Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: And kind of his motto was, hey, I want to go into small towns under 10,000 people. This was back when McDonald's was only going into towns over 50,000. So he was like, I want to kind of undercut McDonald's going there.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: It's Brian and Brad.
Grab your seat.
[00:00:16] Speaker C: Real talk served with a boozy beat.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Tune in, don't even blink because real
[00:00:25] Speaker A: estate makes us drink.
People say, watch your link.
[00:00:34] Speaker C: How do you do that?
[00:00:36] Speaker B: It's like when the words come out in a cartoon.
[00:00:38] Speaker C: You can see it. I wish that happened in real life. I wish you could make our show do that where instead of captions you just have.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Do you think yours would be spelled correctly?
[00:00:46] Speaker C: I would hope. I would hope. All by your spelled incorrected.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: Ah, that'd be great.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Hey, everybody, welcome back to Indiana success happy Hour. Brian Quinlan here from Daniels real Estate.
[00:00:55] Speaker C: Brad Nickam from best mortgage stuff.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Exactly. Too many things and another unfamiliar face to the audience. Sir, tell the folks who you are.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: Blake Vogel song with Clancy's hospitality owner and director of operations for the company. Hot diggity.
[00:01:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Welcome to the show. You got a big hitter when it comes to the success happy hour. We're going to have a happy hour and he's the success part of the show today. That's awesome.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: That often is the case.
[00:01:20] Speaker C: Actually, it always is.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: We've had some really successful beat launch. Joe Blake is Blake to add him to the list. So.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.
[00:01:27] Speaker A: What are you drinking?
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Whoa, jump the gun there. All right. I don't even know what the hell this is.
St. Bernardus combine unfiltered helis. I like helis beers.
[00:01:38] Speaker C: That's about all I know the label. What's the label about? I mean, it's like a Roman beer.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: No, I mean it says St. Bernabas, so it has something.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: It's got a nice golden hue color too.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: Thank you. See?
[00:01:49] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: Are you know much about hell's beers?
[00:01:52] Speaker A: I do not.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: Neither do I, but I know that I like them. So we're gonna go with.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:01:59] Speaker C: You're drinking lost lore, baby.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: You've seen on the show in the
[00:02:03] Speaker C: past batch two of their La Capsina high proof. The one of the top rated high proof reposados out there. And Blake is gonna.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: I am drinking the same thing.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: That's your first go at it, right?
[00:02:14] Speaker C: Yeah, first go see what you think of some loss.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: This is the most amazing tequila with collection that I've ever seen. So it's impressive. It's a fun place to do a podcast.
[00:02:22] Speaker B: All right, well, cheers To y' all initial thoughts.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: Smooth. Really, really good.
[00:02:32] Speaker C: Lot of flavor.
[00:02:33] Speaker A: A lot of flavor. Get some vanilla.
[00:02:36] Speaker C: Really good.
[00:02:37] Speaker A: What's the proof on that?
[00:02:38] Speaker C: This was 98.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: 98, okay.
[00:02:40] Speaker C: Yeah, 98 proof.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Is that one of your brands?
[00:02:44] Speaker C: It's one of the ones I like the best. Yep.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:46] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: Not one of those that you carry with your.
[00:02:48] Speaker C: Sure is.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:49] Speaker C: This is a Lux. This is a Lux brand.
Why do you think it's a Lux prep?
[00:02:54] Speaker B: I've seen it a lot. Pretty sure you talked about.
[00:02:56] Speaker C: Because this is one of the whole reasons I got into this was to get lost lore in Indiana because I got tired of ordering it and having all these lost LS to be shipped from all over the country. So lost lore was the first goal. Oh, actually, it was two goals that were together. Los LA and Velour. Okay. Those are two of my favorite brands. And Yayo is in that same boat, so Zumbador in that same boat.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: So this is a brand we need to get in my restaurant. That's what we need somehow, 100%.
[00:03:29] Speaker C: This is definitely. I have to be there.
[00:03:31] Speaker A: This is where that conversation is going to go.
[00:03:33] Speaker C: This is a tequila that. That a tequila person, like an enthusiast will see this on the shelf and
[00:03:40] Speaker A: go, oh, lost the L swim. Yeah. They're really going to appreciate it.
[00:03:43] Speaker C: Yeah. It's not something you're going to hide in a cocktail. It really be difficult to put this in a cocktail on the menu because it's such a one. It's a more expensive. Because it's an lto, you know, so it's a. Only comes out once a year.
It sells out, you know. So this is a. This is a shelf.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: So you're typically drinking that neat or on like a big rock or something if you don't. Yeah.
[00:04:04] Speaker C: I'm a neat drinker, period.
I. I will do, like, if I'm gonna do whiskey, a really high cask whiskey, I'll put it on a rock. But if I'm doing a, you know, a hundred proof or below, I'm gonna drink a neat.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:04:15] Speaker C: Because I want to drink the taste of the spirit. Unless it's vodka, then I want orange
[00:04:20] Speaker A: juice vodka, I think.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: Right.
[00:04:25] Speaker C: But even a good rum, a good aged rum, you know, I'm not gonna bury that in a Diet Coke.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I am. I'm the same with bourbon. You know, if it's 100 below, you gotta just drink it.
[00:04:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:37] Speaker A: I'm on a big rock.
[00:04:38] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: Get the flavor out.
[00:04:40] Speaker C: And if you really. If you think about what we're doing. We're just taking that 120 down to 100 by dropping that rock in there,
[00:04:45] Speaker A: adding a little water. Exactly.
[00:04:47] Speaker C: So, oops, we've still drinking. It's just a little bit tequila. Even at 110, I'm gonna drink it.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: I like that one.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Okay, so I've heard. All right, Blake, you are here because of a connection that we've had on our show. Yeah, Joey.
