Poe’s Tavern co-owner Riddick Lynch said Wrightsville Beach feels like a “Poe’s town.” That’s why he and Rusty Bennett decided to open a branch of the gourmet burger joint in the former Lumina Hall on Harbor Island and, after six months of construction, they welcomed their first guests over the weekend.
Lynch said Poe’s Tavern is a good fit for Wrightsville Beach because there is no other restaurant like it on the island.
“It’s sort of a niche that’s not being filled,” he said.
Gothic chandeliers light the interior and as guests dine on hand-cut French fries and innovative hamburger creations, the restaurant’s namesake, Edgar Alan Poe, stares down from framed portraits on every wall.
“What we’re doing is unique here,” Lynch said.
The restaurant’s other two locations are in Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, and Atlantic Beach, Florida. Lynch said Poe’s Tavern seems to thrive in beach towns near larger cities, so that was the environment he sought when scouting for a third location site.
“This is a market similar to the markets we’re familiar with,” he said. “This is the model that’s worked for us so far.”
Climate was also a consideration because, Lynch said, “the outdoor element is a big part of Poe’s Tavern.”
The restaurant’s bar opens to an outdoor patio with seating in front of a picturesque backdrop created by Charleston artist Jaycie Rappold. She transformed the adjacent building’s gray cinderblock wall into a Wrightsville Beach-themed mural.
Rappold said she researched Wrightsville Beach before starting the mural, which combines elements of the town’s surfing culture with pieces of its history like Lumina Pavilion.
She created the painting based on photographs of Wrightsville Beach surfers but as of yet, no one has identified them. The female shortboarder she painted is a teenager surfing in a recent O’Neill Sweetwater Pro-Am contest, but the girl’s name is still a mystery.
“I was hoping when I was doing it, somebody would say ‘Oh, that’s whoever!’” she said.
It took her 12 days during the summer to create the mural. Because it was so hot, she worked from 6 p.m. to 2 or 3 a.m. Her pre-dawn painting sessions introduced her to a unique facet of the Wrightsville Beach community, from the night-shift policemen who frequently drove by to check on her to the girl who biked past her almost nightly and commented on her progress.
Lynch said Rappold creates art for all the restaurant’s locations but this is the first Poe’s Tavern to get a mural.
“We wanted to create something interesting out there and cover up the wall, but also connect with the history of the island,” he said.
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