What Now reported nearly two years ago on a new project in Wynwood from Columbus-based restaurateur Brian Swanson. Known for Columbus’s Nashville-inspired restaurant and bar Bristol Republic, serving up “competition quality BBQ smoked in-house daily, ice cold craft beer, over 150 rare bourbons and whiskeys and live music,” Swanson had not yet revealed the concept then destined for Wynwood Jungle.
The status of that project is now unclear. The Real Deal reported earlier this year about a lawsuit between Swanson and an affiliate of Black Lion Investment Group, owner of Wynwood Jungle.
“The complaint, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, accuses Black Lion of breaching a lease agreement by only providing Swanson’s entity with 6,158 square feet for a new restaurant when the deal allegedly called for 7,751 square feet,” the Real Deal coverage says. A countersuit has followed, and it’s not yet clear where the project now stands.
The world continues to turn, however, and Swanson appears to have other projects underway in South Florida. Namely, a plan review has been filed by West Palm Cowboy Club LLC for a restaurant called West Palm Cowboy Club, which would open at 200 Clematis St., in Suite 101 and the building’s 2nd Floor Mezzanine. Behind West Palm Cowboy Club LLC is Brian Swanson.
It’s not yet known what food and drink we can expect from West Palm Cowboy Club—Swanson was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday—but the theme makes sense. Swanson had, after all, described the Wynwood Jungle project as something that, just as Bristol Republic was Nashville-meets-Columbus, “could be Nashville-meets-Miami.”
Whether West Palm Cowboy Club is a brand new project or the Wynwood project in a new location is not yet known. What does seem clear is that South Florida will eventually see a new concept from Brian Swanson.