[00:05:10] Speaker C: Joey.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: He's my bar manager at my newest restaurant, which is the Pretender in downtown Ellisville. And he's a huge tequila drinker. So, yeah, I'm glad we were able to make the connection. And that just opened about two months ago on July 31, downtown M. Right on the square. It's a Japanese Kiss a lounge inspired concept. Okay, what Kiss a lounge? Kiss a lounge? What is that? So Japanese Kiss lounges were cafes that started in post World War II in Japan when people couldn't afford loud sound system. They would create these intimate bars with really good sound systems, all hi fi, all analog, and people would go listen to music. Okay, so there's still 600 in Japan. Um, it's a big concept in Japan and we kind of brought it back to the Indianapolis area. So we're the first one in the Indianapolis and surrounding area to. To do this type of concept. I was lucky enough to travel across the country and experience these intimate bars. There's one in Austin, Texas I went to, there's one in San Diego I went to, and one in Washington, D.C. i went to. So was able to work with a company called Untan Music who helped me with sound design, acoustical engineering design of the concept. And we put in a 1970s Akai real, real player that you guys may remember from the 70s.
[00:06:25] Speaker B: Yep, we do.
[00:06:26] Speaker A: Absolutely. They are able to custom curate three hour music tapes for me. And then we put in two Technics turntables too. So DJs are in on Friday and Saturday nights. Literally spinning bottom. So there's no digital playlist in the concept. It's all analog.
All music that's curated specifically for the product dinner, which is kind of fun.
The concept is named after the 1976 Jackson Brown album, which is, you know, really famous album from 1976. Yeah. And then we tied in the design of the old concept around the year 1976. So really, when you, when you come in, you hope you feel transported back to that era in time.
[00:07:02] Speaker B: And are you 76?
[00:07:04] Speaker C: Old enough to smoke?
[00:07:07] Speaker B: Shut up.
[00:07:08] Speaker C: I was nine.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:07:10] Speaker C: Now how old was I?
I don't know, 69.
[00:07:13] Speaker A: Okay.
Yeah, I was three.
[00:07:18] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, I. 1976, that was the bicentennial. Like I remember when we were kids, you know, so.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Yeah, and it's cool. We were, I mean, 50 years to this day, obviously, America just celebrates 250.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Right.
[00:07:30] Speaker A: 200 years since 1976. So it's kind of cool that we're able to take everybody back 50 years. Yeah, it's kind of.
[00:07:37] Speaker B: Are you.
[00:07:37] Speaker C: So is there a lot of cigarettes in old fat Budweiser cans? Because that's all I really.
[00:07:43] Speaker A: I think we have some Miller High Life.
[00:07:45] Speaker C: There you go.
No Bud Heavies and a cigarette machine in the corner.
[00:07:51] Speaker B: We just had a decades party. My neighborhood in my house was the 1970s. And so I was looking back at what beers were popular, you know, back in the day. And Miller High Life was the. Sorry, no. Miller Light was the choice at my house. But another High Life Strohs.
[00:08:06] Speaker C: Yes. Schlitz, Fall City.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: I didn't find that one, but either way, I'm like, these didn't even make
[00:08:12] Speaker C: anymore, but Paps Blue Ribbon, Milwaukee.
[00:08:15] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:08:17] Speaker C: Fall City was a beer that was actually made in Louisville, Kentucky.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: Hams. Remember hams?
[00:08:23] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:08:24] Speaker A: They still make that?
[00:08:25] Speaker C: Well, a guy bought the name.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: Well, I mean, Papston.
[00:08:28] Speaker B: The brand exists.
[00:08:29] Speaker C: The brand exists again. Yeah.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: All right, cool.
[00:08:31] Speaker C: Am just coming like a look like a keg. Remember the can I drink a lot
[00:08:37] Speaker B: when I was a child smoking and drinking at 9.
[00:08:42] Speaker A: Well, that's all.
[00:08:42] Speaker C: I can't wait.
[00:08:44] Speaker B: So what I.
[00:08:45] Speaker C: What I just heard you explain is Indianapolis finally has something that's cool and
[00:08:49] Speaker A: that sounds a little bit ahead of its time. Yeah, we wanted to do something really unique. The space is small, it's 2,000 square feet, but it's on the. It's 50 seat. 50 seat restaurants. So we have a 35 seat dining room and then about 15 seats at the bar area. So when we were kind of creating this space, it's long, narrow, all brick on the side. So it's got that very New York and Chicago style feel. So we kind of wanted to. To really do something fun and unique. But we sort of put in these really cool millwork details throughout the concept. Roof, floor, acoustical ceiling. So you guys, it's really loud when you come in, but you can still have that conversation across. Across from somebody across the table. We want you to. The music is part of the experience. It's not just background noise here.
[00:09:29] Speaker B: Kind of place where you would need a reservation.
[00:09:32] Speaker A: I would recommend it. Yeah. So yeah, we're booking up about a week ahead of time, which is great. We do take reservations on open table and it's just nine seats, but the bar top is always walking. So if you happen to be just downtown Noblesville on the square and hopping around, stop on bar. But yeah, if you're looking for more of a sit down dinner, definitely, you know, recommend.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: So I have an idea for a unique restaurant.
Anything on the south side, because all this cool goes to the north side.
[00:10:02] Speaker A: Actually, I think a developer hit me up a couple weeks ago about something.
[00:10:07] Speaker B: Let's go. Come on, Blake. Bring it to the south side.
[00:10:11] Speaker A: Eventually do something a little more trailer park inspired.
[00:10:14] Speaker B: Easy.
Bartersville is not. They're turning around.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: Hey, there's a Bucky's going out.
[00:10:20] Speaker C: Yeah, he's coming.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: So get in the bus. Yeah, so you know, it's a big city down there.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: That's a line getting a Bucky's.
