Can Can Brasserie has been in Carytown since 2005. (Mike Platania photo)
A Carytown dining institution is changing hands yet again.
Can Can Brasserie is set to be sold to Housepitality Family, the local restaurant group that owns spots like The Boathouse and Casa del Barco.
Can Can has been serving French fare at 3120 W. Cary St. since 2005 when the Ripp family opened it in the heart of Carytown.
John and Paul Kincaid
A year after the death of family patriarch Dick Ripp in 2019, the Ripps’ family business, The Restaurant Co., sold Can Can to brothers John and Paul Kincaid. The Kincaids had worked there as chef and manager for years and took it over amid the pandemic as first-time restaurant owners.
Now the Kincaids are passing the restaurant along to Housepitality in a deal Paul described as seamless.
“(The deal) was something they approached us about and they’ve always been huge fans of the restaurant. They’ve got the resources to make it run the way it did before us,” Kincaid said.
Spanning over 7,000 square feet, Can Can has an in-house bakery, pastry kitchen and staff totaling around 100. Kincaid said taking over such a sizable operation when they did proved challenging.
“We came in a little disadvantaged because of COVID and just with the restaurant’s age, we had to replace a lot of equipment constantly. We did the best we could and we tried to stay as faithful to Can Can as we could in our nearly four and a half years of ownership, but this feels like the right move.”
Housepitality owner Kevin Healy said the only changes the company has planned for the restaurant is reintroducing coffee service in the mornings and opening seven days per week, up from its current five.
Kevin Healy (HOUSEpitality)
“That restaurant, until the Kincaids bought it, was supported by The Restaurant Co. and the infrastructure behind it. We’re hoping to bring back some of that support,” Healy said.
“It’s more of an adoption. We want to watch it grow and help it thrive. There’ll be no big changes except getting it back to where it was prior to the pandemic.”
Healy said Can Can’s staff will be retained as part of the deal, which is set to close before Sept. 1 for an undisclosed amount. It also includes the Can Can Cafe that the Kincaids opened in the Library of Virginia in 2022. It’ll be the eighth restaurant in Housepitality’s portfolio, joining four Boathouse locations, two Casas del Barco and Island Shrimp Co.
Kincaid said it’s bittersweet to sell Can Can, but that he’s looking forward to spending more time with his family, and visiting the restaurant as a guest.
“It has been my honor to achieve my dream of owning a restaurant and work with the team I work with,” Kincaid said. “But to be able to continue this restaurant in a way where their jobs are more secure than I could ever make them is definitely the best avenue going forward.”
Can Can Brasserie has been in Carytown since 2005. (Mike Platania photo)
A Carytown dining institution is changing hands yet again.
Can Can Brasserie is set to be sold to Housepitality Family, the local restaurant group that owns spots like The Boathouse and Casa del Barco.
Can Can has been serving French fare at 3120 W. Cary St. since 2005 when the Ripp family opened it in the heart of Carytown.
John and Paul Kincaid
A year after the death of family patriarch Dick Ripp in 2019, the Ripps’ family business, The Restaurant Co., sold Can Can to brothers John and Paul Kincaid. The Kincaids had worked there as chef and manager for years and took it over amid the pandemic as first-time restaurant owners.
Now the Kincaids are passing the restaurant along to Housepitality in a deal Paul described as seamless.
“(The deal) was something they approached us about and they’ve always been huge fans of the restaurant. They’ve got the resources to make it run the way it did before us,” Kincaid said.
Spanning over 7,000 square feet, Can Can has an in-house bakery, pastry kitchen and staff totaling around 100. Kincaid said taking over such a sizable operation when they did proved challenging.
“We came in a little disadvantaged because of COVID and just with the restaurant’s age, we had to replace a lot of equipment constantly. We did the best we could and we tried to stay as faithful to Can Can as we could in our nearly four and a half years of ownership, but this feels like the right move.”
Housepitality owner Kevin Healy said the only changes the company has planned for the restaurant is reintroducing coffee service in the mornings and opening seven days per week, up from its current five.
Kevin Healy (HOUSEpitality)
“That restaurant, until the Kincaids bought it, was supported by The Restaurant Co. and the infrastructure behind it. We’re hoping to bring back some of that support,” Healy said.
“It’s more of an adoption. We want to watch it grow and help it thrive. There’ll be no big changes except getting it back to where it was prior to the pandemic.”
Healy said Can Can’s staff will be retained as part of the deal, which is set to close before Sept. 1 for an undisclosed amount. It also includes the Can Can Cafe that the Kincaids opened in the Library of Virginia in 2022. It’ll be the eighth restaurant in Housepitality’s portfolio, joining four Boathouse locations, two Casas del Barco and Island Shrimp Co.
Kincaid said it’s bittersweet to sell Can Can, but that he’s looking forward to spending more time with his family, and visiting the restaurant as a guest.
“It has been my honor to achieve my dream of owning a restaurant and work with the team I work with,” Kincaid said. “But to be able to continue this restaurant in a way where their jobs are more secure than I could ever make them is definitely the best avenue going forward.”
Awesome. Fixed costs are a force, and the psychology of knowing a place is open is as well. I knew folks who ran a grocery and they were told “You are ALWAYS open (you have to be.)” Unfortunately, they as a couple did not have the resources to keep the place open over the long term that say a family could have. Next, whether it is rent, physical plant maintainence or taxes, every moment that a business can be making money with their resources should try to make those hours work. We’ve been taking out of town guests there since… Read more »
As someone who married into the Can-Can family…the new owners reputation is for fees, services cuts, basic food and high prices. We will how they do with high-end French dining. I will say bring back breakfast service will be a very good think except for the employees who have to arrive at 4am to start prep. I do not miss those early drop offs.
Their reputation is for mandatory 20% gratuity and the subsequent awful service.
They also held onto order-by-app (as opposed to menu and server) for far too long and ultimately to their detriment.
Most likely why the mall locations of Casa and Shrimp Conex went bust.
Healey’s establishments have consistently, for the last 20 years or more, been the worst restaurants in the region for quality of food & service, prices, and atmosphere. He’s screwed up most of what he gets his hands on. Hope Can-Can isn’t another addition to his list..
I am not optimistic. The Housepitality Family hopefully has learned that their cost-cutting measures at the Boathouse and Case del Barco, with digital-only menus, odd-ball serving setups, and even odder (borderline infuriating) tipping/fee policies, are definitely not customer-focused and turn almost everyone away from wanting to visit their restaurants after getting burned.
Can Can holds a special place in the Museum District/Carytown area as one of the anchors that helped turn Carytown back around in the early 2000s. Here’s hoping it keeps up with the expectations.
Mandatory tipping means, to me, mandatory complimentary souvenir glassware.
I’m getting my darn $’s worth one way or the other.
“Say, where did you get this cool sugar skull pint set?”
“Someone’s housepitality”
😂😂
Also not optimistic but hope I’m wrong. Their restaurants are so frustrating because they all have something unique – beautiful views, cool designs, etc but man the service (lack of), fees, lack of menus, generally mediocre food etc are so frustrating I have mostly stop going to their spots. Maybe Can Can is iconic or established enough to overcome their worst tendencies but again, I’m not too optimistic.
These comments sure are interesting. My story is exactly opposite. The first time we visited Can Can (about 16 years ago) we had a wonderful experience. Since then, every visit left us feeling like we wasted our time. The service is typically slow and uncoordinated, and the kitchen pays little attention to the product they put on the plate. You might ask why we go back, and that’s a good question. It’s because we really want the place to perform up to its potential. The Boathouses are on the pricey side, but well worth it. We visit all three Boathouses… Read more »