The Dap and A Hug Podcast

The Story Behind Bear Walrus & an Honest Conversation About Mental Health

• Sadarro Chisholm

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What begins as a conversation about one of Rock Hill's favorite restaurants evolves into a deeper discussion about entrepreneurship, community, mental health, and living authentically.

In this episode of The Dap & A Hug Podcast, I sit down with Phillip and Charles from Bear Walrus to discuss the story behind Bear Walrus and Long Bottom Meats, the passion behind serving high-quality food, and the importance of building genuine relationships within the community.

As the conversation unfolds, Charles opens up about publicly embracing his bipolar diagnosis and shares the mission behind Disorderly Conduct, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing stigma, educating others, and creating a supportive community where people can seek help without fear or shame.

This episode is a reminder that everyone has a story—and that honest conversations can change lives.

Connect with Today's Guests

Bear Walrus

Website:
https://www.bearwalrus.com

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bearwalrus

Long Bottom Meats

Website:
https://www.longbottommeats.com

Charles

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/charles.coulson

Disorderly Conduct

Website:
https://www.disorderly-conduct.org

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/conductdisorderly

Charles will officially introduce Disorderly Conduct next month. In the meantime, visit the website and follow the page to stay updated.

Thanks for listening to The Dap & A Hug Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could benefit from the conversation.

Peace and Love at The Dap and A Hug

SPEAKER_02

Gentlemen, thank y'all for uh pulling up for this uh podcast. 100% it's gonna be a special one right here. Thank you for having us. Matter of fact, thank you for opening up that restaurant. What's the name of it again? Uh it's called Bear Wars. You know it was a rhetorical question. Yeah. I want to know, just because some audience members may not know about y'all. I've been spreading the word. You know what I'm saying? For obvious reasons. I appreciate y'all, man. Where did the name come from?

SPEAKER_03

So it's it's actually my ex's brother. When I first met him, he looked at me and was like, look at this big damn bear walrus. And I thought it was hilarious. I don't think he was complimenting me anyway. I don't think it was meant to be a good thing. But I I held on to that name for probably three years or so. And then when we decided to do this, it was sort of the you know, the barbecue and the oysters, like the salt and the pepper. It was like bear walrus kind of like works out, you know. And if you look up bear walrus, there is no other bear walrus in the world. We're the only one, you know. I was like, man, that's that's hard to do to coin a new term. So I give that up to him, and basically my my bear walrus-like appearance. There you go.

SPEAKER_02

So, Philip, uh, you are the owner, yes, and executive chef. Right, and Charles, uh, when I first met you, you were a bartender.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I was just bartending. I was gonna say, you've been coming in since the uh inception where I was kind of helping with the catering side of things, and I was just the daytime bartender, and then uh, you know, life happens, the business evolves, and uh found myself as general manager at the end of the day. Yes, subs.

SPEAKER_02

Congratulations again on it, man. It's kind of like I saw the growth a little bit in a way.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you were there literally like seeing the different stages in the business that I took, you know. All of a sudden I wasn't, you know, serving your lunch behind the bar or anything. I was calling out orders from the expo station and then coming over and being like, oh, I gotta go Dapsadera. So Dapp and the Hub, Dapper, and it's so organic, it's like we've kind of been watching each other grow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

A little bit, man. Um, so yeah, you are a Winthrop alumna as well.

SPEAKER_01

Winter alumna, I played soccer over there and uh went to school in my backyard, but uh it was cool because I ended up meeting people from I believe 14 different nationalities just there in my backyard. I grew up walking to the uh to the soccer field uh from my childhood home, and you know, it all kind of came full circle.

SPEAKER_02

Beautiful. That's one thing I loved about Winthrop, man. Like I met some students when I was on campus from time to time that spoke like seven different different languages. And um, yeah, those are like the coolest kids to hang out with, man, to be honest. Yes. But um, so yeah. I'm typically a bear walrus. I mean, I'm I'm there sometimes multiple times out of the week. Um, sometimes I have to like stop myself. I've gotten some of your mail there. Let's talk about that prior, man.

SPEAKER_03

All right. So man, bear walrus at the at the bottom line. The bottom line of this thing is it's it's ingredient driven. You know what I'm saying? Like, we don't put a ton of sauce on stuff, like we don't, you know, like our barbecue, like I mean sauce on the side, like nothing's tossed in sauce, really. Like, and we believe in like starting with a really good cut of meat, you know, and that's what we do. So our prime rib is upper two-thirds choice, certified Angus beef. Sometimes it's actually prime grade. And we just put it in, rub it up with our rub, a little bit of mustard pickle juice on the outside, rub on it, and just smoke it in our smoker for about you know two hours, two and a half hours, and let it rest for about three or four hours, and that thing is not a chef's kiss. But it but it all starts, all starts with a good cut of meat. You know what I'm saying? Like you can't you can't turn chicken shit into chicken salad, you know. Let's be honest. So as long as you start with something that's super good, I mean you can't really screw it up, you know? I mean you can.

SPEAKER_02

Before we started recording, I had told you I was introduced to prime rib. Uh actually, my uncle Charles, Charles Belton from York, he passed away. Rest in peace, but he used to do prime rib, right? He would basically do garlic salt and pepper and toss it in the oven. It was pretty delicious that way, man. But now you know you come with the different dynamic effects of the smoke. Obviously, that's gonna be more flavor, man. But fast forward, I was talking about the restaurant Harper's. I used to I got turned on to like the creamy horseradish with it, you know what I'm saying, when I was in high school. And after that, man, like I started cooking my own prime rib because there were no other restaurants around that really could match the basis of my Uncle Charles and then me kind of amplifying it with my charcoal, you know. But bruh, I'm being serious, man. Like I appreciate it, like it's legit.

SPEAKER_03

And prime ribs, like old school cool, you know. It's like you're saying, like, not a lot of places do that anymore, you know? And it's like it's cool, like when people come in, like, because we sell more now, we sell more, we do it one night a week, do it on Friday night. And it's you know, we sell more and more and more each Friday night, and it's cool because you know, people are like, oh shit, like you do prime rib, like like I used to eat it with my Uncle Charles or like my granddad or my dad, or like, you know, stuff like that. And it's just these feelings coming back because yeah, nobody does that stuff anymore. You know what I'm saying? It's like we're in a a different, a different culinary world where you know, like meat's so expensive, you know, and then people are scared to screw something up, you know, and the whole thing. But it's just like, you know, damn the torpedoes, man. Like, let's get a good hunk of meat and let's cook it right, let's get people into it. And, you know, just seeing people's faces when they eat it. And I was like, yes, dude. Because it because it's all memory, right? You know, the nostalgia, man. Yeah, exactly. That's what I'm you know takes you to another place.

SPEAKER_02

You know, I'm all about that, man. Authentic reflection. Stay tuned. Um, with that being said, when it comes to the prime rib situation, like, and me as a customer, I'm gonna go ahead and say thank you for giving me grace. Because am I annoying because I'll be like on the Saturday, be like, yeah, I got prime rib? Or like yesterday, even yesterday was Sunday, I saw y'all had it laid out because y'all had the rib hobby with the with the fritz, fruit taste? I don't know. Fritz. What's fritz? Okay. And um, I'm like, yo, can I get like a slice of that, bro? And take that to the house. Like, it looks so good. Was that you? Lyric, that was you last year. Yeah, I was there with Lyric. I had Lyric came in uh I got the tacos, she got she got the brisket burger.

SPEAKER_03

How was it? All right, man. That's something we're working on. Maybe I'll stay tuned for that, you know, like on the menu full time coming up. Oh my goodness, dog.

SPEAKER_02

I don't know if that's a good idea, dog. Y'all gonna bleed me, dry. I mean, that's kind of the point, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Shaking down.

SPEAKER_02

So thinking back, man, like when you like back to nostalgia childhood, like, what are some of the most dankest meals that your grandmother or your mom or dad or who was cooking when you were growing up, walking around in diapers, and when you can remember like being in the kitchen, like how did you get introduced to good food, good cooking like that?