[00:10:28] Speaker C: It'll be called pretended and it'll. It'll have a like a 1979.
A single white.
Yeah, yeah.
[00:10:36] Speaker B: It's only eight seats.
[00:10:37] Speaker C: All the seatings outside are a redwood day.
Gotta watch out for the neighbor, Billy. He might shoot you. Oh, chiffins might get loose.
[00:10:45] Speaker B: You're never coming to the south side because they're not letting you down south anymore.
All right, so tell us about Clancy's. How did it get started? What was maybe the first joint?
[00:10:54] Speaker A: And yeah, so we're a third generation owned and operated company. So my grandpa actually started the first Clancy's hamburgers. Was his first concept. Is he Clancy? No, he had actually gotten the original name from like a comic book character, which is.
It was a Clancy the cop comic book character. His first cop. His first restaurant was in downtown Nobles, all right.
Just off where the bean square is.
And he drew that concept to three units in four states, which is throughout the 60s, 70s. And kind of his motto was, hey, I want to go into small towns under 10,000 people. This was back when McDonald's was only going into towns over 50,000. So he was like, I want to kind of undercut McDonald's going there. Then eventually in the late 70s, when McDonald's started going into the same towns that he was in.
He is. They started downsizing the concept. But he was a really smart guy. He bought all the real estate, owned the building. So he had that McDonald's style Ray Kroc motto, if you know what I mean.
So in the.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: One of the largest real estate companies
[00:11:58] Speaker A: in the world, multi billion dollars.
So yeah, as he was Downsizing that in the 60s and or the late 70s.
My dad graduated IU in 1982.
[00:12:09] Speaker C: 2.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: He started the full service division which was Grindstone Charlie. If you guys remember that we had a couple along the south side.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: Grindstone Charlie had like the biggest menu I've ever seen.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: Yep. Prime ribs, steaks, ribs.
[00:12:21] Speaker B: So much. Yeah.
[00:12:23] Speaker C: Center one made the Cheesecake Factory look like their menu.
[00:12:26] Speaker B: I think Cheesecake Factory just like, well, we're just gonna make bigger menu than.
[00:12:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And so yeah, he's. They started that in 1982 and. And my dad grew that to 12 units throughout the late 90s. And kind of similar thing happened to him is what happened to my grandpa. He was fighting the app and the Yo Charlies, the Texas roadhouses in the world with big marketing budgets. And that's kind of back when changes will be. That is how I described like when I was true. When I was growing up. Like it was like, yeah, let's go to Applebee's. Now it's like, no, no, no, they don't.
Yeah. And then, you know, he was downsizing that still. We owned a lot of real estate, so even if we close the store, we would lease it to somebody else or. Or you know, or. Or he decided to sell off. But I graduated 2010 from Ball State and started my way with the company just as an. As a manager at our Kokomo location.
Grindstone Charlie's up there. We had a GM spot open up on the west side of Rockville Road. Became a GM there. And you know where I think I always tell people the best way to learn the restaurant business is just start at the bottom, work every position, work. Work your way up within our organization.
And then 2015 is when I kind of became. I got some part ownership with a company and then became director of operations for the four Grand Centrals. We still had four at that point. And sales were really growing. They were really on a trend up. Even though I felt like it was, you know, looking back, it's kind of a dying concept.
But sales are growing 20 each year. And then 2018 is kind of when we, my dad and I said, hey, let's start a new restaurant. We came upon the caster building, which is in downtown Elizabeth, right on the square.
And we opened Grindstone Public House.
And that's kind of an offshoot of the Grindstone Charlie's brand. But it's a modern day version. It's more upscale. We hire an interior designer to restore the building.
Brought some favorites from the Grand Centralis menu. Like fried green tomatoes, ribs, fried pork tenderloin. But then we hired an executive chef to kind of do his own spin on it and recreate the menu so it's more of a modern day version of it.
[00:14:37] Speaker C: I've eaten there. It's delicious. And I had no idea.
I mean, I figured out that that was part of Clancy's group, you know, in meeting you, but I had no. I, I didn't tie that name together. So, yeah, that was the concept behind it. That's.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And a lot of people don't that because it opened up and it was like, you know, so nice and again, presented so differently. And people are like, is this, is this related to Grass Charlie's? And. And again, that's a compliment, you know, because I feel like, you know, I try to put a lot of little touches on, on each concept and design, you know, you know, it's, it's, it's about, you know, the plating, the small wares and all the details that go into a concept in restaurant. We really tried to think through, through maybe a little bit better than most operators. So.
And then that was like 2018, 2019.
My dad discovered a property out in Westfield, Indiana. So 31 and 32, we're able to buy that ground and build that building.
We had thought about just calling it Grindstone Public House, but it's literally adjacent to the Monon Trail.
So we were like, what's called Rhinestone?
You know, let's use the moon on to our advantage. And the menus at Grassman Public House and Grandson Mown on are Probably, I'd say 50 to 60% the same, but they each have executive chefs and many changes, you know, twice a year and seasonally. So we let that 30 to 40% up to the executive chef and restaurant.
And that restaurant's just been super successful as Westfield's, you know, fastest growing community in the state. And really we were the first full service restaurant to open in that community, which super proud and excited about it. And that's a city that's, that's just growing like crazy with Train park and all the fun stuff there.
And then, you know, obviously Covid happened and that was a crazy time for the restaurant world. But we, you know, we got through that. We had signed a deal to do to bring the Clancy's bring back inside the food hall.
[00:16:28] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: At the garage, which is downtown Flowers.
[00:16:31] Speaker B: That's how I know of Clancy's.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. And most people don't realize we still have a Clancy's. That's Open in Sydney, Ohio.
It was the second location my grandpa ever opened and opened 1966. And it's still this day.
[00:16:42] Speaker B: Is that first location you still are in?
