EAST TEXAS UNFILTERED w/J. Chad Parker: Featuring Nick Pencis

Nick Pencis joins East Texas UNFILTERED with J. Chad Parker for a great conversation about the story behind Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q. Nick shares how he got into the restaurant business, the hard lessons he learned early, and how those lessons helped shape him as an owner. He opens up about mentors, risk, and the long road that brought him back to Tyler.

This episode highlights the legendary status of Stanley’s Famous Pit Bar-B-Q. Nick explains why it means so much to East Texas. He talks about the history of the place and the years of work it took to grow. He shows how Stanley’s became more than a barbecue joint. It is a Tyler landmark. People know it for great food, live music, and warm hospitality. It has a one of a kind atmosphere that keeps people coming back.

Nick talks about where Stanley’s may go next and how he still wants to keep building in Midtown Tyler. He shares his thoughts on growth, family, and creating places that bring people together. This is an honest East Texas conversation about grit, vision, and the kind of local legacy that lasts. Make sure you like and subscribe to the channel for more great East Texas content.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I I started as a server at the restaurant and and talked my way into getting a management job and at the time I was really flustered by the owner and my boss. The the guy was was just really, I thought, unnecessarily busting my chops all the time. This guy was super checklist oriented. He didn't have the creative flair that we have. He was very eccentric and and he was but just very by the book. But later on down the road when when I came into the ownership at Stanley's, I picked up the phone, called him, and I said, Hey Rick, this is Nick Fenton's. And the sound that I heard next was him dropping the phone and it hitting his desk because he just couldn't believe that I was calling him and he's like, I thought you hated him. What do you what do you what do you need? And I was like, look, I wanted to apologize, and I just wanted to tell you that you were the greatest mentor that I didn't realize that I had at the moment in time, but I'm an owner now, and I just wanted to say thanks.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Welcome to another episode of East Texas Unfiltered. I'm your host, Jay Chad Parker. Today we have the owner of probably the only iconic restaurant in Tyler, and that's Stanley's Barbecue. I know you know about it, most of you have eaten there. If you haven't, uh then you need to check it out. You're gonna learn more about the restaurant and what's going on, what may be happening in the future. Nick, thanks for being here. Glad to be here, Chad.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

As I understand it, Nick, I'm older than you, so I didn't know you in school. Uh you went to Tyler schools, did you not? I did.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

I moved uh to Tyler in 1989 in the middle of my seventh grade year. I went to Moore Middle School, and then I was at I was at Lee.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

All right. In 1989, I graduated from UT in Austin, and so I'm quite a bit older than you. So we wouldn't have crossed paths until I got back in town. And I think that's when I first met you over at Brady's coffee shop.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Probably somewhere over there, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Because I think I'm not sure if you were married then or if your wife worked in there, uh, but you went in there quite a bit from what I recall.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Yeah, that at that point in time, Jen had basically quit her job. Uh she's she was a personal trainer and taught yoga and Pilates and Longview. And um just the whole inception of how Stanley's happened with both of us was crazy. But at one point it required her to to leave and put on an apron and come over and and yeah, Brady's was our our coffee spot in the morning to uh, you know, have to get the juices flowing.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Well, after you went to Moore, I guess you went to uh what was uh Robert Lee High School? Yeah, graduated in 95. All right. So 95, do you do anything as far as college or study or training uh in any way?

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Um I went to TJC. I got a scholarship to go to TJC to play on the TJ C TJC drumline. Did you play in the band in high school? I did. I was on the drumline at Lee, and I I didn't really know what I was gonna do. My intention was to kind of take a gap year and figure it out. And a bunch of my friends were on the drum line at TJC and they convinced me to come over. You know, they basically got me a scholarship and said, Hey, come and play. And uh I ended up over there for a short time before I um I left and moved down to uh to San Marcus. A bunch of my friends ended up going to school there. I never went to school. I got Texas State. Texas State. Party College. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Party University.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Yeah. I got a great job working at a at an independent restaurant there, and that was my first job as a restaurant manager. And um, so essentially the two things I had ever really done, which were music and the restaurant business, my my parents were both in the restaurant business. My dad was a chef and a certified executive club manager, and hospitality is just kind of in my blood. And uh, once I got that job, it just was it kind of bit me. And um I loved that restaurant and the whole time I was down San Marcos from 97 to 2000, that's all I did was was work in the industry.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Aaron Ross Powell You mentioned your dad. Um where was your dad in you know in business or where was he working for somebody related to hospitality or restaurant?

