Monday, December 16, 2013

Second Chance Saloon Goes Public Hoping To Get A Lease Extension And Survive The Winter

Sometimes, people think that restaurants are something more than a business.

The Second Chance Saloon has taken on its landlord, and a bunch of local folks are trying to argue for the Columbia restaurant to get a lease extension and survive the winter.

Second Chance is a casual restaurant and bar in the Oakland Mills village center.  I talked up the Old Bay wings a few years ago.  Their lease expires soon, and a bunch of folks went public last week lobbying the landlord Cedar Realty Trust to give them an extension.

Basically, that's a mix of Facebook, blogging and random chatter.  Second Chance put most of its information on its Facebook page.  Folks started on-line petitions.  The Marshmallow Man posteed on The 53d.  Bill Gray posted a call to action, asking people to write the Cedar Realty chief operating officer.  He says that Calvin Ball and Ken Ulman both wrote the landlord as well.

No one is concentrating on the food.  No one is claiming that Columbia will lack for places to get a beer.  They're saying Second Chance is a special place in their part of Columbia -- a place open to little meetings, open after football games, open for something more than selling food in a neighborhood that needs a place to meet and hang out.  As often, Julia McCready sparked the interest and captured the idea best on Village Green/Town Squared:
What do we stand for in Columbia, in 2013? Is there still room for the mom and pop privately owned business? We sigh and shrug when Don Pablo's goes, or Chicken Out, but what about the life and times of a local homegrown business whose only desire is to make good in Oakland Mills? Does our future hold nothing but chain restaurants whose coming and goings are dictated purely by numbers?
If you're interested in Second Chance, check out Julia's post and the links there.  And go eat at Second Chance.

5 comments:

Julia A. McCready said...

Thank you so much for bringing this issue to the attention of your readers!

Run a Game said...

As a bar, it can't be beat - good beer at good prices, good entertainment, great for the live music scene, GREAT wings.

dzoey said...

Love the trivia nights they do. Not a lot of bars have family friendly entertainment.

Anonymous said...

Second Chance is a great place! It,s atmosphere is warm and welcoming. It seems that so many Mom and Pop places get driven out for food chain restaurants. Don't we have a day in every year that is designated for shopping small business and local shopping? Take them away and they disappear. Second Chance had fantastic food, great beer choices, and an amazing staff. With the economy as bad as it is, the workers of this great establishment will be jobless. Students that work there and depend on they're jobs for paying for school, rent, and basic needs to survive. Closing this will just devastate them. I pray they can continue on and that thr Realtor holding the lease grows a heart!

Jenifer Johnson said...

The Second Chance Saloon is one of the Late Great Columbia Neighborhood Taverns. WE LOVE IT! It is friendly and unpretentious; one of those places where you're sure to run into someone you know, and can rely on good service and a good time. OF LATE, the Second Chance is in danger of losing its lease, as its out-of-state owner is not in touch with what makes the Second Chance special. Please make time in December and January to patronize our neighborhood icon; if you feel so moved, please let Cedar Realty Trust know why you love the Second Chance! No invectives, please; be nice, and help Cedar Realty understand why the Second Chance deserves a second chance!