SPEAKER_03

Well, I was I was raised with my grandparents, and uh, you know, and always cooking, you know, it's just like I mean, that's just memories that I have, you know, and it was just I took it for granted, you know, growing up like that, you know, because now you know, I mean, I'm a professional chef, and I really don't get to cook at my house, you know, and I and I miss that. You know, I have a 16-year-old daughter, and you know, we usually go out to dinner. You know what I'm saying? We don't get to stand around. I don't get a lot of time to stand in the kitchen and cook, and you know, she's kind of a persnickety eater anyway, you know. She grew up chef's kid. But it's like, you know, always biscuits, fried chicken, you know. I mean, this is like country type cooking, but I mean they are just going to it every day. And I just remember, you know, it's the memories are more so of like, you know, family gatherings where everybody's bringing stuff, and like, oh man, is she gonna bring that or are they gonna bring this? And then like after church on Sunday gathering, you know, just these moments of celebration where people are bringing it in, and like you know, it I don't think you really appreciate the good food until you don't have it, you know. So it's just like like I said, I'm just taking this for granted that I'm getting, you know, home cooked meals every day, two, three times a day if I'm at school or whatever. And then it's like you know, you go to college or you go and you're like, oh shit, like you know, I kind of had it made, you know. Now now I don't have that. So yeah, it's uh it's just it's like I said, the nostalgia of the food. And I mean that's really what food is, you know, it's just like these memories that come back to you, and like it's you know, it's it's a very strong thing that can take you to another place, you know, as you're cooking it or as you're smelling it. You know, there's all these senses that go into it, and it's just like you know, it's just you know, I wasn't I won't I won't be one of these guys like, oh, is that my grandma's knee, you know, and we were making biscuits together or anything, you know. She's like just what she did, you know, and like I got a couple of her recipes hanging in the restaurant. Um, I've got a couple of her old cookbooks like in there, which is just kind of cool, you know. So people ask me about the recipes, and I'm like, Yeah, it's my grandma's, you know. So it's cool.

SPEAKER_02

Man, I'm so glad you still got some, man, because uh my grandma, it's my grandma Francis right there, by the way. Oh, nice. She lived in York. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Man, she used to throw down, man. And um back to what you said about being on your grandma's knee making biscuits, they wouldn't they wouldn't let us in the kitchen. Yeah, I used to want to be in the kitchen, like what's going on? You know, you're a kid, you smell food, you want to be in there, but I was intrigued, man. And it was so many of us running around, me and my cousins, man. I was never able to really cook with her or anything like that, man.

SPEAKER_03

But that's I mean, thinking back, like they were, you know, that's that's OG farm to table stuff. You know, I mean, they have me know my grandparents had a garden, you know, they're out in the garden picking squash, watermelon, you know, whatever, cucumbers, tomatoes, straight out, straight out the field, and then bringing it in and cooking it, you know. And it's just like I said, you don't really understand, like, wait, not everybody does this. Like, this isn't, you know, this isn't normal for people, you know. We need to just like, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

We need to get back to that. We do. I do a garden. I want to do something bigger, man, and we'll talk though. You know, I'm I'm all about this self-sustainability, man, and growing the medicine in the backyard, preventative measures and all that. Yep. Because you know, like you said, it starts with the ingredients, man. And we're not gonna go down that rabbit hole. Um shop house in Winalano. Uh so how did you so let me ask you this real quick.

SPEAKER_03

Where are you from originally? I'm originally from Smyrna, South Carolina. Okay. Yeah. I went to high school in New York. Um what year did you graduate? 1998. I'm old, man.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, you probably know some of my people, man. Any Lowry's, Meeks, Talbers? I know. Shout out to all y'all. Um, so how Charles, let me ask you this. How did you hear about Bear Walrus? Tell me about when you found out about it and you was like filling out the application, or what happened in the process of you getting hired on as a bar, a bar manager?

SPEAKER_01

Uh well bartender. I uh I previously owned the business right next door, the 19th at the warehouses, which is the golf simulator bar and kitchen. And uh previously owned that, and uh all of a sudden I had this guy, you know, coming in, uh you know, giving me shit at the bar daily. And uh and um I don't know, we just kind of kept talking and uh um, you know, ended up meeting Philip and uh from there started learning what he was about, what he was um you know trying to do next door and what he already had established over at Longbottom at the butcher shop. I was like, oh okay, cool, you know, like a little bit of a hard time, but like cool dude. And uh we started uh collaborating with some pop-ups where he would take over our micro-sized kitchen over there, and then we had some nights that uh, you know, were busy and hectic, but uh, you know, got to taste the food. He would always bring out a sampler, and I was like, this guy I can throw down. So uh from there it was easy to believe in him and believe in the product that he was putting out because I'd vouch for it at my prior business, you know, putting a name on it, 19th at the warehouses and bear walrus, and he'd come up with a menu. And what he was able to do out of that little kitchen, you know, I was like, imagine him with a full industrial size kitchen and his own operation. So from there, as I figured out it was time for me to kind of go in a different direction, um he poached me up pretty quick. We we discussed it and uh knew that I wanted to be involved in some capacity, and then kind of let the natural evolution of the business take me from you know, catering in events slash daytime bartender to just you know general manager and kind of overseeing uh most things now. So uh it's cool the way that me and uh Phillips like friendship and professional relationship has kind of continue to grow.

SPEAKER_02

I love that, bro. That's so organic, man.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, thanks for coming to play with us.

SPEAKER_02

That's authentic and real, man. You know what I'm saying? Like, I like that, bro.

SPEAKER_03

No, it really is. And I and I think about it, you know, like like you know, I don't want to blow you up too much and be like cheesy, but like, you know, watching Charles grow like as a leader in the kitchen and stuff and a leader in the restaurant. I mean, it's it's super cool. No, it's I'm getting motivated and inspired right now. It's like if he would have started as the GM, you know, like at the front, like would he even still be here? You know what I'm saying? Would we have been able to survive that part? Because I mean, opening that beast, dude. I mean, that was that was wild. Yeah, you know, it's like we had a GM that quit right before we opened, you know, and it's just like, I mean, we opened without a general manager, like it was just me. And I mean, it was a in pardon my language, it was a shit show, you know, and we're just trying to get food out. I mean, I'm running the front and the back, you know, and just fortunately, I mean, the people that I hired, the people that we hired brought on board, was just they were they were able to kind of like, okay, I believe in this, like this is this is what we're doing. And they were able to kind of manage themselves, you know, like good people do, you know, they didn't need like constant oversight or overbearing. And I mean, yeah, if it wasn't for people like Charles or anyone else that works there, like all the all the employees, like I mean, bear wash wouldn't be open, you know what I'm saying? Like, if it was just up to me, I mean, you know, I would have probably just shut the door, you know, and just walked away and be like, oh man.