[00:16:44] Speaker A: No, the first location we sold in 2004 to city hall. Noville was expanding City hall. And they basically came in, my dad and said, hey, we're selling this property. You need to sell this property or we're going to take the rip.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: So we kind of. We were forced to sell that location. But, you know, we get. We were getting. We had done the street dance a couple times in Noblesville throughout the years and flew burgers and shakes and all that stuff right downtown during a summer festival that they have. And people all the time are like, bring this concept back, Bring this back. So when we got approached by Hendrix Commercial Properties, which was developing bottle works, like, hey, what do you guys think about doing that? The food hall? And it was a low risk, you know, thing to do.
[00:17:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:17:21] Speaker A: And you know, Covid, it just opened up so big. Like everybody was just bustling, ready to get out. So that was super exciting. And at the same time, Hendrick's Commercial Properties was like, hey, we have a steakhouse right on the corner adjacent to new hotel and the High Alpha building. What do you guys think about doing any concept there? And got the funding lined up and we're off to the races. And that's how we created the Fountain Room restaurant, which is our. Probably our most well known concept of Wolver Winning Steakhouse Downtown Indianapolis.
[00:17:51] Speaker C: So delicious. My daughter's favorite place to eat.
[00:17:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:53] Speaker B: All right.
[00:17:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And that, that concept's been great.
We've won pretty much every order you can think of locally. Best food restaurant in the Post Monthly Top 25 list Indianapolis Monthly multiple years. And then we just won an open table Icon award, which is one of one of nine restaurants in the city that won open table icon award and also got named one of the 50 most beautiful restaurants in the country by people.
Wow. So that's.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Well, now Michelin's coming to Indy.
[00:18:19] Speaker A: So yeah, you never know. Here's our plug for Michelin. If we could. If we could be a recommended, that would be a dream. That'd be great.
But yeah, we've been able to evolve that restaurant. It kind of started as we wanted to do like a Wisconsin style style supper club and we kind of blended that.
[00:18:36] Speaker C: The.
[00:18:37] Speaker A: The original concept was that, but it's evolved into more of like a jazz age steakhouse meets Wisconsin style supper club. So really cool atmosphere, but you know,
[00:18:46] Speaker B: it's affordable cuisine, interesting like, all the concepts you described are quite unique.
You know, the grindstones. Just sort of an evolution of the original kind of grindstone, charlero thing. Yeah. But, you know, now you're talking about the steakhouse. You're talking about the hi Fi club.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:04] Speaker B: Definitely got some variety in your restaurant chain.
[00:19:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's the, you know, thing that I came. And not that every restaurant we do is going to be different, but it's. For me, it keeps it fun and exciting and unique and challenging as. And I think that's the trend of kind of what the consumer is looking for is you have something unique. You have to keep evolving your knees, you have to keep evolving your design. And, you know, but, you know, at the cores, the hospitality and it's the people behind each concept that make things run well.
[00:19:30] Speaker C: Don't just have, like, a really nice Italian restaurant in.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: We do. Yeah.
[00:19:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: So that's. That's one of our. That's. That's one of our original concepts. So how I actually got in the business, I, you know, I grew up working at Michelangelo's, so I was just, you know, all throughout high school, college, I was a server, bartender, co manager, hostess. So I learned everything I know from that concept. And that. That. That's a concept that not many people know we have, but it's just right there on 32 across from RV Hospital. And it's been there 30, 36 years now. So, yeah, excellent food.
[00:20:03] Speaker C: Now I struggle. I can't gluten anymore, so now I struggle going to pasta places because it's harder. But that. When we ate there years ago, that was one of our favorite Italian places to go eat.
[00:20:13] Speaker A: Yeah. I was described as like an upscale, all garden, you know, kids, salad and breadsticks, and it's. It's just kind of a staple of the community, and it's been there forever. And it's, you know, it's a great spot.
[00:20:24] Speaker C: If you knew a mortgage guy and a realtor, you should move to the north side and hang out with the cool kids.
Yeah, we get you something right over here.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: I'm good. I'm good. I like where I'm at.
[00:20:39] Speaker C: So how much time goes into coming up with these concepts? And then how do you know that the concept you came up with is going to work? Or have you had to, like, extreme pivot after you did something and went, oh, no, that didn't work out?
[00:20:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you know, again, yeah, there's a lot of R and D that goes into it sometimes. I always tell people like with Pretender, it was like we had an idea in our heads before. I've been working with on team these guys out of Chicago for four years and they had like, when we opened the founders, when we would hire them, they did the speaker system and reel to reel and all that stuff down there. And then they had done a high five, one of these high five bars out in San Diego called Portland Lover, named after the Stevie Wonders.
[00:21:17] Speaker C: Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: And that place had won best bar in America by Sbar. So I flew out there and was. Had checked it out and I was like, man, this would be cool to do in Indy. And then there were the restaurant that the Pretender was in called. Was called Sarasoire and shoot, it was a jazz lounge. It was only open eight months probably, and she closed down. And that's when I was like, this is the perfect location to do this type of concept we've been thinking about.
So sometimes it's like it's years before you have an idea ID in your head and you find the perfect location. Other times it's more like, hey, we have a concept that, you know, comes about and we're like, this is what we should do here. So sometimes it can go both ways.
I would say if there's one concept that we kind of pivoted or we changed a lot and evolved since we have opened is probably the founder, because it started off, I don't want to say more casual, but it was always a pricier concept. But I feel like we've really elevated the service. We've elevated. It's like a fine dining St. Elmo's or, you know, something really great downtown that we want to have be a legacy style restaurant for a long time.
So, yeah, I think that's a concept we've opened and we've pivoted and we've listened to guest feedback. We've changed it and we've made it more upscale and we've, you know, changed the levels of service that we're getting.