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Yeah, um my my dad uh was an immigrant. Uh him and his family left flood Latvia in 1941 when the Russian occupation was was about to happen again. Uh they immigrated to to Colorado. One of the first jobs my dad got was uh he was a bus boy at Garden of the Gods in in Colorado Springs. And so hospitality bit him early on as well. He eventually became uh a chef. That's how we met my mother. My mother worked it was a worked at the front desk at a hotel where my dad had come to apply for the job as head chef. And um that kind of just led him to eventually the the country club scene. And my dad was an executive chef of many clubs. He then became a certified executive club manager, and what he his role became is he would go to clubs that were struggling to operate in the black. He was essentially a consultant, and he would get the clubs operating, fix their food and beverage program, their golf program, and then kind of move on to the next spot. So early on we moved a lot, which is how I ended up uh here in Tyler.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Aaron Ross Powell, What brought him to Tyler? What specific job or club? Uh Emerald Bay.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Okay. My dad my dad did Emerald Bay. My mother took over at Emerald Bay after him, and then eventually my dad ended up back in Tyler and he was at Holly Tree for a little while.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

All right. So those are two clubs that most people are familiar with. Emerald Bay was once known kind of as a more of a retirement community, but now I think a lot of young people are moving out there and rejuvenating the homes.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

I've I've heard that. Uh I've heard that it's kind of becoming uh the new spot coming up.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

We've got a podcast uh guest, Smitty Smith, who lives out there presently.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

That's who told me. Smitty's the one who told me. What's up, Smitty?

SPEAKER_01 6:06

I love Mike Martin, uh, you know, uh Ragsdale Martin, who does all my glasses, you know. He's out there. I didn't know that. Chris Woodard, old soccer coach, girl soccer coach, he's out there. Great guy. Um Craig Poole.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

He was there when I was at Lee.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yeah. Right as a girl soccer coach. Yeah. All right. So you get down to uh San Marcos and you work in a restaurant, and uh I it sounds like you moved up to the manager. You're not like a server or bartender, you're actually part of the management.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Yeah, that was that was I I started as a server at the restaurant and and talked my way into getting a management job. And at the time I was really flustered by the owner and my boss. That the guy was was just really, I thought, unnecessarily busting my chops all the time. This guy was super checklist oriented and just you know it it was just annoying. He didn't have the creative flair that we have. He he was very eccentric and and he was, but just very by the book. The way he oper operated. But later on down the road when when I came into the ownership at Stanley's, and I was starting to understand how difficult it actually is, even though I had the experience for a long time, becoming an owner is so much different than just working in a restaurant or even managing, even at a high level. And I picked up the phone one day and I called Rick Travis.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Is was that the guy? That was the guy. And you you kind of had that epiphany where process, as rigid as it was, it really made a difference.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

It was popping up in everything that I did every day, and it was completely subconscious to me. But I had these habits that he ingrained had ingrained in me that I didn't realize. And our relationship did not end really well when I left. It was it wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Well, you know, you're young at that time. Uh you know, we're all stubborn and uh maybe got more ego than yeah, and um but I picked up the phone and called him and I said, Hey Rick, this is Nick Pentis.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

And the sound that I heard next was him dropping the phone and it hitting his desk because he just couldn't believe that I was calling him. And he's like, you know, basically just like what what? I thought you hated it. What do you need? And I was like, look, I wanted to apologize, and I just wanted to tell you that you were the greatest mentor that I didn't realize that I had at the moment in time, but I'm an owner now, and I just wanted to say thanks.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

What type of restaurant what were you working at with this guy that you were learning these things about the business?

