Rex 1516 Hits Another (Small) Snag

So first, word was that Rex 1516 (the small, Southern comfort food restaurant from the Jet Wine Bar team) was going to open on Thursday the 1st.

That didn’t happen for a few reasons, all of them very minor, and owners Jill Weber and Evan Malone decided that they were going to push off their opening for a couple days and let it happen over this weekend. We actually heard about this decision while sitting at the un-stocked bar at Rex, sampling some of chef Regis Jansen‘s sweet potato fries, fig-and-goat cheese crostini, his cheeseburger with onion jam and an absolutely killer plate of shrimp and grits topped with a fried egg which, even cold and eaten post-photo-shoot (see above), came off better than most other chefs’ grits do when eaten piping hot and perfect.

Now, though, there have been some other complications, and it looks like Rex won’t be opening this weekend either.

The trouble is, Rex didn’t pass their health inspection. But before you get all worried about something gross going on, remember: a health inspection is pass/fail and virtually anything can cause a restaurant to have to make changes and then schedule a whole new inspection, delaying openings for days, if not weeks.

In this case, L&I tagged Rex for two things: For the temperature of the water in the dish machine being two degrees too low and for not displaying a NO SMOKING sign in the front of the restaurant. But two things are enough, and with the weekend approaching, there was no way to re-schedule a new inspection before Monday.

So as things stand right now, Rex will NOT be open this weekend, but is shooting for unlocking the doors early next week. They’ll likely open as a BYOB (because you can’t schedule a final walkthrough from the PLCB until you have your health inspection certificate in hand), but are hopeful that everything–including the bar–will be up and running according to plan before long.

We’ll keep you updated. As soon as they know more, we’ll know more, followed shortly thereafter by you knowing more.

Rex 1516 To Bring Southern Cuisine To South Street [Foobooz]