[00:22:34] Speaker B: So if I walk in with my
[00:22:35] Speaker A: polo and shorts, am I going to be escorted out? No, no, of course not. There was no dress code.
[00:22:40] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: There's no dress code. No, of course not.
[00:22:42] Speaker C: There's. They, they have the room called Horror Room.
[00:22:44] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:22:45] Speaker C: You just sit there.
[00:22:46] Speaker A: Yeah, the south side.
[00:22:47] Speaker C: The south side.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: It's funny because, yeah, that was another thing of the night. Like, you used to see a lot more restaurants have dress codes and those things, and now it's just like, no, no, I don't think many restaurants do it.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: They want my money, that's all.
[00:22:59] Speaker C: You don't have to have a jacket.
Remember how those days they'd have a jacket for you to put on, though?
[00:23:04] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, no, we have a jacket based in Nashville. They have a. They don't have a coat check.
[00:23:08] Speaker C: Yeah, all that was a 40 short. Like, oh, okay.
I look like a. Like I'm wearing my dad's jacket.
[00:23:17] Speaker A: Little guy.
[00:23:18] Speaker C: So how do you keep like a restaurant fresh?
Like, I know for me, I have restaurants that I, I go to. I love going there and I, I expect, you know, it to be a certain way, but I know for a lot of people, they want to see something new, something fresh all the time. How, how hard is it to. To keep your restaurant fresh?
[00:23:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think for us it's like we do many changes twice a year, both food and drink, depending on the concept. Like our concept of cook mode, that's one of the original grants of troll is we don't change much, much at all because it's one of those places you raise soda prices to a quarter, you get a bunch of comic arts or.
[00:23:55] Speaker C: Yeah. Don't change something in Coco.
[00:23:57] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
Or Greenwood. Like when we were down there, it was kind of the same thing. And you know, these more blue collar towns are.
[00:24:06] Speaker C: Yeah, they don't like changes, but they don't like change.
[00:24:09] Speaker B: I know what I'm gonna spend when I go there.
[00:24:10] Speaker A: Yeah. But yeah, I think for the other concepts, it's more of like there is. There's set menu changes every year with fountain Room, it's more like how do we keep things. That's our most, you know, transient clientele where we have business dinners and, and group settings and all that stuff. A lot of private dining that we do down there.
And I think with that concept we try to do more seasonal menus, tasting menus, wine dinners, bourbon dinners, all that types of fun stuff. So just to keep it fresh, we actually have one coming up. We've got a. We've got a Day of the dead Tequila dinner coming up November 4th. I have to get you.
[00:24:49] Speaker C: Is that with our friends Mijita?
[00:24:51] Speaker A: No, I forget the brand name. I'll have to. I will send you Dan photo.
It's not Manta, but I. Chris Webb, we do love you
[00:25:00] Speaker C: because doing that is great. If you have like a really special Day of the dead Tequila that comes out like the. Yay.
[00:25:10] Speaker A: Yeah. And our chef, our chef there, Ricky Martinez, he's. He's been there three years, he's one of the best chefs in Indy. He actually created the Pretender menu for us. Oh, wow. So we've used him for, you know, consulting and creative for other concepts as well. And he's really excited about that, I bet. Yeah.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:28] Speaker C: So how hard is it to keep the cocktail side of things fresh? Because I. I go to a lot of restaurants that have really cool cocktails.
[00:25:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:36] Speaker C: And then I may go back to that same restaurant a few months later. And now I can't remember what that cocktail was. And it's not on their new menu. So how do you come up with these different cocktails that are going to match the Premiere? No, they don't, because they're different stuff.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:50] Speaker C: Like, how hard is that part?
[00:25:52] Speaker A: You know what? We're lucky.
We have a girl named Claire McGinnis who does all of our cocktails for all of our menus on the north side. And then downtown, the bartenders do it. So very similar thing. We change it. We did a spring and a fall change with Pretender. We got lucky. Joey, who is our bar manager there, helped us out a lot. But all the cocktails are named after famous song, which I'm super. That's very cool and excited about.
[00:26:18] Speaker B: Rat is in.
[00:26:18] Speaker A: That's been a. That's been a huge hit. And that concept's different for us because it's 50 seats, but we're selling 50% beer order wine. It's the highest beer liquor wine percentage. We have concepts or. I think we're 43% liquor just selling liquor there. We need some. So we need some of these tequila tequilas up there.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: Yeah, I will. As a. As a actual tequila. So to 28 in the. In the world. Through the International Tequila Academy, I'll show you how to curate an amazing agave wine.
[00:26:48] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that'd be great.
[00:26:49] Speaker C: And I don't charge anything for that stuff. Yeah.
[00:26:51] Speaker B: I was.
[00:26:52] Speaker A: I did not know much about the tequila making process when I went to Patron last fall and we did Single Barrel Cake with Patron.
We've done a couple other ones, but they've just sent me kids before. But that was my first time in Mexico and I learned the agave process and everything like that. That was super.
[00:27:08] Speaker B: Pretty fascinating.
[00:27:09] Speaker A: Pretty fascinating. Yeah.
[00:27:10] Speaker C: He just recently got to see it in person as well. We took a trip to Jose Cuervo.
[00:27:15] Speaker A: Oh, love it there.
[00:27:17] Speaker C: It's their goal to bring enthusiasts there and open up the curtain and show us everything of how they make the tequila, except for where they bottled it.
[00:27:28] Speaker A: Blended in the future,
[00:27:32] Speaker C: but they were very open. It Was a great trip. We seen tequila made on a massive, massive scale.
And when we, we had a little break and we went down to Fortaleza and with some good contacts, we got to go inside and have some drinks
[00:27:47] Speaker A: and see tequila on a very, very, very small scale. So, yeah, that's pretty cool.
Yeah, the patron was great because we stayed on this resort. There was only like four at their hacienda. Yeah, their hacienda. And they've got a little private bar.