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Uh it's called Palmer's Restaurant and Bar. It's still there. Uh he owned a bar called the Green Parrot on the square um in San Marcos. Palmer's was kind of an upscale American restaurant. It's kind of the kind of place you would go, you know, at graduation when you want to go have a nice dinner with your family. It was um bar? Yeah, they had a great bar, but it was in a it was in an old house. And it was just a it was a cool spot. You know, most of the staff was young, it's a college town. Right. But it was um it was just a beautiful spot. So the you know, he wanted to keep an upscale feeling, and so he again he had really, really high standards, and it was really, really cool to learn that.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Yeah, and you know, when you are the boss, as I am as you are, you understand that as new people come in, they don't necessarily uh they're not trained in the ways and the expectations, and you have to kind of hold them to that because they don't always naturally, you know, aspire to do what what we want them to do.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Aaron Ross Powell No, and and Danny Meyer, he was a really influential guy on the hospitality business. He Union Square Hospitality Group in New York City. Um eventually the founder of Shake Shack, he wrote a book which is called Setting the Table. And it's kind of the hospitality industry, you know, what we refer to as our Bible. Right. One of the things that Danny talks about is the salt and pepper shakers. He's like, you have to always just put them back. Everyone's gonna want to move them, everyone's gonna want to put them over here or do this or turn them this way. And he's just like, as soon as you stop putting them back where they're supposed to go, you know, according to your philosophy or whatever, then just hand them the keys and you're done. You have to keep stay principled and stick to your guns because they're always gonna fight you on it, and you know, you just gotta keep doing it.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Well, you know, it's funny you you use that example. I think of myself and my wife who are both a little OCD, and we would naturally migrate to these type of patterns in our business. You know, neatness, structure, right, right, repetition. Uh, because you could kind of you could count on those things once you've f found out they were successful and continue to repeat them. Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

System systems make everything happen, especially as as you grow. Like you have to have systems.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Yeah, because I mean, you know, as much as us patrons love the free poor the jigger, you know, has its place. Yes, it does. Right, because uh times a thousand drinks.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

And and I will tell you that it's not as much about like the the dollar to me and to someone as great as Heather who runs our bar, because it is about consistency. You know, and that's what you learn about all the major successful restaurant companies is if you go eat at that restaurant in this town and you go somewhere else, you want it to meet your expectation. You have an idea of what it's supposed to taste like. And if it's totally different, then you know what's the point of going there? And it's the same with with food and beverage. If there's a drink you like at Stanley's, the next time that you're craving it, you you I want it to taste like exactly yes, and that comes from systems and standards and measuring and old school. My my dad said this to me so many times. If you can measure it, you can manage it. And that's and that's just the truth.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

I think I've heard Heather say that before to me. And Heather's somebody we're gonna return to, but I want to get you to 2000. You've got about three years of experience, right, in management. Yeah. And then do you come back to Tyler in 2000?

SPEAKER_00 12:34

I I did on on on New Year's Eve, Y2K, December 31st, 1998. You were worried about the computers. No, no, it just I I had been removed from my job at Palmer's and took another job managing uh a a pizza joint in in northwest Austin, and it just really wasn't for me. I was just having a hard time. I was on my own. I was like, I just need to do something else. I'm gonna reset, I'm gonna go back to Tyler. And I was considering school at that point in time of like really diving in and doing studying business, something that I wanted to do. How old are you? Twenty-three, twenty-four at this time? Uh okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Ninety five, you graduate from high school five years later. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Okay. So I I came back with the intent to to try school again, but what ended up happening is is a friend of mine who had grown up here, moved to Los Angeles, had started a band, was touring in a band. You know, I'm a I'm a drummer as well. You know, we talked about me being in the drumline.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