SPEAKER_02

I'm glad you said that, man. Like you're grateful for and you understand how important everyone is, and y'all are a team. Oh, yeah. And y'all work very cohesively and well and in an environment. It's just so awesome in there, bro.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah, I was uh, you know, I was a an angry young chef for a long time, you know, like in people's faces. And I can I can still get riled up a little bit after Charles has seen it, but like, you know, but like now I'm just I'm just older and I don't want to say wiser because I'm not really, but like, you know, you are like I've just seen, you know, you can't you can't treat it like that, you know, because everyone in there is important, you know, and it's like you know, if you lose one piece, you feel it. You know what I'm saying? Like you always do, no matter if that person's the dishwasher or the GM, you know, it's just like you don't really realize what this person does until they're not there to do it. And you're just like, oh my gosh. And it's like, you know, I mean, we lost you know, Saturday night. We'll talk about this. You know, there were three or four people out doing catering, you know, we're just running around, and like I it was gonna be bad. Like we knew, everybody knew like it was gonna be a tough day. I mean, it ended up being honestly one of the smoother services we've ever run because everybody knew what to do, everybody knew what was gonna happen, and everybody came together and they did it. And that's the that's the cool part of like watching or owning or managing or whatever is you know, is like you're watching these people grow, like Charles, you know, and like you're watching the entire staff grow. And like, you know, you don't, you know, sometimes you'll be like, hey, it takes trash out, you know, and stuff like that. But I mean they they know their jobs, they take pride in what they do. And you know, I told them the other day, I was like, look, I was like, you have to realize you gotta have some swagger about you, you know, like the B dubs, you gotta have a little swagger, right? Like we got the best stuff, we're pushing it out. We're not we're not pushing some BS out on people, we're not telling lies about where stuff's coming from or the quality of stuff. You're like, look, you got the best stuff in town. Get out there and act like it, you know. Tell people about it. Be like, you know, you need this, you know. He's been cooking these beef cheeks for three days, you know, you should have one, you know, or this brisket is prime gray. This prime rib is prime, it's actual prime rib, you know. It's just like these oysters, fresh, never frozen, dude. Like, I would never buy a pre-shubbed frozen oyster. Like, I mean, come on, dude. Like, why you even got oysters on the menu? You know, like, you know, and we're we're an open kitchen, you know. You can come in there and see whatever. Yeah, you can see whatever you want. Damn. Sometimes, like, man, I wish I could pick that up off the floor. It's like, no, I'm just kidding. But it's just, you know, it's just, it's just, yeah, we're not trying to hide anything, man. And it's like, you know, we were talking about it coming over here, and we were just like, you know, it's like bare water is about honesty. Like it really is, you know, it's like honest, like not a lot of tons of sauce on anything, nothing. We don't have to cover up anything. You know, it's like, look, this is us, here we are. Maybe not for everybody, but come and get it, man. You know, let's party.

SPEAKER_02

I want you to talk about the oysters, the different oysters on the menu, but before I forget, because you say you don't really need sauce, and I totally agree. I know you want to give away to like the ingredients of it, man. Talk about that rub and what it inspired it, like your own dry rub that you came up with.

SPEAKER_03

So it's actually, so it's my recipe, and I've been working on it for God, I don't know, 10 years or so. Um it's not just salt and pepper. You know, a lot of people are like, oh man, I just put salt and pepper on. I was like, I think that's all bull, you know, but like it's I I mean, I'll tell you the ingredients. Like, I start with Lowry's, seasoning salt, and um 16 mesh black pepper. And it's it's really good for beef. And I put it on, I put it on other stuff too. Some people like want like a sweeter rub. Mine's not sweet at all, you know, and like I'm not gonna tell you what else is in it, you know. It's kind of bold. Yeah, I like it. It's like it's like, you know, it's in my mind when you're eating like the brisket, you know, you should get that little bit of pepper in there, and it should kind of open up your nostrils and what you don't boom, you know, and it's just like it open up opens up the whole thing. And you know, it's like like the ribs we get the most pushback on, you know. It's like, oh man, it's too spicy, it's too spicy, it's too peppery, it's too peppery. And I'm like, oh no, sorry. You know, you know, that's how we do it. But it's it's the rub is supposed to be spicy, you know. It's it's Texas inspired, you know, and like I remember eating my first piece of like Texas style brisket, and I was like, oh shit. Like I was like, this is my thing, you know. So I've spent you know, 15 years trying to learn how to cook a brisket and still still learn a little bit every day, you know. But it's just it's just man, it's it's it's just a rub that I don't know, man. It's like I don't know who I ripped off originally, you know. I I can't even remember, you know, but it's like you know, just Lowry's and pepper based. And then I've just started putting other stuff in, and we put on the outside of the briskets in the primer, we put mustard and pickle juice on too, and I like that a little bit on there. It's not just holds the rub, you know, it's a little bit not not too much like flavoring in there, but I I like to do that, you know. It's just it's just I don't know, it's it's I'm I'm always trying to come up with something new, you know. Like I was messing with rubs last week. Like I'm making something, and it all goes back to the old faithful, the old standby, you know. So uh so yeah, it's just just a Texas-based rub, man. You know, it's 15 years in the making. I'll probably try to screw with it this week and it'll go back to the original.

SPEAKER_02

You know, yeah. Do you plan on like selling it commercially?

SPEAKER_03

You know, we we should and we can, I guess, because like I said, I do get it. Like somebody makes it for me. You know, they ship it in, it's bare walrus proprietary brisket rub, you know. So I ask her to do that, you know. I'd like to get the sales made too. But I don't know, we'll look into that. I guess it's a good idea.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, man. I'd definitely love to be a part of the marketing campaign on that. Absolutely. Um the oysters. You have the Chesapeake's, you got the blues, you got the ballers, you have a few others. Um they're different textures. Yeah, just talk about the different lineup, what you got.

SPEAKER_03

So we I thought it was kind of funny. Like, you know, we have we have good oysters, we have awesome oysters, and then we have baller oysters.

SPEAKER_02

Let me say this real quick. I actually prefer the Chesapeake's people do, people do.

SPEAKER_03

Um, and they're the they're what we serve as good. Um Chesapeake's is just the salinity in there. It's really nice. I mean, they're from the mouth of the Chesapeake River, you know, so it's like it's just I mean, it's a nice oyster, it's a nice size, you know, and people like it's it's pretty consistent, you know, with the thing. That's the only one that we always have. Like, always have Chesapeake. Um the others, the awesomes, our awesome are usually like PEL, like Prince Edward Island, so it's like from that Jersey, Connecticut area up there. Um and those are you know, nice, clean, really good oysters. I mean, we had some Patty Pearls, some Irish points recently, hammerheads that are just I mean, out of sight, dude. Like, I mean, it's cool when people come in and they're like, oh man, I know that oyster. Yeah, let me get that, you know. And you can see my man Z uh shuck them every day. Hey, shout out to Zafara. Yes, we've got to get you on, man. But um, then our baller are West Coast oysters. And the West Coast oysters, like we do, we do Kumamoto Olympic views, which are really big, like Royal Miyagi. It's Kumamoto is kind of one that most people know. And we'll run that on the weekend myself in a thousand, I believe. You know, but they're they're smaller oysters, and it's you know, I was I don't eat as much oysters as I would like to. I used to get, I mean, I could eat my way in a raw oyster. But it's like I just enjoy, you know, it's almost like a glass of wine, right? Like where you can taste like the different. Like I could tell you that's a West Coast oyster. I could tell you that's a Prince Over Island, I could tell you that's a Chesapeake, just from like the flavor profile, right? And it's just cool like that. And it's like, you know, we don't you don't come in and it's like you have to buy a dozen oysters and we only have this kind or like whatever, right? Like, I mean, you can buy one of each oyster, you know? And and I like that. I mean, Z doesn't like it as much, but you know, but but I mean I like that. Like take them out, taste them all, you know. Like, I asked the servers to do that, like, oh, which ones are like, why don't you just get one a week? You know? If you like them, if you like one more, go get six more, go get twelve more, you know. It's just make yourself a little tasty here.

SPEAKER_02

So now I don't even have to ask you what makes y'all's restaurant different than other restaurants in the area because I don't know anybody else that's doing that around here.

SPEAKER_03

Well, it's just, you know, it's I didn't know. And it's educational. Yeah, I didn't want it to be, you know, this this I don't know. It's like I want people to enjoy it. You know what I'm saying? And be able to go in. It's like, you know, almost choose your own adventure kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02

Dog, you can have like a field, you can have kids in for a field trip, dog. No, I'm serious. It's an educational experience. Like, I I didn't know there were different kinds of oysters until I came in there. Right. Yeah. I mean, I've eaten oysters before, but like now, I'm not a guru, but I'm learning. I'm meeting. Getting a little bit of wisdom on the oyster game, dawg.

SPEAKER_01

Well, when we see you walk in, I pretty much give Z the look, like get get at least six of those chest peaks ready. Get six for them for his like appetizer, and then probably coming back for 12 months.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, the love is reciprocated, man. 100%. I appreciate y'all. Now, let me what's your favorite uh menu item? Oh, it's give me a couple. I'm not gonna put you on the spot.

