If you have spent any time in Charleston, South Carolina, there is a very good chance you have already walked through the doors of an Uptown Hospitality Group venue without even realizing it. Whether you grabbed brunch at Bodega, sipped cocktails at Share House, celebrated a birthday at Uptown Social, or toasted at a wedding at The Waverly — you were inside a space built and operated by one of the most creative hospitality groups in the American South.
But who actually owns Uptown Hospitality Group? The answer starts with a group of New York City nightlife veterans who fell in love with Charleston, packed their bags, and decided to bring the energy of the Northeast to the warmth of the South — building, along the way, one of the most talked-about bar and restaurant empires in the entire Holy City.
What Is Uptown Hospitality Group?
Uptown Hospitality Group (UHG) prides itself as a major force in shaping Charleston’s vibrant hospitality scene. More than just a collection of bars and restaurants, it is home to the city’s premier event venues for private parties. With distinctive concepts and standout service, UHG sets the standard for hosting in the Holy City.
Uptown Hospitality Group owns and operates some of Charleston’s most celebrated establishments. In 2018, Uptown Hospitality Group brought its first concept to life with Uptown Social, a sprawling 10,000 square foot ode-to-fun on King Street featuring four bars, a rooftop, and two private event spaces that helped reimagine Charleston’s nightlife landscape.
Today, UHG operates six distinct concepts across Charleston — each one designed with a different audience and occasion in mind, but all sharing the same commitment to quality, creativity, and community.
Who Owns Uptown Hospitality Group?
Uptown Hospitality Group is a privately owned company. It is not publicly traded, has no outside institutional investors, and is not backed by a private equity firm. It is owned by a tight-knit group of partners — all of them transplants from New York City — who collectively built every venue from the ground up.
Uptown Hospitality Group is the vision of New York transplants Keith Benjamin, Kara Graves, Bryn Kelly, Brian Dodd, Kat Moore, and Chef Alec Gropman — all of whom bring their unique professional experiences working with a diverse portfolio of successful bars and restaurants to the venture.
The most publicly visible of these partners is Keith Benjamin, who serves as Co-Founder and Senior Operating Partner of the group. As senior operating partner and director of operations for Uptown Hospitality Group, Keith is responsible for the growth and strategy of the group’s concepts.
Senior partners Keith Benjamin and Kara Hammond arrived in Charleston by way of New York City, where both were part of the nightlife group Eat, Drink & Be Merry Hospitality, founded in 1991 by industry veterans Mitch Banchik and Michael Asch.
Who Owns Uptown Hospitality Group — Key Stakeholders Table
| Partner / Stakeholder | Role | Connection | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Benjamin | Co-Founder & Senior Operating Partner | Primary public face of UHG | Born in Short Hills, NJ; Penn State lacrosse player; 11 years in NYC hospitality |
| Kara Graves (Hammond) | Co-Founder & Senior Partner | Co-lead alongside Benjamin | Former colleague at Eat, Drink & Be Merry Hospitality in NYC |
| Bryn Kelly | Co-Founder & Partner | Core founding group | Part of the original NYC hospitality team that moved to Charleston |
| Brian Dodd | Co-Founder & Partner | Core founding group | Part of the original New York transplant partner group |
| Kat Moore | Co-Founder & Partner | Core founding group | One of the six original co-founders of UHG |
| Chef Alec Gropman | Co-Founder & Culinary Partner | Core founding group | Leads culinary direction across UHG concepts |
| Eat, Drink & Be Merry Hospitality | Parent Umbrella Company | NYC-based parent group | Founded 1991 by Mitch Banchik & Michael Asch; UHG operates under its umbrella |
| Craig Conover | Co-Owner (By The Way only) | Southern Charm TV star | Co-owns By The Way bar with Austen Kroll; not a UHG-wide partner |
| Austen Kroll | Co-Owner (By The Way only) | Southern Charm TV star | Co-owns By The Way bar with Craig Conover; not a UHG-wide partner |
Who Owns Uptown Hospitality Group — The Parent Company Connection
One of the most important and least-known facts about Uptown Hospitality Group is that it does not operate in complete isolation. It sits under a larger New York-based hospitality umbrella.
Uptown Hospitality Group is an offshoot of NY-based Eat Drink & Be Merry Hospitality, known for popular spots like Down the Hatch, Hair of the Dog, and the Stumble Inn. Uptown Hospitality combines the group’s industry expertise with warm, Southern charm via its creative, socially driven concepts.
Keith Benjamin himself noted: “Although we are still under the Eat Drink & Be Merry umbrella, we felt it was important to develop a local brand with its own identity.”
Eat, Drink & Be Merry Hospitality was founded in 1991 by industry veterans Mitch Banchik and Michael Asch. Both Keith Benjamin and Kara Hammond spent years working within this group in New York City before pitching Charleston as a new market and ultimately launching UHG as its own distinct brand in 2018.
So the full ownership picture looks like this: Eat, Drink & Be Merry Hospitality is the parent umbrella company, while Uptown Hospitality Group operates as its Charleston-based brand and subsidiary, co-founded and day-to-day managed by the six original partners led by Keith Benjamin.
The Origin Story: From New York City to the Holy City
Every great hospitality brand has an origin story. Uptown Hospitality Group’s starts with a lacrosse player from New Jersey, a love for Charleston, and a pitch to his New York partners on a plane ride south.
Keith Benjamin was born and raised just outside of New York City in Short Hills, New Jersey. As a member of the Penn State University Men’s Lacrosse team with a major in broadcast journalism, Keith discovered his passion for creating lively entertainment environments. After graduating, Keith spent 11 years in New York City as an account director at MSL Sports and Entertainment, a sports marketing agency, and held several management and junior partnership roles with the Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Group, working with the firm’s famed sports bar concepts such as Off the Wagon, Hair of the Dog, and The Stumble Inn.
