Top Restaurant in Hillsville, VA for 2009

The Hardware Company
The Hardware Company is a semi-new restaurant to Hillsville. It is located on Main Street. When the restaurant first moved in it was a semi-formal place including a pub like bar. It is decorated with old pictures and artifacts from the towns history. Their mascot/logo is a frog. It is not uncommon to see many teenagers around Hillsville wearing clothing with the Hardware Company frog on them.

The owners of the Hardware Company bought the building next to it, formerly Nuckolls Drug, and turned it into Nuckolls Soda Fountain. Soon after they formed the soda fountain they put a walkway in between the two buildings and combined them into one restaurant. They closed off the front doors to the original Hardware Company and made the main entry through the soda fountain.

In the beginning it was a hot new restaurant that was always busy. They hired many of the local teenagers. In the short time that the restaurant has been open they have made many changes that has caused it to lose business. After the introduction of the soda fountain and the closing of their front doors it is much less formal. They hired new kitchen staff and they changed the menus. Many choices on the menu are still there from before, but the new kitchen staff has chainged it to their likings. They use different spices and cooking techniques. Nothing on their new menu tastes like it did before. Along with new and changing foods their prices have drastically risen. This is likely due to recent loss of business. Recently there have been multiple complaints about the new food and prices.

Hillsville is a very hard place for restaurants. Multiple businesses have opened and closed within just one month. The Hardware Company is lucky for being open as long as it has. With its loss of business they have reduced their hours and cut back on their staffing. A local coffee shop has taken over control of the restaurant to try to increase their business back to how it previously was. The coffee shop has not bought the restaurant and does not plan to, but they now co-own both the Hardware Company and Nuckolls Soda Fountain.

Soon after its opening anybody in Hillsville would tell you that it was the restaurant of the year, but with its recent downfall many people would disagree. Hillsville is not an easy place for a business owner to try to make a living. This restaurant gave many teenagers a chance to earn their own money, but it has not done the same for the owners of the Hardware Company. The future of this hot spot may come to an end very soon with the way things are going for it now. If the coffee shop is able to keep it up and running, it will still be difficult for this restaurant to gain its customers back.