The Velvet Elvis to bring seafood to downtown

The Georgia shoreline is being assimilated into downtown Milledgeville as the Velvet Elvis replaces Loco’s Deli and Pub on West Hancock Street, making the downtown area a destination for a seafood fix.

This is not the first Velvet Elvis in history, said Wesley Carroll, the restaurant owner and a GCSU graduate, who said he felt the Velvet Elvis was fitting for his expectations.

“I needed something funky with a good twist,” said Carroll. “Being in the south, you cannot get funkier than Elvis.”

The food remains appropriate to The Velvet Elvis because the food is more than just seafood, said Carroll.

“The best way to describe the food is seafood with a southern twist,” said Carroll.

Dishes range from a Mahi Mahi sandwich, a shrimp po’ boy and blackened or grilled salmon burgers throughout the day to sesame crusted pan-seared tuna and fish and pasta dishes at dinner. The eclectic array of dishes will cater to a wide variety of price ranges and benefit students, said Carroll.

“We’ve adjusted the menu to serve low to moderate priced meals as well as nicer pasta style dishes,” said Carroll. “Another feature to help the customers is that they will not have to spend a long time waiting for their meal, especially at lunch. I too was once a student and I remember only having a little time before having to get back to class at lunchtime.”

The doors of The Velvet Elvis open to the public from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, but the restaurant will close on Sundays.

The atmosphere of the restaurant/bar will be warm and inviting, said Eric DeHaan, the Velvet Elvis’s executive chef. A dark setting is displayed with hand painted walls of black toned colors, but art offsets the darkness to give the restaurant a bright side. The art adorning the walls is primarily from artists around the Milledgeville area, giving the restaurant an added flare. The curtains to the outside windows will be draped with velvet.

“We wanted to give the restaurant a laid back, casual atmosphere,” said DeHaan. “All realms of people will be welcome, not just students.”

Music accompanies the atmosphere of the inside walls, but The Velvet Elvis will not be restrained to a specific music, said Carroll.

“We plan on playing anything from The Allman Brothers to Panic (Widespread Panic) to the blues,” said Carroll. “Some nights we will have a DJ and other nights we may have heavy metal karaoke. The Velvet Elvis probably won’t play any disco, but we might.”

The Velvet Elvis will tentatively open on Thursday, April 13. The deck in the back outside is not quite ready, but in due time a raw bar will be set up near the stage.

Around 30 jobs will be available for students who are interested, but the jobs are not solely for them, said Carroll.

“I’ll hire whoever wants to work,” said Carroll. “Students or locals can apply.”

The Velvet Elvis will be a motley addition to downtown Milledgeville.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 7 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry