Southern Restaurant Pawpaw Moving Into Former Wet Willie's Space

When brain freeze vendor Wet Willie's shuttered, Charlestonians wept — except for restaurateur Keith Jones, who told Post and Courier, "No one ever went into Wet Willie’s that we know ..." At the time, Jones, who operates Stars, Amen Street, and Southend Brewery, shared his plans to bring a Southern-themed restaurant to the former Wet Willie's address.

Jones' restaurant holding company Pinot Group is currently working to renovate the space at 209 E. Bay St. Not much else is know about the new establishment, but a name did appear this week — Pawpaw. Branding agency Stitch Design Co. posted a type treatment for the "Southern Plates" restaurant on Dribble. They were able to confirm this is the name for the new East Bay Street concept, but that's it.

According to Garden & Gun writer Jed Portman, pawpaws are "a soft, pale-green fruit indigenous to the temperate forests of the eastern United States" that taste like "mango, banana, pineapple, and melon."

The former Wet Willie's space.