I was gonna ask that if you had taken that drumline talent to actually able to work on off a drum kit.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Drumline was was where I started just learning rudimentary. But drum playing the drum kit was was my love. That's you know, one of the earliest things that I remember. I think I was probably seven or eight when we lived in Amarillo, and I remember going to Kmart with my mom and I saw this blue sparkly drum kit like on the shelf up high, and I just I wanted it so bad. And did you get it? No, not that one, not that time. Much later on, but the drums was something that I've just I always was gr gravitated towards and wanted to do and played a lot in high school, you know, almost didn't graduate high school because I was too earned with my band on the weekends and sometimes not making it back to school on time on Wednesday because we had, you know, we were way down in South Texas or somewhere else. And um, you know, I was in a band with the same guy who had moved to Los Angeles, and he hit me up and said, Hey man, we're out on the road. My drummer quit. We're in San Francisco. You wanna you wanna come out and jump in and finish the tour and maybe talk about and I was like, sure, I I'm actually not doing anything right now. And so I picked up and went on the road with those guys from 2000 to 2004. Four almost four years? Yeah, there's they're still out there. I mean, that's a long time on the road. It is, and we're on the road a lot, like essentially nine months or so out of the year every year, living in a van. It got better late, you know, as we can.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

I mean, because the money's not that great if there's four or five guys.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Money was terrible. We ended up there was three of us, we were a trio. Um, but you know, we were we were camping, sleeping in the van, sleeping on on couches. Like, you know, that's rough. It was but it was a commitment to something that we were all really passionate about at a time in our life when we're young enough where you can kind of take a chance like that. So it was it was a time that I look back on fondly. I learned a lot during those times because when you're when you're in a band and you're showing up in a in a town 500,000 miles, people don't know who you are. You have to figure out a way in a college town. All right, we got four hours. You find the nearest kinkas, you go make some flyers, you go to campus, and you just start talking to people and they're like, hey, we're playing a show tonight, come down. And I took that approach actually when I came into Stanley's. You know, Stanley's was a place that all only the old timers hung out at back in the day. Right. People my age didn't know about Stanley's. And so it was my goal to try to flip it back. And I used the gorilla marketing techniques that I learned on the road playing in my band to try to get younger folks interested to come to Stanley's. So it was it was a really unique culmination of all the things I've done when I ended up back here when I left the band in 2004. I ended up back at Stanley's in um in 2005.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

All right. So you don't really you haven't put it together in your mind, but you've picked up uh these business traits for a restaurant bar from uh Traverse. You've kind of picked up some marketing techniques from your time in the band. Yeah. You leave, you come back to Tyler, and when is it that Stanley's somehow ends up in your orbit where uh you're talking about buying Stanley's?

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Well, Stanley's some acquaintances of mine bought Stanley's in the summer of 2000, and that's when I first learned about it. They buy it from the bought it from J.D. and the kids. J.D. was sick at the time. He died a few years later, but the kids didn't want to take over. Don Stanley's uh he's he does ranch real estate, you know, he's had a great career, and it was just something he couldn't come back to, and they had said they were interested, and so they said okay, you know, if you want to keep it going, we'll go.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Chris, pull up the old uh Stanley's we got and see if this is kind of what we're looking at in 2000 when your buddies get it. It looks something like this, right? This is really recent.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

I mean, and at that time the deck wasn't there at all. Right, that's right. None of that was there. It was the the original brick color. Um it's got a landmark uh plaque on the side. It does now, for sure. But at at that time, between 2000 and 2004, when I was on the road, I'd always eat there when I came back. And then when I when I ended up back here in 2004, my intent was school. I I thought that I because I wanted to be a restaurant tour. I knew it's what I wanted to do. I and I thought that my pathway to do that was to go back to school and get my MBA. And so that's what the pathway that I started on. And then the second week of my second semester back here to finish my general stuff at TJC, they called me and said, We need help running the restaurant. Can you come over and help us out?

