The Hospitality Gene

Bill and Jeanne Hall with Chef Frank Lee. 

The Charleston community experienced a significant loss when restaurateur Bill Hall suddenly passed away last year. But the legacy that he created lives on.

A leader in the community, long-time Trident Technical College Foundation Trustee and supporter of TTC, Bill Hall and his family opened their first restaurant, Halls Chophouse, in downtown Charleston in 2009.

Since then, the Halls Restaurant Group, now with eight restaurants, has become synonymous with true hospitality and well-known for its exceptional food, welcoming atmosphere and attention to detail.

The Hall Management Group hires more Culinary Institute of Charleston (CIC) students and apprentices than any other business in Charleston. Dean Michael Saboe had the privilege of working closely with the Hall family for the last 10+ years. 

“The Charleston hospitality community is a better place because of Mr. Hall’s vision and philanthropic support,” said Saboe. “I think all hospitality workers would agree that Bill’s legacy of mentorship, giving spirit and exemplary leadership will be greatly missed.”

Hall started his career in a community college program in California and attributed his success to the mentors that taught him a positive work ethic. He passed that wisdom on to his sons, Billy and Tommy, and countless others in the industry.

At the time of his passing, the Bill Hall Culinary Entrepreneurship Endowed Scholarship made its first award. 

Recent graduate Keely Vallas became the first recipient of the scholarship in the Spring of 2021. She graduated with her associate degree and received the esteemed Dr. Frankie Miller Leadership Award, which honors the first dean of the Culinary Institute of Charleston.

“Receiving the Bill Hall scholarship fueled my passion for hospitality even more,” said Vallas. “As a single parent, life was challenging enough. I could not have done it without the support of the scholarship.”

Vallas found her dream job when she was in her second semester at TTC. As the café and bakery manager at Baker & Brewer, her first task was to help reopen the bakery after being closed due to the pandemic. She successfully implemented a more efficient workflow protocol for baked goods, specialty coffee drinks and takeout orders.

“I have proven myself simply by applying everything I learned at Trident,” she said, “Now that my son is about to start kindergarten, I can focus on him and his academic goals while I continue to work on myself.”

Vallas is just one of the many hospitality professionals that have been impacted by Hall. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and businesses in South Carolina were ordered to shut down, Hall’s first thought was of his employees. While the country waited for Congress to pass the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Hall vowed to keep every single employee on payroll and continue their benefits. According to his obituary, all tips collected from curbside to-go orders, were equally distributed to employees as an added bonus to their paychecks.

This comes as no surprise to Dick Elliott, who sold his restaurant group, Maverick Southern Kitchens, to Hall. “He not only kept his promises to preserve the jobs and benefits of our many employees, he revised his operations to enhance the jobs of everyone at Hall Management Group,” said Elliott. 

Perhaps the most important attribute Hall possessed was what Elliott likes to call his “hospitality gene.”

“Bill’s exceptional career in the hotel and restaurant industries developed and refined his customer service capabilities, he said. “But he was no doubt born with a talent for optimizing the experience of his guests.”

Trident Technical College remembers and admires Bill Hall and his legacy that has made Charleston a dining destination. The Bill Hall Culinary Entrepreneurship Endowed Scholarship will continue to enhance the restaurant industry by supporting CIC students who are developing their “hospitality gene” for years to come.