SPEAKER_01

So let's go, let's go appetizer. We'll go uh grilled oysters, and that's that's something that I recommend to a lot of people that are like, hey, I want to try oysters, but you know, I just don't know about a raw oyster. Yeah. And um, you know, you get a little bit of the garlic butter in there uh in each oyster, uh, and then you get some sourdough that's handmade on the side, and I'm like, hey, worst comes to worst. You dish the oysters and you got a bunch of garlic butter and some sourdough bread. But I I think anybody, everybody that's had the grilled oysters has come back and been like, wow, that was a good stepping stone to you know getting into oysters. I love these. We'll see how the role goes. Um, so I like that that's kind of a path for people to enter the oyster world. And then, you know, like his brisket is just killing, you know. And I started off, I've had like three different favorite barbecues since I started there. It went from brisket, and then I think I ate literally 50 pounds worth of brisket in my first couple months. And I was like, all right, let me let me switch it over. We brought um, we do a big beef rib, you know, big dinosaur bone, and that then became my favorite. And then this last uh menu iteration, we added beef cheek, and that is now uh the king of barbecue for me.

SPEAKER_02

So savory, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It's uh flavorful, bro. It's it's awesome. And um, you know, that that's just a couple of the menu items that I've gone through that have just been um very that that I always go back to because luckily when I when I show up every day, he's pretty he's working on a special. I'm like, Charles, come try this. You know, I might be having shrimp and grits for breakfast or uh uh you know a bologna sandwich for breakfast, and I'm walking around with the meat sweats, but every time I'm I'm getting good food and I'm like, I he did it again, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Hey, I got a quick idea. So you're baking your own sourdough bread, right? We do not. We ever got to bake it for us. Okay, never mind then. No, yeah. I was gonna be like, you could be like selling bread out of there, man. We could sell bread out of there. Because that's the most healthiest way to eat bread for the most part, like sourdough. It goes bad in a couple of days, but people would probably dive into that, bro. They get some fresh baked sourdough bread from y'all. They can get some. Sorry, man. I got a few ideas, man. You know what I'm saying? Um, yeah, man, like I really like what y'all got going on because it's like a community aspect of it. Uh huh. You know what I'm saying? Like, everybody's welcoming, everybody in the crew, cool, man.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, no, it's uh it's the people. It's the people that come in there too.

SPEAKER_02

And I was gonna ask, man, do you have like weekly meetings and y'all like or every morning when y'all actually like up and running, do y'all like meet? Because you're obviously obviously communicating with everybody, everybody's on the same page. It comes from you. It's something that you're doing that maybe other restaurant owners can maybe learn from.

SPEAKER_03

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, no, we we meet every morning. You know, it's like front of the house and back of the house have a little meeting, you know. It's just it's really just like, hey, this is what's going on, you know, this is gonna happen. We've got this many covers today, like, or it's gonna be busy in here, like I'm gonna be gone, Charles' gonna be gone for a second, you know, just you know, it's like like I said, it's you know, it's the people that make the restaurant, right? And they're super good people, and you just gotta keep them in the know as to what's going on, you know. And I mean, sometimes the meeting, you know, can get a little tense, like what is going on, you know, like other times it's like a love fest, you know. But at the end of the day, I think Charles has seen it, and I think the people that that have worked for me for a while know it. It's like, look, everything comes from a place of love, you know, because we have to we gotta get through this. And yeah, I'll get uptight for like three minutes, and I was like, all right, dude, we gotta lock in, as the kids say, you know, and let's get this stuff done, and and it'll be tense for a minute, and then you know, three minutes later, it's like there we go. And that's the that's the cool thing about cooking, man, is like you know, if you're cooking, you know, 400 brisket, you know, you're only as good as the last brisket that came out, dude. Because you know, somebody gets a shitty brisket and you're you'll hear about it. Yeah, exactly. So it's just like you get a chance to redeem yourself every minute of every day in that restaurant. It's like, yeah, like you know, you did something crappy, you know, but like what you got for me now? Like, let's go, you know, and it's just it's just it's fun to watch once again, watch the people grow and like watch them realize that. I'm just like, look, do not internalize any of this stuff, right? Like, like, look, like we're in here, this is fast-paced, you know, we're moving, moving, moving, moving. And it's just like we all gotta move together, and yeah, sometimes you're gonna slip, you know. But I'll pick you up, Charles will pick you up, and then we'll go at it again, you know, and just keep keep going. Keep going, keep moving. That's the name of the game. What was it about Rock Hugh? You know, so I was I was in Atlanta for about 10 years or so. Um I had a real job, you know. I worked for a beef company selling beef. And uh they moved me up, and me and my wife, we looked at you know, Charlotte. And I'm you know, I'm from York County, like western York County. Um about 45 minutes from here. And you know, I was like, what about down there? And I came down and I knew I knew a couple guys from Rock Hill, you know, just from like I went to school with Charleston, I know, down there. Came up and I looked, and you know, it's like Rock Hill is a city. I mean, and I don't want to be cheesy when I say this, but it's like I kind of believe in it. You know what I'm saying? It's like you can see how far it's come, and you can kind of see like where it's going, you know, and I mean, you know, they're building 400 apartments right in our front, right by our front door, you know, it's just like I mean the growth here is just incredible. And I think the more and more stuff that we have, like some of the new restaurants, or like us, or like whatever, you know, if we would bring like a you know, we're yeah, we're a small town next to a small city, you know? And like, yeah, we're in South Carolina and we're not Charleston. Okay. But you know what? We throw it hard up here, you know, it goes down. Yeah, and more people, more people find out about that, you know, and you just get you know, younger, educated people, you know, in the in the city. I mean, it's it's only gonna grow. And that's the that's the cool thing about it, is like, you know, it's another thing, like watching it grow, you know, and it's like it's not a bunch of like you know, chain restaurants and stuff like that. You know, it's like independent stuff like happening and like cool people doing cool stuff, and like like I get off on that, man. Like, that's super cool stuff.

SPEAKER_02

Bro, it's gonna be traffic is so bad right now already with this like exponential growth. I'm like happy about it. Yeah, I'm glad I'm glad it, you know what I'm saying? That'd be good for the economy, the local economy and everything, bro. But like the way people driving nowadays, yeah. Yeah, it's yeah, where we gonna put all these people, man. But because I was thinking, because you know, I'm from here, and the way it's changed, man. Yeah, it's wild.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, because I I spent uh, you know, uh the better part of my 30 years on this, or let's call it 28 years living in Rock Hill. And uh looking back at it, you know, 15 years ago, something like Bear Walrus, I don't think would have had the chance to succeed because there just wasn't the infrastructure, there wasn't the desire for it. And now to be in a place where we're like, dang, we're like pretty much in the heart of downtown, thriving, and uh it just became this thing that was the right thing at the right time, and it was just a great opportunity. And now you see all the different all the growth around us, uh, it's cool, man. Um, because I don't know, 15 years ago, I wouldn't see myself in Rock Hill long term. I'm like, I gotta go, you know, you know, go to a city, go somewhere. Now I'm happy as a clam in my hometown. You know, I don't I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that's a great location. You got four mill right there then Charlotte. I don't like driving in Charlotte. Off subject, is that a Grateful Dead lightning bolt?

SPEAKER_03

That is actually I saw I saw your dead poster over here. This is actually a TCB lightning bolt for uh oh nice, dude. Nice. Yeah, I'm an Uncle Jerry fan myself. Uh this is a TCB taking care of business lightning bolt for Elvis. Yeah, but uh it's funny. I have this picture of Jerry Garcia, like this drawing this person did for me 25 or 30 years ago, and I've had it forever hanging on the wall. There he is. Keep you company, man. I had it hanging on the wall, and uh Johanna, my daughter, would you know, when she was four, she'd be like, Daddy, who's that? I'm like, Oh, it's Uncle Jerry. And she really thought it was her uncle for the longest time. She was like, wait, that's not my uncle. Yeah, I've never seen Uncle Jerry. We're not gonna meet him.

