprucing up its other food and drink offerings at RIC. In the past two years, about $1 million has been spent on renovations at the Applebee’s and the three Caribou Coffee locations, and the Cheeburger Cheeburger was expanded by 800 square feet.
Delaware North is a 100-year-old company that has contracts with 25 U.S. airports and 10 abroad, mostly in the United Kingdom and Australia.
The company also does concessions in sporting venues, parks and gaming venues. Delaware North’s chairman is Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of the National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins. The company brought in $3 billion in revenue in 2015, according to Bass.
RIC is one of the company’s oldest contracts.
“We signed a 10-year contract extension,” Bass said. “Part of that was to reinvest in the first year of that contract, which was this year.”
Bass said he expects Cross Grain to bring 30 percent more in sales than Sam Adams and Vito did combined. He said Delaware North plans to open as many as three more Cross Grains this year.
A rendering of the forthcoming Cross Grain location at RIC. Courtesy Richmond Region Airport Commission.
Cross Grain Brewhouse plans to open by July in the airport’s Concourse A. The 1,900-square-foot restaurant will open in space formerly home to Sam Adams and Vito’s Market.
The RIC location will be the fourth Cross Grain Brewhouse to open in the last 15 months, according to Steve Bass, a regional vice president for Delaware North, which owns the Cross Grain brand and has had the concessions contract at the airport for 30 years.
The Buffalo-based company has opened Cross Grains in Boise, Idaho; Fort Lauderale, Florida; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
“It’s really all about craft,” Bass said, adding that Cross Grain will sell craft beer, cocktails and sodas along with upscale food.
The restaurant is taking shape behind closed walls.
“With the shift in today’s beer demand from domestic to crafts, we needed something to help highlight that,” Bass said. “Cross Grain allows us to do that.”
The restaurant will have beers on draft, most of which will come from Richmond breweries. Bass could not say exactly which Richmond beers will flow from Cross Grain’s taps.
He said the budget for getting Cross Grain up and running at RIC is $1.5 million, and that Delaware North is paying for it. Richmond-based Terra Group is doing the construction. Oklahoma City-based Prairie is the architect for the job.
In addition to developing Cross Grain, Delaware North has been sprucing up its other food and drink offerings at RIC. In the past two years, about $1 million has been spent on renovations at the Applebee’s and the three Caribou Coffee locations, and the Cheeburger Cheeburger was expanded by 800 square feet.
Delaware North is a 100-year-old company that has contracts with 25 U.S. airports and 10 abroad, mostly in the United Kingdom and Australia.
The company also does concessions in sporting venues, parks and gaming venues. Delaware North’s chairman is Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of the National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins. The company brought in $3 billion in revenue in 2015, according to Bass.
RIC is one of the company’s oldest contracts.
“We signed a 10-year contract extension,” Bass said. “Part of that was to reinvest in the first year of that contract, which was this year.”
Bass said he expects Cross Grain to bring 30 percent more in sales than Sam Adams and Vito did combined. He said Delaware North plans to open as many as three more Cross Grains this year.