The SERG Group rarely needs an introduction on Hilton Head Island/Bluffton food scene. They are not only the largest employer in the county, but they have 13 very popular restaurants across the area. Especially in the Summer.
Sometimes, however, SERG Group makes news. Including now with their ongoing expansion of the very popular Wiseguys concept on Hilton Head Island. The space is going double in size making for a massive restaurant.
Here’s a portion of my conversation with SERG Group Executive Chef Nick Unangst about what is planned for Wiseguys and when you may be able to get back in there to Eat It and Like It.
JB: This isn’t first time Wiseguys has gotten a facelift. When did this all come about?
NU: Well, we’ve been discussing it for 6 months or so. The space next to Wiseguys became available. It kinda sat there and taunted us a little bit. We thought ‘maybe there’s an opportunity here to do something special.’ So we took over the space next to us that is basically going to double Wiseguys in size. We were able to expand a small kitchen and make it larger and more functional. We’ve expanded the bar and adding some bells and whistles to the kitchen like a wood burning oven and a rotisserie.
JB: For those that remember, the original Wiseguys was the front room there. Then you expanded back to make the steakhouse, right?
NU: Yeah, the original kitchen was 200 square feet. Still kind of the foundation is the small plates that we do now. It’s been about 8 years. This is kind of the next step of the evolution of Wiseguys. We’ve always wanted to have a wood burning oven to do some different things like wood-burning duck or pork.
We’re going to have a private room that will sit 16 comfortably. We’ve added a new full prep kitchen. Our kitchen has double in size as well.
JB: How much evolution to the menu will there be?
NU: There are some things on the Wiseguys menu that are non-negotiable. Like the shrimp and calamari. The grill that we’ve been searing ribeyes and filets is going to stay. The rotisserie and the wood burning oven are going to work in tandem have some specialized equipment to offer things like crispy duck and pork.
JB: You guys have been busy. Pandemic shmandemic. You built out Nectar during a shutdown, you guys have kept it moving. Is there a next project you can share?
NU: We kinda attacked the pandemic. We decided to be aggressive and not let it stop with our dreams. Also we have a ton of great people working for us and we want to help them with their dreams too.
JB: That build out is going as we speak. When can we expect it to be done?
NU: The goal would be late June. It’s coming along now. We’re excited about it, equipment is showing up. We gotta get this thing done. It seems like we are on track.
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