SPEAKER_02

I'm glad you brought her up, man. So, how often is she in the kitchen with you?

SPEAKER_03

Oh god. Uh so she is busy, she's a busy girl. You know, she's 16. She just took the SAT for the first time. She's a junior at Rock Hill High. So next year's senior year, man, she's visiting colleges and everything. So she works at the restaurant two nights a week. Friday and Saturday. And uh and it's cool. Like she's uh she's a hostess. Oh no, what's her name? Johanna.

SPEAKER_01

I don't think uh she works Friday, Saturday nights. Yeah, typically nights, because you'll you'll come by for lunch a lot of the time.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, but she uh you know, she's she's by my hip, you know, a lot. Like always in the kitchen, like just messing around. And she's she like you know, she likes to come in when it's not as busy, you know. Like because we're we're closed Monday, Tuesday, so I spend a lot of time in the kitchen Monday, Tuesday, just like ah, like my Zen play. So she'll come back in and we'll cook a little bit, you know. But she's uh she really enjoys it, you know, and and I I love her being there, you know. She's my bestie. It's beautiful, man.

SPEAKER_02

Lyrics, she told me a couple years back that I should open up a restaurant. Yeah. So I'm gonna do it. Let's do it sometime down the road. Back to Winthrop and playing soccer. What did you learn on that soccer field that you like apply to today in your everyday life, especially specifically working at the restaurant?

SPEAKER_01

Man, just uh all walks of life, uh, from way different backgrounds. You know, we talk about you know, the different nationalities, the different um ethnicities, the different, different religious backgrounds. It's just cool when everybody can put their mind to one common goal. And it's uh, you know, the teamwork aspect of teams, team sports um translates so well to real life, uh, to business opportunities later, to professional life. And that's kind of like, you know, I went from uh, you know, taking the field with some guys to now kind of in this in a similar way, like uh each morning when I show up and uh the staff is there, it's like, all right, get ready to play. You know, everybody buckle up. We're gonna do everything for the the common good of the team. When you're down, I'll lift you up. But you see me down, lift me up too. Because everybody has those days, everybody has an off game, everybody has an off day, and it's about making sure that that doesn't sink the team. It's just, you know, just one common goal, and that's just to be the best that we can as a unit. For the record, Charles never has an off day.

SPEAKER_02

Sometimes I have an off-week brother.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02

Oh man, how about uh off 30 years? Yeah, 38 years, rough guy for 30 years there.

SPEAKER_01

Um it's just believing in the people that are next to you too, and seeing the, you know, he saw something in me, I see something in everybody that live that works there. And uh, it's just a beautiful thing with a bunch of different people, a bunch of a bunch of oddballs can come together and put out the product that we do. And uh it's just a beautiful thing, and I genuinely love it. Like when I show up there, Philip sometimes like is always like, I don't know how you show up, and you're just like, what's up, everybody? Happy Monday, happy Wednesday, you know, whatever day it is. And uh I really just walk through those doors and I'm like, I'm happy to be here, you know.

SPEAKER_02

That's what it's about being uh in that moment, man, and being grateful for what's going on, just to even be there. Because like you uplift me, man. I can have like a long day and come in there, like maybe a meeting didn't go right that morning. And uh I'm always lifted up dog when I come in there, man, when you're in there.

SPEAKER_01

And that's that's the goal, man. It's to have to create a sense of community and to create a safe space where you can not only get good food, but like, you know, the servers know your name, the bartender knows your name, the manager, the chef knows your name. They want you to genuinely have a great time and curate an environment where you can come be at peace for 45 minutes, an hour, hour and a half. However long you want to spend with us, we want you to spend it with us.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah, just like you say, like just like shooting the shit. Yeah, good conversation, all that man. You got that old school wrestling on. Wrestling.

SPEAKER_03

Wrestling.

SPEAKER_02

Shout to Joseph Pacheco and all wrestling coaches around. But on the podcast that we did a couple weeks ago, I had said that I was like, yo, what's your favorite restaurant in town? I said Bear Walrus. So thank you. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03

It's my it's my favorite in town, too.

SPEAKER_02

No, like legit. Yeah, I think. Like one of the first like you know, I came in maybe a handful of time. Right. And when I finally talked to you, I was like, yo, thank you for doing this. Like we needed this. Like, because I'd be, I was gonna take this this lady out like on a date, you know what I'm saying, just to get like lunch or whatever. And I'm like driving around. Well, no, I was at I was at home on my cell phone trying to figure out a restaurant to go to, bro. And I didn't, I was like, man, I got I don't know what to do. Like I ain't know where to go. Yeah. And it's tough living in a town. This you know, I grew up here, man. And it's sad. But yeah, so thank you.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I think, you know, even since I've been here, so I guess I've been here about four years now. Um, it's like, you know, I've I've seen some some like cooler places come in, you know. Like when I first got here, like it was it was pretty trash.

SPEAKER_02

Like you know, I'm not saying that uh all restaurants in Rock Hill are trash besides y'all. I'm not saying I'm gonna make sure that I get that much.

SPEAKER_03

But there were there was there was not a lot of choices, not a lot of good places to go, you know? And it was just like, uh even if I was on the phone with you, yeah, and I was I might go to show malls, man. I was like, man, maybe I could open up like anything. I've opened up for Charles on a date one time.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it did. It did.

SPEAKER_02

Probably um, disorderly conduct.

SPEAKER_01

Disorderly conduct, yeah. So actually, to preface it, today is actually World Bipolar Day. One year ago, I finally Wait, wait, what? Yeah, today is March 30th. That's why whenever you propose proposed this date, I was like, oh, he's gonna get a kick out of this whenever he gets brought up. So yeah, March 30th, and one year ago today was when I actually owned the fact that I did. I came out on social media and I was like, hey, like, and basically just told people my diagnosis that I received back in 2017 that I pretty much for seven years, you know, I was aware of it and I like had the knowledge, but I kind of wanted to hide it and internalize it because there's a stigma, you know. Oh, he's bipolar. Like, what's he gonna do? Is he gonna cry and then yell and then laugh and then cry again? No, it's uh and it's not like that. Uh, you know, just the way that it's been depicted and uh some of the more volatile people that have been bipolar, and like, you know, it's um it's easy to get uh anyways in a different way.

SPEAKER_02

Like misconstrued, yeah, get it misconstrued.

SPEAKER_01

And I thought that uh last year I I was just internalizing this, and that's a lot of like um you know, weight to bear uh without being able to truly open up to somebody. You know, my parents knew obviously and uh were supportive and everything, and uh, you know, I take my medication and stuff, but it was still something that I was just not proud of. I was just like, dang, I wish I didn't have this, but like it has made me authentically me, and owning it, uh I thought that I would be a good spokesperson for the bipolar community. Like, I I want people to look at me and like, because I'm typically happy go lucky, happy go-jolly, you know, walking around the restaurant, smiling and ear to ear, and um, you know, you don't know what I'm going through. Nobody knows what each other are going through. Everybody has stuff, you know. And um, I just wanted people to look and be like, what, like this normal appearing guy that is charismatic and that most people like is bipolar, huh? And the way that I can reduce that negative stigma, like I just really want to take every opportunity. So that's where disorderly conduct, um, you know, the nonprofit that I founded here just in the past month, you know, we have a website and we're open and operational, but still uh pending our 501c3 status. You can't you can't rush the IRS, you know. So uh still still waiting on uh the official 501c3 status, but I just want to educate people, promote uh and um you know foster a community where people can come and be authentically them. You know, let your guard down, bunch of cool people, and uh also yeah, educate spouses, friends, family. And uh I don't want kids uh growing up and uh you know going through what I went through and not knowing why. I was on on paper, on top of the world, you know, soccer was going well, school was going well, life was going well, but you know, you're just clinically depressed, you don't know why you're feeling this way. You can get in dark, dark spaces, and it doesn't make sense. So learning that about me, a lot of things from my childhood, my early adulthood started to make sense. And uh, you know, it's all about getting to know yourself, and you know, um as much as at the beginning I didn't want to be bipolar, I am I am, and I'm proud of it now, you know. It's just as what it's made me me.

