Torge’s to return to Fairmont area

“Torge’s is something that we can continue to adjust and adapt to make it work for Martin County.” — Jason Subbert, TPI Hospitality

FAIRMONT-- This weekend marks the end for one Fairmont restaurant but the beginning for another as Green Mill will close and work will begin on Torge's Bar and Grill.

TPI Hospitality General Manager, Jason Subbert, explained that their 20 year contract with Green Mill was coming to an end this year and they had the option to go with another product of Hightop Hospitality's, such as the Crooked Pint, or do their own thing and go independent.

"We operated under Torge's Bar and Grill name for 26 years prior to becoming Green Mill 20 years ago," Subbert said. "Twenty years ago, the restaurant business was really different. That brand affiliation 20 years ago was really, really important, but in today's world, you're using your mobile divide to find menus and make reservations. Twenty years ago you couldn't do that."

Now, he said people are looking for a different experience.

Nicole Bonilla, who will manage Torge's, added, "You can get a chain experience anywhere. We're hoping that, by bringing in our name, it will be a different experience."

Subbert said he thinks people are looking for a local connection and a dining experience that's authentic to the area. He also explained by being part of a chain, they were pretty limited to what they could do so now they're looking forward to being able to cater to this community specifically.

"Being affiliated with a brand, you get a lot of creative help and support, but you have no creative ability outside of that," he said. "To be in pork country and not have some featured pork items has always been a challenge for us because the farming community really drives the economy around here. We're really excited to feature some things people in our area are really going to love."

In coming up with their own unique menu, Bonilla said that their head chef has handled a lot but there has been some good team effort as well.

"He's originally from New Jersey but moved up here most recently from Florida. He came about a year ago and this is what he came for. We've been working on the creative piece of this for about six months and also putting together the beverage menu together," Subbert said.

The menu will feature some pastas and pizzas, wings and salad with some steak and pork dishes as well. There are some unique offerings like a tomato pie and popovers, which are a nod to what has been offered in the past.

"We calculated that from 1978 to when we quit doing popovers during Covid in 2020, we served over a million popovers here during that time period," Subbert said.

He added that they have reimagined the popovers in an appetizer and that there will be eight mini, two-bite popovers served with honey butter.

"We had to reimagine them because where we're going is not where we've been," Subbert said.

With that sentiment, Torge's will be different from what people were used to in the past and it will also be different in many ways than what Green Mill was offering.

Some notable changes will be made to the restaurant's opening hours. After Green Mill's final day this Sunday, Oct. 4, the restaurant will be closed for a brief amount of time.

"Our hope is that construction will take two weeks. We're doing an invite-only soft opening on the 19th," Bonilla said. "We'll be open to the public on the 20th at 4 p.m."

Subbert said that maybe the biggest change is that to the hours.

"Our industry is changing. Sit-down restaurants, it's changing. There's 20 food trucks that do business in Fairmont and all of them take money out of Fairmont," he said.

He added that for a food truck such as the Cup N' Saucer's, he understands that they live here and spend their money here, but for a truck that comes in from out of the county for the day without buying product here or putting money back in the community, it takes jobs away from people.

Speaking about the midday meal, Subbert said, "You're not going to sit down at a restaurant for an hour and wait for it."

As it's adapting to meet the changing industry Subbert talked about, Torge's will be open from 4 to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays for food and until 11 p.m. for drinks, and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. with food ending at 9:30 p.m. on Sundays.

"We won't be open for breakfast anymore, but we'll have complimentary breakfast for our hotel guests, which is an enhancement for them," Subbert said. "It will help some of the other restaurants in town," he added.

During the two weeks that the restaurant will be closed, they'll be doing some cosmetic changes and also adjusting the seating area.

"It will be bar and grill throughout. Right now we have a dining room and a bar and the upper area is where people want to be... we're making some adjustments and we'll use some of the seating differently. We're taking out some booths and adding some six-tops. There will be more seating upstairs and downstairs will be created to be similar to upstairs," Subbert said.

One thing that's not changing, however, is the staff. Staff is remaining as they were never Green Mill staff, but rather TPI Hospitality staff.

"People think that Green Mill is the business, but it's the franchise name that we operate under," Subbert explained. "No one's employment actually changes at all."

As for any lingering Green Mill gift cards that people may have, Subbert pointed out that they can still be used at a different Green Mill location, but that they cannot be redeemed at Torge's.

While they've been working on getting the word out about the upcoming change for some time, both Subbert and Bonilla are excited to be to this point and looking forward to being able to offer more for the community.

"Torge's is something that we can continue to adjust and adapt to make it work for Martin County where with Green Mill we were really locked into whatever worked for Green Mill," Subbert said. "We can take immediate feedback from people and make adjustments. We control the beer lineup, drink menu and food menu where we didn't control that with Green Mill."

"We're really looking forward to operating and not planning... once we get past the renovations and we're open, it gets easier," Subbert said.

Bonilla added, "It's definitely been an experience like none other. Opening a bar and grill from the ground up. We have a pretty solid team behind us."

More information can be found on their website at torgesfairmont.com