Southport Magazine

Loco Jo’s is back. If the reach of the new owners’ Facbook post announcing their purchase of the Southport staple is any indication, you’ve already heard that. If not, you’re welcome for the good news. In any case, you probably have questions. Will your favorite dish remain on the menu? What’s going to change? What’s not? Who are these new holders of the Loco Jo’s legacy? Where did they come from? I had the pleasure of sitting down with Loco Joe’s new owners Nikki Shields and Chuck Archer and asked them these and more questions. No worries — Loco Jo’s is in the best of hands. 

First things first, when will you be able to enjoy lunch and dinner at Loco Jo’s again? Chuck says they plan to be open by the end of May. “The hope is to be open for Memorial Day weekend,” he said. When we spoke Chuck was brushing off dust from his sanding down of the bar and fielding calls from inspectors. They’re working hard to get things off the ground.

Chuck and Nikki are food and beverage people. Chuck was general manager at Wilmington’s Front Street Brewery before moving to the new Rebellion public house, also in Downtown Wilmington. Nikki, when we spoke, was still working out her notice at Crust Kitchen and Cocktails where she is general manager. Rebellion was named one of the country’s best bourbon bars and Crust is a gourmet grilled cheese and cocktail-based concept. So these two have a pedigree in deliciousness and creativity. 

What about the menu, you ask?  “It’s really going to stay about the same,” said Chuck. “We were really attracted to the menu when looking into buying this business,” he said, adding “We’re going to keep the blackboard specials.” 

Nikki is half Japanese and said Loco Jo’s featured food they were very familiar with. “It looks a lot like what comes out of our kitchen at home, really,” she said. 

Loco Jo’s original owners, Brian and Joann Kimball, are helping the new owners get started. Brian had dropped off a pile of recipes earlier on the day we spoke, Chuck said. Brian will also work with Chuck and Nikki the first few weeks to “show us how they did things,” said Chuck. “We’re not re-inventing the wheel here.”

What is going to change, then? First off, they will begin serving liquor in addition to beer and wine. “I’m big into making craft cocktails,” Nikki said. “That’s me, really. I’ll come up with a whole menu of signature drinks.” Chuck said he also plans to expand the bar’s draught beer selection from three taps to six to bring in some more variety and take advantage of Wilmington’s thriving brewing community.

Chuck said that managing a restaurant during the pandemic showed him the importance of responding to community needs. He opened a market at Rebellion to offer some of the supplies, like toilet paper, that he had access to but were hard to come by at traditional grocery stores. “You need to find out what the community needs and what you can provide. If you don’t react in this industry, you die,” he said.

The Southport community has, even at this early stage of their ownership, welcomed Chuck and Nikki with open arms and excitement. Nikki said that the Facebook post announcing their purchase of the restaurant had, after less than a week, more than 44,000 impressions. “I think we broke social media at that point. I didn’t know there were 44,000 people in Brunswick County!” she joked.

“People come out of the woodwork and it’s really nice,” Nikki said. One woman, she said, told her she was retired and had plenty of time if they wanted her to drop in and help fold napkins or roll silverware. 

Chuck and Nikki are also looking forward to moving to this community and are actively searching for a house, something that has been the biggest challenge of this entire experience so far, they said. With both of them working as managers of successful restaurants, it meant they didn’t get to see much of each other, Nikki said, so they are looking forward to being in this new venture together. 

Wilmington’s food and beverage community, especially downtown, is a very late night-oriented affair, they said, and they look forward to Southport’s more laid-back attitude. “We’re looking forward to getting somewhere the pace of life is different,” Nikki said. 

Moving forward, they will need to find staff and finish renovations. “It just needs our little touch,“ said Chuck. “A fresh coat of paint and some new color.”

After our talk at one of Loco Jo’s new outdoor tables, Chuck was headed back inside to get back to work on the bar and told me that their friend was in Key West and was collecting some new stickers for them. 

Yes. They get it. Loco Jo’s is in good hands.