SPEAKER_02

Let me tell you something. Whenever you want to come on here and promote whatever, you let me know. Oh, yeah, this won't be my last time in the studio. It is uh yeah, seriously. Yeah, it takes so much courage, man, and that is real growth, and that's what the dapping the hug is all about. Yeah, man. Giving people uh safe space to talk.

SPEAKER_01

100%, man.

SPEAKER_02

And it's is it isn't it therapeutic to talk about that kind of thing? I just got chills.

SPEAKER_01

It is me too, man. Like I it's uh because the biggest, the biggest uh like let's call it like a you know, a um a relevant term nowadays, my biggest crash-outs or my biggest downfalls have been when I have internalized things that have transpired over days, weeks, months. I just don't talk about it. I keep it in. And then it's like the straw that broke the camel's back. You know, something little might happen, and that's when that's what sets me off. But it's it's just the not talking about it for months prior. And you know, then just letting it all out at once in a bad way.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Now, so you said you are on medication. I know you go to the Y and you work out. Yes, sir. And you do you also see a therapist? I do, I do. So that's like a trifecta thing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, what else helps? Uh you know, the medication definitely helps as much as uh, and I can't I very much came from a family that was like uh, you know, don't take anything unless you're like dying, you know? And uh so I had to believe in the I had to start to believe in the medication, and uh, you know, I felt like I was crazy for having to pop, you know, three pills as soon as I wake up in the morning, but now it's like, man, we have this uh we have science, you know, we have things that can help us. And I have a therapist and uh um, you know, doctors that care about me. I've been seeing, seeing uh, you know, my childhood doctor forever that when he um when my therapist proposed the medication, he was like, I think that'd be really good for you. And I got a couple of people that have more diplomas on their wall than books that I've read in my my whole life, you know what I mean? So I'm sitting there and I'm like, these guys care about me.

SPEAKER_02

well educated they're smart this will help me and um like you said uh you know working out is a big thing faith is always a is also a big thing it's just like kind of uh you know letting go letting God kind of thing I just uh you know kind of try to leave my worries at the door and just know that somebody somebody upstairs is uh looking out for me and that that does a lot at the end of the day that's beautiful man yeah we're definitely gonna partner up on some stuff man yeah man I'm gonna uh we're gonna get the word out on all that brother I appreciate you of course man so let me so why is community such a big part of what you do?

SPEAKER_01

Well I've grown up in Rock Hill and uh a lot of my friends have are still here some have gone elsewhere in the greater Charlotte area or like my teammates that came from all over the world they might be back in their home country but like everything's about community and like having not only family but true friends that you can go to when when shit hits the fan you know like somebody that actually genuinely authentically cares.

SPEAKER_02

And they'll like actively listen.

SPEAKER_01

Actively listen they're not gonna judge you. Right and that that's the thing like when I when I finally you know uh came out I guess last year as uh bipolar I had so many people reach out to me and be like man I I'm so proud of you I'm but I hate that you felt like you couldn't talk to me about this you know and I was like you know felt a little guilty about it but it's cool that I have people that genuinely want to be there for me and I want to foster a community that is there for each other. If you're going through something man talk to somebody don't act out don't be irrational let's start with you know your friend and if you don't have a friend I'll be your friend I'll be there for you because at the end of the day I'm just a human that wants to help other humans and wants to help this earth be a much better place because you know it's easy to easy to see all the bad let's let's do some good I love um when God puts like minded people in my path I love it man and you can get you a good cut of uh prime ribs yeah while you're at it yeah you can talk about your mental health while you're eating some brisket prime rib any of that come on this helps yeah but it's it's it's so therapeutic man and that's a lot to do with a lot of situations that people are going through people got these internal battles going on they scared to talk to people about it because they may it's like shame.

SPEAKER_02

Right. Is it pride or is it shame? It could be a combination of both you can't keep it internalized and like you say act out. Yeah because when people get hurt please don't hurt yourself. Right talk to somebody like you know I mean at the end of this I'm saying I'm definitely gonna ask y'all to give out y'all socials or how can they get in contact with you and you know I'm saying for stuff like that because people out here just leaving leaving this earth so quick yeah so fast man and that's why I like you know try to be on good terms with everybody man I don't like falling out with people like you know I'm saying because you never know when it's gonna be the last time you talk to somebody I was not trying to make it so dark like we good we out here spreading the light that's that's that's that's the focus man enlighten people on what's going on so what does like support look like for somebody that's troubled right now like what are what's the first step for somebody to get help?

SPEAKER_01

Finding somebody that cares. And then after that owning it as an individual because for a while I knew about it didn't own it didn't wear it and now I'll uh you know scream it from the rooftops you know it's just uh it's just me and somebody that needs support that's that's one of the reasons that uh you know I found it is because I wanted there to be a community where you can get educated so that you know a lot of these things resonate with you you know maybe do go see a doctor you know not just pushing medication on anything but like therapy is a real thing and if you need medication don't be too proud to take it these guys are trying to give you the tools to better your life and going forward like I'm just glad I learned it when I was 23 instead of you know 43 you know where I could have messed up a business a marriage or something based on me acting out internalizing things and not knowing my true authentic self. So uh support is there and uh it's just seeking it out and being you know man or woman enough to own that I got some stuff I'm dealing with that I can't take on my own. That's that's life man that's everybody's got stuff that they just can't do by themselves. So just seek that support because it's there and anybody that has and anybody can reach out to me for my personal experience and what steps I took to get where I'm at now I'm still far from perfect but I'm better and that's that's what I'm trying to do is just be a little bit better each day help people as much as I can. Does getting out of nature help you? Oh yeah I uh I take uh so I had foot surgery last year I used to be a big runner and I'm doing a little walk run now I gotta get my shape uh get back in shape but man just walking around uh I live right next to Winter Blake so on my break uh from work or before work or something like that a lot of times I'll just walk from my house around a little three mile loop around Winter Blake that I've uh constructed myself and uh when you go out and you see the beauty that God has put on this earth you know it's it's just refreshing breathing in fresh air looking around seeing the sunshine and we got spring coming now and we're uh we're seeing trees bloom and man when you look around life ain't all that bad it's a beautiful thing it's easy to see nothing but the dark and uh yeah being out in nature and just realizing like that's one thing that always brings me back to being like man this thing isn't man made you know what I mean like this earth is not man-made you go up you watch a sunrise or you go uh you know you go somewhere beautiful and just take it in and be like you know there is a higher power and it's a beautiful thing that he's done.

SPEAKER_02

Have you ever thought about like maybe getting a group of people together and going like on hikes or going camping for stuff like that just to kind of connect with nature and to heal a little bit man and talk about stuff like you you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01

Yes I I haven't been I'm not I'm very big about a terror I'm very big I'm trying to I mean yeah I'm very big about a roof over my head a running water electricity but you know with the right group of people I absolutely would camp set up and just kind of take it all in because I do think that you know being outside I mean it's not it's not only like not me telling you like oh yeah get outside it's scientifically proven you can get go get sunlight touch grass you know I tell people that all the time just go touch some grass yes exactly like get out in nature experience all that this earth's got to offer because it's easy for somebody to get tucked behind a desk go straight home get no natural sunlight during the day except maybe on your work commute like man go out breathe some fresh air get with some friends go go kick a soccer ball go hoop you know do some do some fun stuff that um that is there in this world bro and then like maybe go trout fishing yeah clean the trout maybe go hunting take it all the bare walrus throw it all in the smoke together just put it all in there together with some some mustard and some some pickle juice and some of that rub yeah and make something crazy happen.

SPEAKER_03

Exactly you ever done any wild game do you hunt I uh I have hunted in my life more like I like to shoot birds as opposed to like like deer or anything like that.

