Owner of Black Eyed Susan considering former Beef 'O' Brady's site

John Walla is negotiating a lease at the new site at 18727 North Pointe Drive

February 01, 2012|By DAN DEARTH | dan.dearth@herald-mail.com

Herald-Mail file photo

The owner of a popular restaurant between Halfway and Williamsport told county liquor officials Wednesday that he is contemplating moving the business to a larger building north of Hagerstown.

John Walla, owner of Black Eyed Susan at 17102 Virginia Ave., said during a hearing before the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County that he wanted to move the restaurant to the former Beef ‘O’ Brady’s site on North Pointe Drive near the Volvo Powertrain plant.

“We’re running out of space,” Walla said before the hearing.

Walla said he was in the process of negotiating a lease at the new site at 18727 North Pointe Drive. If everything goes as planned, he would like to open in two to three months.

“They have to do some construction in there,” he said.

Walla said the existing Black Eyed Susan on Virginia Avenue would remain open.

“We want to shift it into a diner — something more homestyle,” Walla said.

The restaurant’s menu lists a variety of dishes that include burgers, wraps, stuffed chicken breast, pan-roasted salmon and veal scaloppini.

Walla said he wanted to put his wife’s name on one of the liquor licenses and his name on the other.

He told the liquor board that the current Black Eyed Susan would continue to offer its customers beer and wine, but drop liquor from the menu.

“I just want to keep this one as simple as possible,” Walla said. “It’s not a tavern. It’s a restaurant with a bar.”

The liquor board said a license to pour beer and wine costs $400, while a license to sell beer, wine and liquor costs $750.

Robert Everhart, liquor board chairman, said Walla would have to get permission from state liquor officials if he wanted to transfer liquor from the existing business to the one on North Pointe Drive.

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