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Brian Rainey, chef and owner of the Sunrise Cafe, opened the Calypso Grill in 2018 on the south edge of town, in the former home of Dona Margarota’s. The restaurant features Caribbean, Cuban and South American dishes. (Photo by Holly Hudson)
Caribbean-inspired restaurant Calypso Grill for sale
- Published: March 4, 2024
Calypso Grill is up for sale — but if you’re a regular customer of the Caribbean-inspired restaurant, worry not: it remains open for business as usual.
The News spoke this week with Calypso owner Brian Rainey, who said he announced his intention to sell the business on Facebook last week after “at least a year” of mulling over the decision. Ultimately, he said, he’s selling the business in an effort to “simplify [his] life.”
“I have a wife and four kids, and it’d be nice to see them without having to think so much about work,” he said.
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Rainey added that Sunrise Cafe, which he’s owned and operated for nearly two decades, will remain open as usual, and that he doesn’t intend to sell it.
“I’m not changing anything there — just trying to stay the course and pass the torch [for Calypso],” Rainey said.
As the News reported in the past, Calypso Grill opened in 2018 on the south end of the village, with its cuisine inspired by a trip Rainey and his family had taken to the Cayman Islands a few years prior. Whereas Rainey’s Sunrise Cafe had previously been operated by another owner when he purchased the business, Calypso was something of a from-scratch venture.
Calypso’s opening weekend in March 2018 was so well-attended that its staff had to close early, continuing its reopening the following weekend. Since then, the restaurant has been a staple of Yellow Springs lunch and dinner fare.
Rainey is asking $200,000 for Calypso, and said he is looking for a new owner with restaurant experience and a passion for Calypso’s existing culinary motif.
“It’s a niche restaurant, so it kind of requires a niche buyer,” he said. “I’m looking for somebody who really wants to carry on the concept and put some energy into it — I’ve been doing two restaurants, and I don’t always have the energy to do all of it.”
Rainey said he’ll miss being part of the daily activity of Calypso — “The whole thing was kind of my brainchild,” he said — but that he’s looking forward to the stress reduction that will result from only owning and operating one restaurant.
“I was going to say I’ll miss the food, but it’s not like I won’t be able to eat it — I’ll just have to pay for it this time,” he said with a laugh. “Or pay for it in a different way, I should say.”
Calypso Grill remains open 11 a.m.–9 p.m. every day. Serious inquiries into purchasing the business may be made at calypsoforsale@gmail.com.
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