SPEAKER_02

Like I like to duck hunt I like to dove hunt um yeah not not as much as I would like to you know but I bet a little backstrap in a bro backstrap in the one I'll throw one in for you okay seriously straight up all right I'm gonna ask you this we can probably edit this out man but like like so yesterday when I was when I was there I was like yo can I get a piece of that prime rib or whatever like you didn't have that on the menu so obviously I couldn't get that yeah but then you know you basically was like it's best to go to long bottoms yeah yeah yeah I thought it was kind of a good segue from what we just talked about because if you're not talking to anybody and you're you're alone or you feel alone and you're going through these thoughts and in the personal hell you're in a long bottom abyss of darkness. Oh yeah and the name of your company is Lone Bottom Meats. Yes so let's talk about that like because I've been in the like from lamb to pork chops to brisket I mean I I I've been in there before y'all was like cooking the brisket or something y'all had like a grill going in there or something like that right we keep it you got like the turkey breast the smoked turkey um I got some bison steak them bison steaks are ridiculous dogs you got a plethora of stuff in there man so just give like a quick overrun of what all you offer well I mean you know I mean it's it's a it's an old school butcher shop you know it's not like a wine bar we don't have a bunch of other stuff you know it's it's a butcher shop time out and the chicken wings are ridiculous yo don't know talk about the chicken wings the chip the restaurant or at the butcher shop restaurant they come from the butcher shop too though right those are the chicken wings talk about like because they're high quality chicken wings oh yeah so we use uh Springer Mountain Farms jumbo wings you know and I mean they're they're good they're not just straight commodity wings right and time out again and it's not like because I don't like those real big like they got like the big wings you're almost like man it's like pumped up full of steroids so when you say jumbo you're not talking about like those ones that look crazy. I wanted to say that because I know other people they don't like real big chicken because like oh it's pumped full of antibiotics or whatever the rabbit hole can take you yeah but the your wings are ridiculous I just wanted to say that continue.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah but it's like I said it's it's everything else it's a good product start with and take care of it. But we live there to shout out to Big Tiff you know she makes all the sausage over there so she's awesome five or six different types a week you know we've got beef bacon lamb bacon breakfast bacon we make out of pork time out y'all have beef bacon yes right now I'm I'm gonna go get some after we leave after uh y'all leave no I'm serious I didn't know y'all had beef bacon because a good friend of mine Noah Gordon shout out to him daw um if you ever need some treat cutting auger I can't think of name of his business but anyway he was talking about like beef bacon in the place where we were at it and offer it I did not know that y'all offered beef bacon dog yeah I've been kind of getting away from the pook a little bit here. We uh when we first started doing it I mean we had a list of people we had to call and it would like we'd sell out of it in a day you know and it's like a I mean it's a two week long process to make it so now we'll make more and we keep it in that let me push a campaign about your beef bacon dog okay be like got beef and have like that biggie song plan or something like instrumental of the post. What is beef got beef no well come up the lone by the meat so we can serve you beef pork whatever kind of bacon you want you say you got lamb bacon bacon yes I didn't know see I've been I've been in the several times and didn't even know you had all that yeah it's a we gotta we gotta push the word on this dog um we got taking no for answer we do our own dry aging in there we do uh everything we sell is either certified Angus prime or American Wego um make our own crab cakes um smoke our own salmon in there um fresh salmon we don't do a lot of seafood but if you want the freshest seafood around just hit me up and I can have it in like two days you know it's it's we're uh you know some people thought we were crazy they're like you can't open that in Rock Hill you know and only sell that and I was like all right watch me that's that yeah so we'll be going into our fourth year and we're opening a second location in York uh in May hopefully fingers crossed may what well May 1st I would like to be there to capture some stuff May 1st is what I hear but it was April 1st before so you know it might be more like June middle of June but at the Yorkville marketplace if you're familiar.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah I'm familiar you know what California Street is California I do know where California is that's my grandma uh their first house all right um she did like the school lunch and stuff I've been saying that a couple times man I'm gonna tell you something though though I'm gonna share something with y'all man like I told my daughter about it last night like her birthday was um March the 20th my grandma and that was the weekend where I got my first like media entry like media access situation to get like footage and b-roll of the MMA fights right up at Grady Cold Center and I just like thought about it man like because you know I was talking about nostalgia and I was talking about like being in the kitchen my grandma is like I don't have an opportunity to talk to her right now whatever but I was listening to a song man at Dear Anne by Lil Wayne dog and like I started thinking about her man and I literally just felt like a connection with her like this is like one of the biggest weekends for my business in my life and it happens to land on her like birthday and I just felt the connection man like I just feel like our ancestors like literally lived through us man. The universe man like if you could if you really get in tune with shit like you get your faith right and you get in tune with like nature you know what I'm saying like I think us as humans when you can get past those the the battling the demons or whatever the the internal battles that you're going through man you can really see what's going on and you be more connected to certain things man. Call me crazy no that's very true. Like I like I like that one like because you know what poke salad is um I do know what poke salad is she used to cook poke salad my uncle rat um shout to him rest in peace as well he used to pick a lot of it and um but she picked it as well and it had like a write up in the paper about her oh that's awesome you know what I'm saying and I actually got it somewhere I'm gonna probably put it in the living room man but I I couldn't tell you what poke salad is walking like poke weed I know I didn't see the little thing it looked that looks more like wine or like a um grape vine rather but yeah but yeah man so that's one of those things where it's like I want to educate the people on poke weed because it's everywhere when you look outside you see it's like the purple berries and the green leaves but if you wash it appropriately like you don't eat the berries but you can wash it and eat it it's a green like most green leafy leafy vegetables have like nutritional value. I want to you know I'm saying I want to go pick some poke salad right wash it and educate the people and then like yeah they just throw some fat back in there.

SPEAKER_03

Oh yeah you know what I'm saying that's an old school way of doing it well like I said I I've eaten the poke's I wouldn't know what to pick though you know what I'm saying like what's what and what's growing where you know so they'll show you yeah I know I gotta learn about this dog you would change you would dog no I mean I if he was to put post salad on the menu though I don't know if you can do that legally though like how how does that work with like wild stuff that's not considered like collet greens that's in or turnip greens that's in the like how would you keep it very quiet no no allegedly yeah foraging and stuff I mean that's that's cool you know it's just usually has to go through someone before you can like bring it into the restaurant you know some some USDA type facility you know but it's just I don't know I think with the I mean like look I would put poke salad on you know I used to know the chef that had a full like garden in the front of his restaurant you know he'd pick everything from there and then their bar opened up next door and people started peeing all over his plants and stuff.

SPEAKER_02

So you nah yeah not cool yeah yeah I don't know if they were like you know I'm gonna go piss on this vegetable you know they were just like they thought it was just a lot of brewery sometimes yeah exactly right just so you know homeless people they're coming just pissing in your garden just to piss in come on man come on like damn that's the food right now at least pick a cucumber tomato before you piss you ain't even eating you just over here pissing that was terrible that's fine that's fine hey man yeah I'm I wanna I'm gonna do a segment y'all gotta leave in about five minutes I'm gonna do a segment like for veterans man no yeah I have a connection like because I was born on Veterans Day my sister you know she was a veteran both my granddaddies were veterans and they gave them a place to tell their stories man I just they they obviously deserve to be heard man and they're going through struggles because I'm I'm I'm real big on mental health obviously you are too so I'm sure you are and like nobody's done that but I'm I want to do it um I think that'd be great man there's always a you know always a place for like therapeutic things like that you know like you said people need to tell their story and people need to talk about it like Charles said earlier you just gotta own it man it's it's you you know tell us about you okay now um spring forward it's warming up saying you ever had a lot of music out there so we're working on it right now all right so it will probably be in the next three weeks but yeah you got somebody or some money some body yeah some some yeah I got I know a few musicians man yeah send them over there and uh we're gonna definitely talk uh I'm excited about that yeah badio's perfect out there the weather's nice right now shout out to Anna Leprad bro or Anna Anna Clifford but um do you know I'm talking about she sings like country music I do like folks she's from here she's gonna be in town this week actually I'm hoping I can do an episode with her but uh I'll talk to her I know because you bring her to launch yeah absolutely bro hey we might okay no I might bring her in though dog and then yeah you know yeah um she I love her so much dog like I had said I had said on one podcast I had one of the hobos in Fort Mill and she was performing and I was like you know looking around like I'm always on my P's and Q's or whatever and uh there was somebody like dancing like near the money hat and they kind of up in the face I was like you know I'm on point and I was like yo if I'm on site and you performing I am your private security I'm not taking no for 100% love you um so the live music thing do you have anything coming up as far as any inspirational ideas like let me ask you this man have you ever thought about throwing kiwi in the mix on the menu because it's something about kiwi like matter of fact I might edit this out because I'm I'm thinking about maybe getting like a bunch of kiwis like a kiwi feel and grow a bunch of them right because they are very very high in vitamin C.