Benjamin first visited Charleston in 2012. “I fell in love and felt there was tremendous opportunity here,” he said. By 2016, he was ready to chart his own course, and when the group began discussing new markets, he pitched Charleston to the partners. “Within days, we were on a plane,” looking for potential spaces, he said. The team stumbled upon the former Huger’s, a 10,000-square-foot behemoth on Upper King Street.
That space became Uptown Social — the flagship venue that opened in 2018 and immediately became a landmark of Charleston nightlife. From that single location, the UHG empire has grown steadily, deliberately, and creatively.
The Full Venue Portfolio in 2026
Uptown Hospitality Group is a leading force in Charleston’s food, beverage, and events scene, known for its diverse portfolio of six unique concepts that each deliver something entirely their own.
Uptown Social on King Street was the first concept — a 10,000 square foot multi-level venue with four bars, a rooftop, and two private event spaces. It opened in 2018 and set the tone for everything that followed.
Share House and Bodega opened in 2022, both located in the historic former train depot on Ann Street — a building originally constructed in 1850 by the South Carolina Railroad Company. Share House brought a surf-inspired bar and restaurant energy, while Bodega introduced a daytime brunch-focused concept to UHG’s portfolio.
In the spring of 2024, Uptown Hospitality Group opened its second Bodega outpost in Mt. Pleasant, taking the brand beyond the downtown peninsula for the first time.
By The Way followed in mid-December 2024 — a neighborhood bar concept with an important distinction from every other UHG venue. By The Way is co-owned by Southern Charm stars Craig Conover and Austen Kroll. “Charleston has grown so much in the last few years and brought in a lot of travelers, so we wanted to create a space where locals and travelers could hang out together and enjoy the neighborhood,” Conover told Entertainment Tonight.
The Waverly opened in early 2025 — a 3,000 square foot wedding and event venue at 94 Stuart St. in downtown Charleston, completing the UHG portfolio. Keith Benjamin said The Waverly will provide a much-needed service in the peninsula area. “I think when folks are looking for a wedding, they’re always looking for that Southern charm. What we’re building is a charming space on the peninsula with character and history being underneath the bridge and right on the Cooper River.”
Craig Conover and Austen Kroll: The Southern Charm Connection
One of the most media-covered aspects of Uptown Hospitality Group in recent years has been the involvement of two cast members from Bravo’s Southern Charm reality television show.
By The Way is a neighborhood bar co-owned by Craig Conover and Austen Kroll of Southern Charm — a partnership that brought significant national media attention to Uptown Hospitality Group when it was announced.
It is important to be clear about the scope of their involvement: Conover and Kroll are co-owners of By The Way specifically. They are not partners in the broader Uptown Hospitality Group as a whole. Their involvement is limited to this single venue concept, which they developed in collaboration with the UHG team.
The partnership was strategic on both sides — UHG gained instant brand visibility through the duo’s large social media followings and Southern Charm audience, while Conover and Kroll gained access to an experienced, proven hospitality operating team with an established Charleston footprint.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who owns Uptown Hospitality Group?
Uptown Hospitality Group is privately co-owned by six founding partners: Keith Benjamin, Kara Graves, Bryn Kelly, Brian Dodd, Kat Moore, and Chef Alec Gropman — all New York hospitality veterans now based in Charleston, South Carolina.
Q2. Who is the co-founder of Uptown Hospitality Group?
Keith Benjamin is the most publicly known co-founder, serving as Senior Operating Partner and Director of Operations, responsible for the growth and strategy of all UHG concepts.
Q3. Where is Uptown Hospitality Group based?
Uptown Hospitality Group is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, where all of its venues are currently located.
Q4. What company is Uptown Hospitality Group under?
UHG operates under the umbrella of Eat, Drink & Be Merry Hospitality — a New York City-based hospitality group founded in 1991 by Mitch Banchik and Michael Asch.
Q5. Do Craig Conover and Austen Kroll own Uptown Hospitality Group?
No. Craig Conover and Austen Kroll of Southern Charm co-own only By The Way — one of UHG’s six venues. They have no ownership stake in the broader Uptown Hospitality Group.
Q6. When was Uptown Hospitality Group founded?
Uptown Hospitality Group launched its first venue, Uptown Social, in 2018 on King Street in downtown Charleston, marking the official start of the brand.
Q7. What venues does Uptown Hospitality Group own in 2026?
UHG operates six concepts: Uptown Social, Share House, Bodega (two locations), By The Way, and The Waverly event venue — all in Charleston, South Carolina.
Q8. Is Uptown Hospitality Group publicly traded?
No. Uptown Hospitality Group is a 100% privately held company with no public stock listing, no institutional investors, and no outside shareholders.
Uptown Hospitality Group is a privately held Charleston, South Carolina-based hospitality company co-founded and owned by six partners: Keith Benjamin, Kara Graves (Hammond), Bryn Kelly, Brian Dodd, Kat Moore, and Chef Alec Gropman — all former New York City hospitality professionals who relocated south to build something new. The group operates under the umbrella of Eat, Drink & Be Merry Hospitality, a New York-based parent company founded in 1991 by Mitch Banchik and Michael Asch.
Since launching Uptown Social in 2018, UHG has grown to six distinct concepts across Charleston — including Share House, Bodega, By The Way (co-owned with Southern Charm stars Craig Conover and Austen Kroll), and The Waverly event venue. Keith Benjamin serves as the group’s most visible co-founder and senior operating partner, driving strategy and growth across all venues.
