This is from the News and Record: Pub, restaurant opens Barely a month after a Facebook page was created for The Marshall Free House, the page has more than 3,600 followers. Pretty impressive for a restaurant that hasn’t opened. "We are engaging potential customers and using them as a focus group for menu items and decor," says William Kotis II, a real estate developer and restaurateur who is opening the restaurant at 1211 Battleground Ave. in Greensboro. The restaurant is in the space formerly occupied by Rum Monkey and Charleston Crab House. Kotis calls the restaurant’s concept a British gastro pub. It will focus on craft and UK-style beer, craft cocktails and British-style food such as fish and chips, homemade sausages and double-fried, hand-cut fries. When Kotis sought Facebook feedback for Scotch Eggs, another of the restaurant’s menu items, 2,500 fans "liked" the page. Kotis used social media to engage people when he renovated Darryl’s last year and reopened it as Darryl’s Wood Fired Grill. As he did with Darryl’s, Kotis is keen on the ambience but puts a great deal of emphasis on the food and drink. The Marshall Free House will offer "real ale," or "cask ale" as it known in the UK, Kotis says. The noncarbonated beer will be hand-pumped from an imported firkin, a cask-type container. The Marshall Free House is expected to open in the summer.