SPEAKER_03

Mm-hmm and uh kombucha if you look at the ingredients on kombucha there's a common denominator in this kiwi no really have you ever thought about maybe brewing your own kombucha or like incorporating kiwi on the menu something I used to make my own kombucha probably 10 years ago or so like uh when when my daughter like she when I told her it was like a living drink she would like freak out you know and so I had my scoby was actually probably about that thick at one point in a jar like this. So yeah I have I have done it dude like I like I love it. Like the natural carbonation whole thing like so awesome. Because I used to I used to do a lot of fermenting we still make some pickles but that's all we do right now. But yeah kombucha yes kiwi not really you know it's just like we're more like southern ingredients you know and I don't know if people consider kiwi to be a southern ingredient but uh if you're growing it let me know and then we'll call it a southern ingredient.

SPEAKER_02

I'll throw it in the salad yeah hey when you step outside I'm gonna show you I got a a male plant and a female plant I actually got a little harvest last year for the first time because the frost kept killing it it was about like this big around like the kiwi berries and they stunted. Oh wow you know what I'm saying it's just like this will probably be like year nine this year year ten or something like that. Um yeah man they actually do grow here obviously they probably grow better in warmer climates but it's crazy with the climate dog you know like sea turtles and um manatee sea turtles and manatees I believe are ready recently are in South Carolina waters now. Oh wow you know I mean everybody everybody but you know migration happens with all species across the animal kingdom so we gotta just adapt with the change right you know how to do that obviously otherwise you wouldn't be successful man gotta roll with it man gotta roll with it though but see you y'all on top of that shit that's my point like y'all care about yeah is it patrons would I be considered a patron y'all care about y'all's patrons the people that come in there y'all don't just say matter of fact you don't even say oh it's just a patron it's like oh I know your name we're gonna have a conversation yeah yes and build like that rapport and it's organic and it's real like back to what you said all like real ingredients real people trying to do real things real positive things for the community man that's what y'all represent and that's what we I think that's why we connect so well we we grew up like that man yes yes that's it man thanks for having us of course man this is a lot of fun dude hey we can do another one hey go ahead and give your information I'll put it in the description but how can people reach out to you if they need help they have any questions like they're going through some stuff give out looking the camera please any last words as well in the same for you afterwards please sir right now I'm just on our website is disorderly dash conduct.org so you can find out the you know our mission our vision uh the basics on that right now I have an Instagram page I'll have to make sure that I got couldn't even tell you off the top it was just one of those things that I wanted to start put myself out there and say all right first the first bit of it is just about starting a page starting a website getting it out there so uh disorderly conduct is on Instagram I think it has no posts no followers not not following anything but I was just like let me get the let me get the um you know username and just make sure I lock that down.

SPEAKER_01

Um, so I'll I'll get with you about the the exact username that I have. There's a dash in it somewhere because you know there was another disorderly conduct. So I had to make sure that I put a dash or something underscore. But um, and then Charles Doc Colson, y'all reach out to me personally if y'all have anything that y'all are going through, feel like you have nobody you can talk to. That's what I do. I talk all day. I think everybody here knows that you can talk to a wall. I prefer talking to people. So and then uh I'll let Philip take the Bear Walrus.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, Bearwalrus.com, man. You can make a reservation, you can get on there, you can shoot us a message. Also, longbottommeats.com, shoot us a message. You can order something special. Um, our Instagram is where we put a lot of information. So follow us on Instagram. It's at Bear Walrus. We're the only Bear Walrus. So it is Bear Walrus B-E-A-R, W-A-L-R-U-S.

SPEAKER_02

I gotta say, man, thank y'all for coming. Man, thanks for having me. Your restaurant is legit. Thank you. And you legit. I appreciate it. For real. Um, yeah. Dap in the Hood Podcast. Thank y'all for listening. Uh, peace and blessings. Yeah. Is there anything else that comes to mind, man, that you want to say? Like humbly, just like as far as like, what is it, bro? Oh man, like uh maybe you don't want to tell your secret. Not even be like secret sauce or whatever.

SPEAKER_03

There is no secret, man.

SPEAKER_02

Is it just your personality, the way you run things?

SPEAKER_03

It's the way it's no, it's it's a deterrent a lot of times. Um no, it's just it's just look, man, put out the best possible product you can at the best possible price you can and surround yourself with people that give a damn, you know? And then be able to identify the people that do give a damn and the people that don't, you know, and know that you can, if you have two people that really care, that's way better than having ten people that kind of are like eh, you know, indifferent to it, you know. But it's it's also a labor of love. You know what I'm saying? Like, you gotta know that look, people think, oh man, you must be rich and all this, and you know, it's all so great. It's like, nah, dude. Like, I mean, you know, I work every day, you know, and it's just it's something that I love. And if you don't have a passion for this, dude, then keep on walking, dude. That's it. That's the joy, that's the gem right there. You can take you can take a pile of money and set it on fire. You know what I'm saying? Because you've got to want to be there every day. Yeah, we were talking the other day, it's like, I've actually, you know, my kitchen right now is as good as it's been. And I I love all the dudes in there, and they're solid guys. So I'm not in there like as much as I used to be when we first opened. And I'm like sitting in the office, I'm like typing up menus and doing this and whatever. And it's like, I told him, I was like, man, I just can't do it. I gotta I gotta get out there. You know, it's like, oh man, I gotta go, you know. It's like it's it's it's what I do, you know, and and I love it. And if you like I said, if you don't love it, then just like I said, take a pile of money and set it on fire. I know you I know you gotta go.

SPEAKER_02

One one last quick question. How do you deal with the pressure of like deadlines or something goes wrong a night like a big night or like an opening or just like a special event? Like, how do you deal with the pressure?

SPEAKER_03

So it's what the stress of it. Well, it's like we're doing uh Easter brunch buffet, right? We've never done a buffet in there before, like we're ready to go. It's gonna be a completely different menu. You know, it's it's like I said, I mean, you can't let it, you can't let it eat you up. You know, it's like look, at the end of the day, you gotta look at it for what it is, right? It's us cooking food that we do every day. People are gonna come in, reservation's sold out, fully booked, you know. It's like it's gonna be good, right? But if you just let it eat away, you know, and just look, get up there and face the dragon, you know, like you got to. Like you can't keep pushing it and pushing it and pushing it. Like, you just gotta go. And it's like in my life, like, you know, these these deadlines, I mean, that's what I live for. You know, I I live for the pressure. You know, if if it wasn't, if there wasn't some type of pressure or deadlines you had to hit or whatever, anybody could do this, you know what I'm saying? But like, look, just get in there and do the damn thing, man. You know, just just do what you do and just do it and stop, block all the all the distractions.

SPEAKER_02

You know, and that's exactly how that's exactly what I was thinking last night because you was asking me what direction is a conversation gonna go. I was like, he doesn't need a set of questions. How many questions, if you can recall off the top of your head, did I ask from that list that I sent y'all? What questions, what list, right? So yo, but if you want real food, real ingredients, go to Belle Walres. If you want real conversation, keeping it a hundred, tapping the hood podcast. Love you all.

unknown

Thank you.