[00:27:59] Speaker C: Oh yeah.
[00:28:00] Speaker A: Drink all night. They've got mariachi vans every night. The food is incredible. So yeah, we had a great couple days down there. Yeah, that sounds very cool.
[00:28:07] Speaker C: Took me a year to learn how to say that's the town you were in.
[00:28:12] Speaker A: I would have no idea how to
[00:28:13] Speaker B: say, taking your word for it, that
[00:28:15] Speaker C: one took a while.
[00:28:17] Speaker B: Don't recall if you said the type of food that is at the hi Fi place.
[00:28:22] Speaker A: So it's, it's upscale American. We do have some Japanese influenced items. Same on the cocktail program. We wanted to have a couple boats for the Japanese, you know, listening bars there. So we have some Japanese beers over there.
But yeah, it's mainly an American menu. We did take a couple of the Fountain Room, I would say hits up to Noblesville like Lobster Fisk up there. Our famous Birdie Boulay, which is at the Fountain Room.
But yeah, it's. It's kind of the perfect place that you can. A lot of people are just stopping and grabbing cocktails or naps for happy hour. There's a lot of people coming for dinner, but it's kind of that place you can come before, you know, if you're, if you're going to dinner even somewhere else on this where people are popping in for cocktails or you know, vice versa. So it's fun.
[00:29:07] Speaker B: We've done that.
[00:29:07] Speaker C: We've been at the Bottle Works and went down there. Had apps and some drinks.
[00:29:11] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:29:12] Speaker C: And then back to I something.
[00:29:14] Speaker A: So it's perfect.
[00:29:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:15] Speaker A: And that's the perfect place. You can do that too. You got pins mechanical down there.
[00:29:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:19] Speaker A: So yeah, I think. And I'm a big believer in good restaurants around each other. Make each other busier 100%.
So we, we're lucky to be around great operators on Square Nitro Bistro, obviously. Grindstone, Whorehouse Club, More else.
[00:29:33] Speaker C: One new one that's right down from the top.
[00:29:38] Speaker A: Oh, Fernando's.
[00:29:39] Speaker C: Fernando. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:29:40] Speaker A: I haven't been there yet, but I've
[00:29:41] Speaker C: heard they got a great tequila at amazing food. Spanish inspired, I think. Yeah.
[00:29:45] Speaker A: That's, yeah, more Mexican style, but yeah, it's upscale Mexican. And Christiana, who is the owner there, he's a really cool guy. Great, great guy. But yeah, they have location probable as well.
[00:29:55] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:55] Speaker A: But yeah, I always tell people like my. One of my favorite restaurants besides the fountain too is bod. If you guys, it's Thai food.
Really cool restaurant.
Yeah, there's great, you know, restaurants right around that area.
[00:30:07] Speaker C: It's a great area. So how are the current prices of things affecting your stores and then how are customers relating to if there's changes to prices?
[00:30:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think that's. That's been challenging since COVID and I think we're to a point where, you know, obviously need is the next. The big category that's up right now.
We're getting ready to go into a fall mini change. And it's like, I feel like we feel like we're, you know, we'll raise things a little bit, but there's only so much you can do before you think, hey, if I'm, if I'm a customer, I'm not going to pay, you know, 60 bucks for a filet mignon. I'm, you know, I think not. Yeah, I think so. Like, I think we're at like 50 bucks or something like that, depending how good it is.
Yeah, I think we're like 50 bucks for an 8 ounce or I think we may raise it a couple bucks, but yeah, we can't. Like, you can't raise it 10 bucks? Yeah, it's got a ceiling. So. Yeah, it's just labor's very much the same way. It's like pre Covid, we're paying, you know, a cook 14 bucks an hour. Now they're making 20 or 22 bucks an hour. So the margins have gotten thinner and thinner. So you just. We're like every other operator. You have to watch costs and you have to watch cash flow and cash is kidding. So we're always trying to make sure, you know, you can still make payroll.
[00:31:20] Speaker C: Right. Yeah. I've heard so many businesses say this is my best revenue year ever and my worst profit year ever. Like, yeah, hearing that at. Yeah, a lot of industries, but I hear it a lot in, in your industry, but it's just really tough.
[00:31:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And you're seeing. I mean, I think there was a couple of restaurant closures announced yesterday. Magdalena, Downtown Square, Parkside Public House, Downtown Square, with all that road construction. I think I've seen that eating up a lot. And then Chiba and Westfield stuff. It's definitely A challenging time for, for the industry. And like you said, for us, we'll have a record revenue year. But yeah. And our fiscal year ends at the end of the month.
But yeah, profit wise is just.
[00:32:01] Speaker C: It's.
[00:32:01] Speaker A: It's definitely a lot tighter than it was pre Covid.
[00:32:04] Speaker B: Well, it's.
[00:32:05] Speaker C: I, I'm. I'm a restaurant person.
[00:32:07] Speaker B: Yeah, you are.
[00:32:07] Speaker C: We don't like to eat at home, so I appreciate what you do. And you know, for anybody that does complain about the prices, go spend a week in Vegas and then, yeah, come back because Tony and I had an amazing dinner at a place called Javier's, which is in the. I think it's. I think you pronounce it Aria.
[00:32:26] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah.
[00:32:27] Speaker C: And now they did have a fine tequila list. I probably had a few tequila selections. And our bartender had just won best bartender on the Strip, so he was pretty excited. That was a 600 bill for two
[00:32:40] Speaker A: of us to eat there. Oh, yeah. 300 bucks a person.
[00:32:43] Speaker C: And you're like, yeah, wow. You know, sanity Vegas is leaned into our shit's expensive. Deal with it.
You're already here.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:54] Speaker B: Pay for it.
