Sully’s restaurant is almost ready to open in Gulfport. Take a look inside
The letters for the company sign were hoisted into place Tuesday at the entrance of the new Sully’s Gulfport, evidence the restaurant is close to opening on the Coast.
They are shooting for early- to mid-December, said Brian McLelland, one of three owners of the Mississippi restaurant group.
The Gulfport location is going into the former Climb CDC location that is being transformed with new kitchen equipment, reclaimed wood accents throughout and many other upgrades.
Sully’s Gulfport will be similar to the locations in Hattiesburg and Petal — with one big difference.
The Gulfport location has an additional 10,000 square feet to host meetings, weddings, corporate events and parties, dubbed Richburg Hall.
“We’ve got private event rooms at our other locations. They’re just not that big,” McLelland said.
While the restaurant and venue hall share a building, each will have its own entrance — off 13th street for the restaurant and bar and fronting 30th Avenue for Richburg Hall. The location is just a few blocks off U.S. 49 and downtown Gulfport.
Sully’s food and fun
Sully’s is known for its aged angus steaks, cut to order, seasoned with their own blend and chargrilled. It’s also a seafood restaurant, a tavern and an entertainment venue.
“We have live music every night we’re open,” McLelland said. Some of the musicians from the other two restaurants in the Pine Belt will play acoustic music (in Gulfport), he said, along with musicians from the Coast.
The tavern is separate from the restaurant and seating will be in both areas and outside on the terrace.
A list of appetizers, salads, wings and burgers are on the menu for lunch and for lite bites, along with pasta and other dinner favorites and “the best cheesecake” and funnel fries for dessert.
A grab-and-go section will be available at the entrance of the restaurant for those who want a quick lunch or to stop by for a drink after work and want to take dinner home.
Richburg Hall for events
The meeting venue definitely will be part of the Sully’s experience, McLelland said, and also separate. It has its own kitchen to accommodate a busy weekend crowd in the restaurant at the same time a wedding is under way.
Sully’s will provide special menus, along with design service and floral arrangements, said Ginger Cook.
“It’s an all-inclusive concept,” said Cook, a Coast event planner who owned Ginger Cook Events and has joined with Sully’s to host weddings and other functions at the new venue.
She’s already planning the first events and said, “I’m talking with brides for January and February.”
Sully’s restaurant is named for the legendary Sullivan-Kilrain Bareknuckle Brawl that took place just a mile down the road from the restaurant’s original location in Hattiesburg. That area was then known at Richburg, and the new venue at Sully’s Gulfport was named in tribute to the locale.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