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Well, because they don't know what to do, and from 2000 to 2004, they've probably struggled and it's it's having a hard time making it.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

I mean I mean I can't really speak for them in in that respect, but I mean, essentially that was kind of what was presented. They needed help operating, they wanted to grow. They had a a location in White House at the time. Most people don't know that, but there was a place in White House that was called it's Ribmasters now, but at the time it was called like Peapaw's Barbecue or something.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Yeah, I mean, I know where that Ribmasters is. It's kind of on your right as you're going into town.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

Yep. For a short time that was Stanley's, so they had two locations and they were juggling. Expanding a little too quick. Something. But you know, I had some operational prowess and and they were asking for my help, and what I had said was, you know what, I I have a job. I was I was bartending at the time, not really working much. Where were you bartending? I was bartending at Holly Tree. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

And that gig has to be slow, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:32

I mean it can it can be, but it was great because I just love people and I love talking to people. And I I made some really deep, meaningful friendships there with people that were members that still to this day come and see me at Stanley's, and they're just like, man, I can't believe I still can't believe I knew you were gonna do something. This is crazy. Um but I was like, you know, I got a job, I'm I'm trying to go back to school, and I don't really want a job. And like, well, what about a partnership or like what if we sold it to you? And I was like, okay, that's interesting to me.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Because I mean that's a lot more than asking for help, and then the next sentence say, Hey, what if we sold it to you? Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

And so that's what piqued my interest. And so I had at this point in time, this was in May of 2005, and April of 2005 is when I met Jen, my wife. Um who you're still with today. Yeah, our 20-year anniversary is this year, so it was my 20-year anniversary at Stanley's. I I met Jen, strangely enough, at Rick's on the square. Common meeting spot for young people in Tyler. But there was a band playing that were kind of mentors of me growing up here. They they were having a reunion show. Who was it? It was uh the imaginary band. The imaginary band. And I knew everyone at this table of like 30 people in the middle of the big room at Rick's, except for her. And I was asking everybody, I was like, who is that? Who is that? Like, oh, it's it ended up being someone uh her her aunt Valerie owned Country Coffee House here in Tyler, which is where my band played on high school all the time. So there were all these really crazy connections. But I had known Jen for a month at this point, and I said, you know, I'm going to school because I want to be a restaurateur. And these guys just hit me up and said, Hey, we need your help to operate. We can sell this to you if if we can, you know, get to a place where we're on the same page. And I was like, I really don't know what to do. And you know, she was just like, Well, close your eyes, think about it, like what makes you feel happy and peaceful? Like, what's the thing that excites you? And I said, You know what? I'm just gonna go for it. And I I dropped all my classes at TJC. I went to work at Stanley's just as a manager running it between the the two things. The very first thing I did was out there at the spot in White House. Closed it. I well, this is I Actually, when it was starting, I pulled the carpet and and had to like get the carpet epoxy off of the concrete floor to help them set it up and then try to set up a way to staff and run all this. And um that was May of 2005 or no June 2005 by the time I got there.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Had you bought it? No. Or or did you just come on to work for it?

SPEAKER_00 22:23

I just came on to work and worked through the through the through c basically evaluate and come up with a plan. The plan was that we were gonna buy it and inevitably We, meaning who? Jen and I. Okay. Y'all weren't married at the time. No, but I I proposed to her uh four months. Okay I just knew it.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

All right. So you you pretty much knew that you know she was gonna be your life partner as well as your business partner.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Yep, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

And so by four months, you're talking we, hey, we're somehow we're gonna buy this. Um, while you're improving it, are you worried that you're adding value that may work against you for the purchase?

