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Submitted Photo Primary Restaurant and Bar is located in what used to be Tug’s Proper.
A new restaurant, Primary Restaurant and Bar will open this week in the former Tug’s Proper building on Main Street.
Owner Curtis Huggins moved to Highlands from Crested Butte, Colorado and got into the restaurant industry when he was 18 years old.
“I decided to get into the industry because I knew I could get a job wherever I wanted to live,” Huggins said. “Some friends of ours have a second home up here and we have been visiting for the past couple of years. Highlands is a similar market from where we came from in Colorado. It’s mostly tourists and second homeowners. That is a niche that works with our structure, and we work with structure.”
In Crested Butte, Huggins owned a restaurant for eight years. He said the time during COVID was a blessing for the restaurant.
“During COVID, we increased our revenue by three percent and increased our profit tremendously,” Huggins said. “We did it by seating fewer people because we had to, but also by seating fewer people, we found ways to increase our check average. Then through the process of seating fewer people, my staff found time to upsell, versus being overly busy every night. We all got better at what we did.”
Huggins said at Primary Restaurant and Bar they are looking to provide a product the Highlands community will appreciate.
“We are looking to provide high quality product and fresh food, local, if possible,” Huggins said. We are looking to bring in a completely new menu.”
A couple of samples of the menu of Primary Restaurant and Bar include a Primary Burger, which is half pound fresh Durham Ranch Wagyu, aged white cheddar cheese, honey pepper bacon, crispy fried tobacco onions on a house baked bun for $18 and the Double Cut Duroc Pork Chop for $34.
Since purchasing the location, Huggins said they have been working hard to get it into shape for opening this week.
“We have been doing lots of cleaning, detailing and organizing,” Huggins said. “We are trying to get everything in a big space organized into smaller spaces so we can more efficiently serve people. The goal is efficiency.”
With most of the nation struggling to find workers, Huggins said they have been blessed in that department.
“We were lucky enough that some of the Tug’s staff stayed on,” Huggins said. “We had some respond by word of mouth, and I brought people from Colorado with me. I brought four with me from Colorado and one coming in. I have an interview with an executive chef. It’s been a breath of fresh air that the people here show up early and they are excited for structure.”
If Huggins had to describe Primary Restaurant and Bar, he would label it as American Cuisine.
“Ultimately, what we are trying to get to is something similar to Houston’s in Atlanta,” Huggins said. “Menu wise, feel wise, professionalism, training.”
With the restaurant opening this week, Huggins said they are looking forward to meeting the new customers that frequent the restaurant and to show them the food they serve and the service they will be providing.
“Everyone has been so inviting and warm,” Huggins said. “I think more than anything, I hope that that follows through to the weekend. Everyone has been so kind.”
Highlands local Pat Allen, who sold the building to Huggins, said she is thrilled to see Tug Helmer’s former restaurant being transformed into Primary Restaurant and Bar.
“Tug and I were close friends,” Allen said. “I admired his sense of entrepreneurship and the good that he did for people in the community that often went unnoticed. I am delighted to bring this building to the buyers, who I know will make it a success and keep it going. They are so experienced. They have done restaurants in Colorado and Texas, so they know what they are doing. It’s not just someone who says, ‘Oh I want a restaurant.’”
Huggins also is the new owner of the former Meritage Restaurant building and is turning that building into Prime Steakhouse. The opening of that, he said, has been slower than he had hoped, but work is being done on the building.
“We started doing renovations on that building and found a lot of issues that we knew we would find,” Huggins said. “So, we are taking the renovations a step further, replacing exterior walls, replacing the roof. There were a lot of issues. So, we are going to fix it right and turn it into a high-end steakhouse.”
Primary Restaurant & Bar will be opening this Thursday in Highlands for dinner and then lunch and dinner through Sunday.
After Memorial Day, the restaurant will be open Thursday through Monday from 11:30 a.m., until 8:30 p.m.
For more information, or to make a reservation, visit primaryhnc.com.
- By Christopher Lugo