[00:32:54] Speaker A: And I think, I mean, our check average is like fountain room, I think is like 75 a person. So it's not break the bats pretenders running about 45ish through a couple months. So, yeah, even less. And yeah, we, we try to keep a wide array of choices at all of our concepts. So you can, if you want to come in, you get a, you know, a 50 steak or you can come in and get a 12 sandwich. So I like it. So again, I think people with gas prices and mortgage rates and the way the economy is running, I do think people are watching their dollars a little bit more. But I, I think people want to go out and, and find cool experiences still. So, yeah, we try to keep a wide array choices. So, you know, whenever guests come in, they can pick out something great.
[00:33:34] Speaker B: So in your industry, I'm going to guess you're familiar and maybe read the book Unreasonable Hospitality.
[00:33:40] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:33:41] Speaker C: Yep.
Well, good art.
[00:33:42] Speaker B: Which then essentially became the Bear.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:33:46] Speaker B: Have you seen the Bear?
[00:33:47] Speaker A: I've seen the first season. Okay. Yeah, I, I watched the first three seasons and like this. Yeah, I think they're coming off one more season.
[00:33:54] Speaker B: Yeah, it aggravates the out. And it's in the comedy category for the Emmys because it's not a funny show.
[00:34:04] Speaker A: I don't think actors should get awards.
[00:34:06] Speaker B: Well, okay, that's fine.
[00:34:08] Speaker C: Just take your paycheck, go to your mansion and deal with it like, so
[00:34:13] Speaker B: you've seen a season of the Bear. So you have an idea what's the reality of the kitchen in a restaurant versus the TV show?
[00:34:23] Speaker A: I think it's. I think it's. I think it's fictionalized somewhat.
[00:34:26] Speaker B: Oh, I'm sure.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. There's definitely parts that are fictionalized of it that are done for tv, I think. I mean, yeah, there's no. There, there is. There is some drama in each restaurant that we have.
[00:34:36] Speaker B: Are they all yelling, yes, chef, across the kitchen the whole time?
[00:34:39] Speaker C: No, no, only if you're like a Gordon Ramsey.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: No, only if you're like a three Michelin star. Yeah.
[00:34:44] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, fountain room's probably our most strict kitchen, but yeah, there's nothing like, hey, chef, I need this, or. And the chef's not yelling that.
Yeah, that's a really well done show. I think Jeremy Allen likes one ton of hope.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: I think, you know, it's an award winning show and it was good for a while. And my, my issue is each season, nothing goes anywhere. Like, it's like one story for the, the whole season. It's like, can we wrap this up? Move on?
[00:35:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I think they just ran it too long. Yeah, they should have just done two. Two seasons max and packed it all into once and had a better storyline. That's what happens with a lot of TV shows.
[00:35:20] Speaker C: Turn it that way with giving God
[00:35:24] Speaker B: three hour tour. Why is it seven seasons?
Okay, so your grandfather started Clancy's and you clearly grew up in this kind of business.
[00:35:34] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:34] Speaker B: So was that your thought? Your basically your entire life? You're gonna end up.
[00:35:39] Speaker C: No.
[00:35:39] Speaker A: So I mean, growing up, I actually wanted to be an actor. I wanted to get into movie makers.
[00:35:43] Speaker B: Because you were looking for awards.
[00:35:44] Speaker C: He needed an award.
[00:35:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:45] Speaker C: If you're looking for awards, there's two jobs to get. You either become an actor or you become a realtor. They get a lot of awards.
[00:35:52] Speaker A: I grew up just a big movie fan. My dad, I remember watching like Pulp Fiction, Six Years Old, 1994.
[00:35:57] Speaker B: That's a good six year old movie.
[00:35:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:35:59] Speaker A: And my mom probably yelled at my dad like, watch this movie, you crazy person.
[00:36:04] Speaker C: He's going to be an actor. Oh, yeah.
[00:36:06] Speaker A: I loved all the old war movies. Platoon, Apocalypse Now, 90s movies. Pul. So I growing up, I want to be like Steven Spielberg and be a director.
Moved to Hollywood, live that dream. So I went to Ball State originally for telecommunications. I wanted to kind of be behind the scenes.
And then I just kept kind of Going back to that hospitality business.
Grew up working in restaurants.
Knew my family, had this company and really fell back in love with it in college and worked for Scotty's Brew House and Eric Graham House.
And Scott Wise was actually at my fraternity.
So he would come back and speak and get these good motivational speeches like to the frat. I was like, man, this guy's the coolest guy who. I'd love to meet him someday. And that's back when Scott. That's back when Scotty's was like, yeah, 15. There were 50 stores at the top.
[00:36:58] Speaker B: Are they completely gone now?
[00:37:00] Speaker A: They are, yeah. Yeah. So they went bankrupt, I think 28.
And yeah, it was a plumber because I was lucky.
And I think Scott went through a couple of social bankruptcies, which is too bad.
But yeah, I kept, kept falling back into the restaurant business and fell in love with it. And, and so, yeah, the Hollywood dream was done at that point and now I'm just like you guys. I just love it.
[00:37:22] Speaker B: Became a grinder.
[00:37:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:24] Speaker C: But look at you. You're on a show right now and you.
[00:37:28] Speaker B: We haven't had any actors on and
[00:37:30] Speaker C: YouTube is the modern day Hollywood.
[00:37:32] Speaker A: Absolutely. This is my ticket.
[00:37:34] Speaker C: It's right here.
[00:37:36] Speaker B: I guess with that kind of background. Do you do social media stuff for your restaurant groups and.
[00:37:41] Speaker A: I do, I do. Well, we have a, we have a girl that kind of handles all the social media and she sets me up with the arbore with it. I would say more of like the face of the company if, hey, Plateno's open. I think I did like five or 16 spots at which TV and Fox behind it were Sherman. So I'm kind of that guy when it comes to the pr.