SPEAKER_00 22:57

That's a great question because that's kind of essentially what happened, but that's what saved it because the owners ended up taking on other partners that weren't Jen and I, and that wasn't the agreement or why I was there. And so they were just looking for sub m you know, infusions of cash. The the answer that I got was you and Jen are gonna get married and you don't need this kind of stress. And I just thought that was audacious because I was like, this is our life, and we we've agreed that this is what we want to do.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

And so do you feel like y'all had improved it, and that was kind of an excuse like oh, we don't think you're really gonna want to do this, and we want to keep going with this.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

And I don't really, you know, I never was able to get to the heart of that matter. All I all I know is that at the beginning of May of 2006, a month after we had gotten married, Jen and I got married a year to the day that we met. We had just got back from our honeymoon, and I got fired. From Stanley's. I got fired from Stanley's.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Okay, so it feels like, you know, um they're kinda they're not interested in the original deal that they approached you about.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Well, the original owner was his new partners had a keen understanding of, wait a second, this is the kid who's kind of making everything happen right now. And the day after I got fired, which I got fired in front of both of them, they called me to have coffee with them. Me and Jen met them. They said, listen, technically we own a majority and we'd like to to sell you the other owner's portion and be partners with you. And I said no. And Jen was like, hold on a second.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

So she's like, we're listening. What what was the the I mean, what was the reason given when you were fired?

SPEAKER_00 24:41

I mean, at that moment in time, it was I really don't want to get into it because it's kind of it's it's a really personal thing to happen, but I I was I was doing what I know as an operator to make choices that are correct in how you operate, right? And I I said something, I was like, we can't do this. Like and it was basically like actually I can, I don't need you telling me what to do. You're out.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Oh, you think that was kind of a uh a reaction that they might have regretted at the time.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

Well, the next morning, essentially that's what they said. I mean, that's what I'm feeling when they say, Hey, do you want to buy in? Yeah, they're like, We we we need you. Like, you're the one who's kind of really making things happen right now. And and Jen's like, hey, listen, we need a day too.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

My wife is way more cool headed than I am.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Right. I was pissed. I was I was emotional about it. It had hurt my feelings. I had changed the whole entire course of my life to do this thing, and I felt like it had was taken from me, and I was mad.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Yeah, I know, no doubt. I mean and and you should be, but I'm glad. This is the story's getting good here. Uh now she's holding you off, and they're what are they pitching at this point?

SPEAKER_00 25:54

I mean, basically to to to buy in and and be partners to to continue. And but with a controlling share or not. Equal. And and you know, at the time, had I known better, you know, I would have I should have said I'm fifty-one, you guys are fifty.

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Because they could always kind of block you. Right? I mean and then um all right, so the part So we're all in we're all in thirds.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

I'm I'm back. There's three of you. I go to work May 26, 2006, as my first day as an owner of Stanley's. And on Friday night. How many owners are there at this point? There's Jen and I, and then the other two partners. So essentially it's three.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

Yeah, because you're calling you and Jen one. That's correct. 50 and 50 percent.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Well, 33, 33, 33.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Okay, but Jen is 33?

SPEAKER_00 26:44

She's my me and her are are 33 together. Okay. There's two other two other guys.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

So these guys can outvote you. They can right. I mean, but they can't run the restaurant. Okay, so you and Jen, you know this, right? You know that they're stuck. Unless they bring somebody else in, they're not gonna be able to run the place.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Sure. But uh, you know, there was there it wasn't weird. It like it all felt good. I felt like we were all on the same page.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

There was no tension after the fight.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

No, they were like, hey, look, you got it, do your thing. We're here to support you. Like, and it worked well for a while, it but there just there kind of became a point in time where I I understood the direction we needed to go, and I was like, we're gonna need some capital to make some of these changes, and they're like, I really don't want to do it.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

Man, and that's the that story is everywhere. You're like, hey, we need to put money back in this business to make it better and grow. Right. They're like, hey, I'm a partner, I just want to take money out of here.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

Yeah. Right? Right. And it but it got to the point, and it was essentially a a really risky maneuver, but I I kind of put it into a dive, pointed it straight at the ground. I was like, look, if we're gonna save this place, Jen and I know what to do, and we can we can make it happen. But it's gonna be it's gonna be for us. So you have an opportunity now I want to buy you guys out and take all of the risk. You can walk away with everything that you put into it and not have to worry about it. If I have to do what I know I have to do to save this place, I'm gonna do it for my family. Right. So this is it. Either we're all gonna walk away and lose everything, or you're gonna give it to me and let me do what I need to do to save it.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

