Riverlights restaurant Smoke on the Water is closing later this month after the building it’s occupied since 2017 was purchased by Girls with Dough LLC in a more than $1.5 million transaction that closed Tuesday.
Despite Smoke on the Water’s imminent closure on Oct. 28, the restaurant plans to maintain its local presence, according to owner Diane Smith. She’s currently in negotiations to take over the operations and space of another restaurant in downtown Wilmington.
“I can't disclose who that is at this point because we haven't finalized that agreement, but we are very, very close to doing that,” Diane Smith said on Wednesday. “It is going to be in the historic downtown area, similar size to what we are now, but we won't have the outdoor seating in back, and, of course, we won't have the sunsets either.”
According to a deed recorded Tuesday, Girls with Dough LLC purchased the 0.3-acre property at 3704 Watercraft Ferry Ave. for $1.58 million. The limited liability company is registered to Tammy Tilghman, owner of Girls with Dough Pizzeria & Pub. The existing restaurant is just south of the Smoke on the Water site inside the Marina Village retail center off River Road in Wilmington.
Tilghman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday about her plans for the property.
Orry Dickard, a broker with Cape Fear Realty Group, represented the buyers in the transaction. While he declined to comment on the buyer’s plans, he confirmed the property would remain a restaurant.
According to Dickard, the property sold in an off-market deal after the buyers approached Brookfield Properties, the seller, about the plans for the site.
“(The) buyers’ interest is based in the special nature of this property,” Dickard wrote in a text message on Wednesday. “We feel like it’s one of a kind in the Wilmington market.”
Smoke on the Water’s lease in the building runs through Oct. 31, according to Diane Smith. She had intended to extend the restaurant’s lease, but she also knew that Brookfield Properties was looking to sell the building.
Diane Smith said she hoped to find an entrepreneur who could buy the building and let Smoke on the Water continue operating there. She began reaching out to Brookfield Properties early this year about finding a buyer who would let them stay, but wasn’t met with much support, she said.
“We knew that somebody was going to be a new landlord for us, whether it was someone that we brought in or someone that came in and purchased the property,” Diane Smith said. “Our hope was just to stay there because we loved the location, we loved the people, we loved the Riverlights neighborhood, and we were kind of the neighborhood hangout.”
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Brookfield Properties confirmed the property's ownership transition and thanked Smoke on the Water's owners for their "partnership and contributions to creating a welcoming destination in the heart of Riverlights."
Diane Smith’s son James Smith owned Smoke on the Water with a business partner until his death in 2023. Later, Diane Smith took over ownership of the restaurant with her son Dustin Smith.
After learning the building’s sale would move forward, Diane Smith said they scrambled to find another location and found the downtown restaurant space. Diane Smith said she expects negotiations on the space to wrap up by the end of the week, and she plans to begin operating there the first week of November.
She sees the new restaurant as an evolution of Smoke on the Water and a “way to look forward with the restaurant.” It will combine Smoke on the Water’s focus on smoked meats and seafood with the existing restaurant’s concept, Diane Smith said.
“It’s going to be a lot of Smoke’s input, but I’m thinking that we may end up with sort of a hybrid going forward – what we’ve got plus what the existing restaurant has,” she added. “I don’t want that to be lost by the community either.”
Diane Smith said they also have another concept in the works with Burger Street, a restaurant planned for the Cargo District’s Cargo West food court.
