The Vig expands with new downtown Phoenix restaurant
The group behind the Vig has brought its neighborhood hangout to Fillmore Street in downtown Phoenix.
The Vig Fillmore operates out of an historic home on the northwest corner of 4th Avenue and Fillmore Street at 606 N. Fourth Ave. Phoenix-based Genuine Concepts renovated the house, which was built in 1914 by a prominent Phoenix family in the cattle business. The space includes a dining area of approximately 2,000 square feet under roof with an outdoor patio that includes the Vig’s signature bocce ball court as well as a fireplace.
Bringing the Vig downtown was an idea that percolated for more than a year in the minds of Tucker Woodbury, who opened concert venue the Crescent Ballroom downtown two years ago. On his way to and from the Crescent, he’d pass the house at Fourth and Fillmore.
“I kept thinking, ‘This would be a really great spot for a restaurant,’” he said. “We started talking about it and fell in love with the building.”
Believing that the downtown area lacked an offering such as the Vig, Woodbury and his partners decided to pull the trigger. The restaurant has been open since early September and has slowly been picking up business from the surrounding neighborhood.
“People have been waiting for a long time,” Woodbury said.
Woodbury’s restaurant group, Genuine Concepts, spent approximately $1.7 million on the project, he said, adding much of the high price tag was because of some issues they ran into renovating the nearly 100-year-old home, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It’s always interesting when you get into adaptive reuse projects like this one,” Woodbury said. “There’s always things that are unforeseen. We had some surprises that added a considerable amount to the build-out cost. But we believe the final product is worth it.”
The Vig Fillmore employs about 40 people and offers lunch and dinner during the week and brunch and dinner on the weekends.
Genuine Concepts also operates the Little Woody and the Western bars in Phoenix and Scottsdale, respectively. Two Vig locations are in Arcadia on 40th Street and uptown on 16th Street. A fourth Vig is planned for north Scottsdale.
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