Did the business have any debt that would have to be assumed or dealt with when you did that? Not much. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Essentially just what they had invested at the time.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

And so you were gonna have to come up with cash from somewhere to buy these guys out.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

And you know what? One of one of Jen's uh clients who she was a personal trainer for were Joyce and Rogers Pope at Texas Bank and Trusts. And so they agreed to extend you a loan, line of credit, something. Jen called them and said, Hey, this is what we want to do. And they said, Jen, we love you. Uh we're gonna have someone reach out and had one of them someone from the bank call us, and we got our first loan to buy them out, and we had some operating capital, and we jumped in and went straight to work, and it has been gangbusters ever since. Our growth since that moment in time to this point is 2200 percent growth.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

All right. And so that point in time, when you and Jen get this loan, you probably borrow a little extra to have some operating capital to to fix things up, to maintain the play.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

And just to have some confidence to operate when you have to go through the rough patches, you know.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Right. You can't just be like on the razor's edge, you know, if it's a slow week or cr or, you know, uh summertime when people are gone.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Yeah, because that that at that moment in time, a Saturday afternoon at Stanley's was our slowest day. There would be three hours on some Saturday afternoons where not a single car would pull into that parking lot. Which is a dramatic change from the way things are today. Saturday afternoon is now by far our our busiest day during the week, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

Yeah, I mean, I know that from going there on Saturdays a lot myself that it starts in the morning and it just continues on through the evening until it closes.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

Yeah, it's it's it can be it can be insane. Literally, the place is insane sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 30:16

Well, okay, so is this 2007? When is this that you guys take complete control of it?

SPEAKER_00 30:22

We take complete control in 2008.

SPEAKER_01 30:24

Okay. 2008, it's all yours. Um, you know, you hear about pit masters. I are there some guys, people, women that are working there, you know, that really helped make the place run. So at the time No. Okay, no. You didn't have a reliable crew that had been working through the Stanley's years?

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Well, it was at that point in time, it was a matter of just it was what we had inherited. Okay, but Stanley's has a long legacy, right? They've been cooking barbecue in that spot. Before Stanley's, it was uh Watson's barbecue and before Watson's barbecue it was Sam Jones' barbecue. Sam Jones barbecue opened uh, I believe in 1953. I found an article in the paper not long ago. And it was actually opened where where the bar is right now in the middle building. It moved over to the new building uh a little bit later. Um but the you know, barbecue had been happening there a long time, processes have changed, corners were being cut. 2008 was the first time we made the Texas Monthly Top 50 kind of on our own. And I had realized that year at a huge epiphany that the way that we are cooking barbecue here is not to the standard that it should be in the state of Texas. And that's when I started taking pilgrimages. I started driving to Central Texas, I started going to Louis Miller barbecue, I started going to Lockhart and seeing what really barbecue's about in the state.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

What is barbecue about? What's different? You know, I've heard uh uh post oak, what is that? The kind of wood you use?

SPEAKER_00 32:08

You know, I mean wood's wood's what's available where you're at in the region, you know. West Texas barbecue, there's mesquite, so I use mesquite. Post oak's available in central Texas. Here in East Texas, it's hickory and pecan, you know, for the most part. And so that's just kind of one of the regional variations of of where you're at and what you have at your business.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Available to because you you need continual supply of wood. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

I mean we go we go through a ton. And especially when you're doing it right, you know, we consume wood at a rate that's pretty it's fascinating to me every time when I have to see like, oh my gosh. Uh you know, we have to get wood from a specialized supplier who comes from Central Texas and they bring a lot. We're you know, we're buying five cords at a time.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

I mean, do you keep it there at the premise? Yeah. Or do you have some other location where you have other things?

