Owners Annie Williams Pierce and Luke Pierce plan to open their grab-and-go shop in Grandview
In July, Law Bird’s owners, the wife-and-husband team Annie Williams Pierce and Luke Pierce, were honored with the Ohio Restaurant Association’s Industry Innovator Award for their genius pandemic pivot: the transformation of their 4-month-old cocktail bar into a fun, grab-and-go shop for to-go cocktails, wine, international snacks and even Kewpie mayonnaise.
When Law Bird (740 S. High St.) morphed back into an actual bar for in-person imbibing this May, the popular grab-and-go shop was placed on the backburner — but not for long. In an interview last week, the couple shared that they have signed a lease at 1306 Grandview Ave., where they plan to open a standalone carry-out called Law Bird Supply House in September. The space was most recently a jewelry shop named The Smithery.
“COVID was really weird to us. [It] set us back and jumped us forward all at the same time. We’re coming out of COVID, [and] instead of just one business we now have three, which is just insane,” Luke said. “Honestly, doing the shop last year was a blast. We got to bring in so much more wine than we do in the restaurant setting and so much more fun and experimental stuff; and doing the to-go cocktails was a blast. … We’re really excited to do it on purpose this time.”
Law Bird’s first iteration of Supply House acted as a lifeline for the young business and took up only about the front 300-square-feet of the cocktail bar. Opening the new 1,500-square-foot space in Grandview is less daunting than the first time around, the couple said, and will allow the owners to build on the shop’s curated wine and house-made cocktail offerings. There will also be limited seating for grabbing a glass of wine.
“We get to do a whole bunch of low proof amari and bring in sake and have all the things you might want for a home bar. We get to expand and really flush out the options and experience,” Annie said.
The look and feel of the shop will be “as if a really awesome, grungy record store was a wine shop,” Luke said. The shop also comes with a delivery van, the wrap featuring a rock-inspired logo and screeching bird (think: Judas Priest or Metallica iconography) designed by graphic designer Greg Davis.
The past year has been a productive one for Law Bird’s owners. Since temporarily shutting down their bar because of the pandemic, the Pierces have not only created the infrastructure around their grab-and-go shop, but also launched a pop-up eatery—Boxwood Biscuit Co. — followed by a brick-and-mortar home for Boxwood in the Short North.
In the past year, the Pierces also hired chef Tyler Minnis (The Market Italian Village and Angry Bear Kitchen) to develop Boxwood’s menu and have given him free rein to create a new food menu for the Brewery District cocktail bar, with items like fancy hot dogs, sweetbreads and hummus, and olive oil ice cream with plum jam.
“It’s next level,” Annie said. “It’s Tyler.”
But the Pierces don’t intend to stop there. The pair aspires to someday open a full restaurant that will showcase Minnis’ cooking.
“We’re excited to continue to overextend ourselves,” Luke said, laughing.
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