[00:37:59] Speaker B: Did Sherman come to your place?
[00:38:01] Speaker A: Sherman Kane. So that's, that's a, that's a tagline that you know it's going to get. That's awesome.
[00:38:06] Speaker C: I don't know who.
[00:38:08] Speaker B: Fox 59 Morning News. He's a couple times a week out
[00:38:12] Speaker A: in places and he's an Emmy winning.
[00:38:14] Speaker B: There you go.
Anchor.
[00:38:16] Speaker A: Yeah, I watch Fox every morning. How do I not know this?
[00:38:20] Speaker B: He's the, the, the bald black guy who goes out to restaurants and stores and whatever and he like features.
[00:38:26] Speaker C: I must watch.
[00:38:26] Speaker A: Too early. Yeah, honestly, I'm watching.
Oh yeah, he's on it. I think it's a 7 o' clock hour. Yeah, we did a live at 7 o'. Clock.
[00:38:34] Speaker C: I'm at my desk at work at
[00:38:35] Speaker A: 7, so I missed that point.
[00:38:37] Speaker C: I need to switch it up. I need to watch that tomorrow.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: How's the chef feel about having to come in at seven in the morning for Sherman when you probably aren't open till later?
[00:38:44] Speaker A: You know, Ricky, Ricky's kind of the same as me. He's like actually like good on tv.
[00:38:48] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:38:48] Speaker A: Really well spoken. So he does not mind. Like, I'm like, hey, we got something we need you to be at. He's like, yes. He's actually got his own, I think, IG page where it's like Ricky Martinez official and it's verified and he puts all this.
[00:39:01] Speaker C: Well, you can pay like I paid big. Verify.
[00:39:04] Speaker A: Yeah, nothing fancy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, I'm pretty sure he's paid too. But anyway, he puts all this YouTube clips on his page. He's trying to grow his font. So he's a. He's a local celebrity chef.
[00:39:14] Speaker C: All right, Ricky, that's fantastic. We should have him on. We haven't had a chef on. I don't believe.
Yeah, that's a. Cool. That.
[00:39:21] Speaker B: That's. That's next.
[00:39:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:23] Speaker C: So if I show up at the Pretender tomorrow and it's packed so I called you and you got me in, what do I go for for my first drink off of your drink menu?
[00:39:33] Speaker A: What.
[00:39:34] Speaker C: What do you recommend my first drink
[00:39:35] Speaker A: to be for that? I'm going to do the O Mexico, which is our Tequila Old Fashioned.
[00:39:40] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:39:40] Speaker A: Right now we're using our Barrel Age Patron Reposado barrel. Okay. I think it's a nieho. And it's just built like a normal tequila Old Fashioned. But it's selling really well. We put it over a big ice. We use Big Ice out of Fort Wayne and actually have the Pretender logo etched in the ice. Super cool.
[00:39:58] Speaker C: Super cool. Yeah.
[00:40:00] Speaker A: Very Instagrammable drink. And that's probably our second best selling cocktail next to the Pretender, which is just suburban old fashioned.
And then Joey actually just put on a raspberry beret named after a famous Prince song.
[00:40:12] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:40:13] Speaker A: And that is Mahinta Tequila, little raspberry cordial and dry vermouth. And that's cocktail now. So. So tequila is actually. Tequila is very hot in the concept, which I love. And high end tequilas are selling really well everywhere.
[00:40:26] Speaker C: Sweet. Fastest growing category in spirits.
[00:40:29] Speaker A: For sure. It is.
[00:40:30] Speaker C: So menu item. I'm here to have dinner.
What's. What's my go to?
[00:40:35] Speaker B: What.
[00:40:35] Speaker C: What do you say your go to pick is on the menu?
[00:40:38] Speaker A: So I would say deviled eggs are a sleeper, but I think it's maybe the number two or three bestseller right now. Next to our fondue. So we went creating a menu. I told Ricky, hey, you know, this was built around 1976.
I want some nostalgic style retro items. And he came up with some, some great stuff. The fondue served in this really cool boiling pot with a lazy Susan and literally think, you know, the dippers. And it's served with, you know, apples, croutons, steak, Texas hot links. So it's got this wide assortment of meats and, and, and dippers in it. And then the devil eggs. The deviled eggs are topped with like a jalapeno bacon jam. And they're just really good too. So those are two appetizers I would recommend. And then the best selling entree has been the, the, the beef short rib so far, which is sir bonen. And this Le Creuset, it's really beautiful looking dish as well.
[00:41:32] Speaker C: I just got hungry.
[00:41:33] Speaker A: Right.
[00:41:34] Speaker B: Well, you only eat like once a day.
[00:41:35] Speaker C: I know. I had trees on eggs for dinner.
Yeah, it's good breakfast.
Man, I want to drive up there tonight.
[00:41:41] Speaker B: I know. I, I'm excited.
[00:41:43] Speaker C: I got a, I got a group
[00:41:44] Speaker B: of friends in my neighborhood. We like to go places.
[00:41:46] Speaker A: So, yeah, I'm gonna be there.
[00:41:47] Speaker B: That's for sure.
[00:41:48] Speaker C: Well, man, I appreciate you coming out today and doing this and having us being on our show and telling us about your, your career and your restaurants and honestly, I've been to several and
[00:41:57] Speaker B: I can't wait to hit the pretend it for sure.
[00:41:59] Speaker A: You guys just let me know when you want to come up and I'll buy a drink.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: Sweet.
[00:42:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: Well, Mike, thanks for being on the show. It was a pleasure to do this all the time. Wasn't ready yet.
[00:42:09] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:42:10] Speaker C: Never.
Cheers.
[00:42:12] Speaker A: Cheers.
[00:42:12] Speaker B: Cheers to you. We'll see you next time on Indiana Success. Happy hour.
