"What I really need is a kitchen twice the size of what I have and a bigger serving area."
Jason Clark
The Plain Jane burger was one of The Strip Club's popular hamburgers.
Jason Clark’s concept that was arguably one of a kind in the state, had lines that snaked around from its 104 East Poinsett Street location to near main street – rain or shine. And diners formed a line about one hour before opening on Friday.
“We basically couldn’t keep pace with the customers demand and I felt it wasn’t keeping pace with my standards,” Clark said. “People got angrier and angrier they couldn’t be served fast enough to the point I had to make a business decision and take care of my kitchen staff.”
The Strip Club 104 was so busy other restaurants benefited when customers didn’t want to wait or had an hour for lunch.
The cooks were making 75 Angus beef hamburgers an hour “and we just couldn’t continue to do that and still maintain the standard I wanted at my restaurant,” Clark said.
Clark said he is thinking how to re-imagine the concept including offering order on line and notify customers when their burgers are ready. “But when you do that you must consider the packaging and that takes longer,” Clark said.
Clark, who has twice been recognized as Restaurateur of the Year, said he has “far exceeded my expectations” with the Friday hamburger lunch. “What I really need is a kitchen twice the size of what I have and a bigger serving area.”
Clark has used social media to inform guests he has ended Friday lunch.
“We know many of you are going to miss the burger Friday and many of you are asking why. Our lunch business has grown so large it has outgrown our ability to live up to our expectations and standards of quality and service. Therefore we have made a very thought-out decision to cancel our lunch service for a short period of time while we structure and redesign our lunch program program to achieve a high level of service standards and expectations. We hope you continue to visit us or dinner Tuesday – Saturday,” Clark’s message read.
Clark closed BIN112, his other iconic Greer restaurant in March when he sold the property for a reported $1.1 million. Select, a restaurant owned by Jeff Gossett of Spartanburg, is scheduled to open there in the summer.