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Always there. Um but 2008 is when I realized that we needed to to definitely focus at up until that point, my focus was just running a restaurant, okay? Barbecue. Make it profit. It wasn't my choice. I had never cooked before. I didn't know anything about barbecue. I just was in in an operational space, right? Barbecue was your product. It was. And so I was like, you know what? We really need to do this better. We really need to do this in a as best as we can, and we're not anywhere close right now. And that's when I started to try to turn the corner to to just be way better at at what we did. And and it's a lot to learn. It's a process that's really complicated. It's not easy, it takes a long time, it's really hard, and it's hard to find people who know how to do it or can invest the time to learn. Um, even someone who's been doing it for a long time, it's still the variables are different every day, and you have to know how to overcome that.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

What makes good barbecue, you know, versus just mediocre barbecue?

SPEAKER_00 34:04

Um it's it's the care and the cooking process and understanding that things don't happen by o'clock. Things don't happen by, you know, oh, well, you put the ribs on and set your watch for three hours and then you take them off. It doesn't work that way. You have to understand the nuance. If you're cooking 50 briskets at a time, 50 briskets are going to be different at f be done at 50 different times. You have to understand how to read what it's telling you, how it feels. There's things that you hear, there's things that you smell, there's things that you see. And every single one of them requires someone's hands. Uh and we use two people to make a judgment call of when we're gonna pull something. If they touch it, I think it's good, someone else will go and touch it and be like, I agree, and they'll and they'll pull when it's done. And that's gonna happen at 50 different times if you're cooking 50 brisket. So it's um it's a really nuanced thing, man. It's and it's in it's incredible that to have a end product that you're really, really happy about because it's it's a really hard thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

You know, the growth has probably led to it being more difficult for you to guess or to estimate how much meat to buy every week. Is that is that an issue?

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Well, yeah, I mean, no matter how long you do it, none of us can ever predict the future, right? And that's the thing I don't think most people understand is today's Tuesday. Okay. Our brisket cook for Wednesday is happening right now. It started at, you know, four o'clock this morning, and it's gonna go until probably seven or eight o'clock tonight. We're gonna pull and rest, and then we're gonna hold those briskets hot until we need them tomorrow. So I mean, we're we're in shifts. You know, a lot of people traditionally they do those cooks overnight, and it's difficult, but that's just kind of part of the evolution of of barbecue in the modern age is figuring out how to stagger and do things a little different. You don't have to do it that way anymore. You don't have to stay up all night overnight through the night. Um I guess that's why I never got into barbecue. Yeah, and it's I mean, like barbecuing that's one of the things that makes it hard. And so um we can't predict the future. We can make always make our best guess. We can use data to tell us that. We can look at this week, last year. Well, what did we do? What was the weather like? We can make predictions based on our just best case scenario, but bottom line is we don't know what's gonna happen. And inevitably that's why barbecue joints sell out of things. Because, you know, everything from chicken to sauce is Stanley's out of ribs, you know. Right, and people get mad, but it's like I cooked 110 racks of ribs, like we didn't know that we were gonna get hit like this at one o'clock in the afternoon. And you know, by the time we get more on, it's a you know, four-hour process. Right. Okay, we'll have more for dinner, but sometimes you don't. And it's uh we're just always doing the very, very best I can. I promise you we don't want to disappoint anybody. That's not what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

No, I know you and I know that to be true. It sounds like you kind of got your barbecue and your people in good shape, um, you know, and then thought about expanding the bar to the bar that everybody loves and enjoys today.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

Yeah, I mean that was that was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up. It was one that I had wanted forever. I wanted that building, and you know, at the time Stanley's was leased property and their the cash advance place was there, and you know, I kept telling our landlord, hey, it we'd really love that space. And like, well, you know, they don't want to leave. But inevitably, I think I talked to him and I was like, could you please not renew their lease? Like, this is important growth for us. Right.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

You had nowhere else to go, really, did you? No, and we still really don't, you know, and that's another complaint.

SPEAKER_00 38:10

We got the old shoe uh shoe place.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

We do, which there's a great plan for that, everybody. That's that's I mean, it's it's an extension of Stanley's and it it's the only place you have to go, right? Yeah. Unless you went across the street.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Well, I mean over over time and f since uh 2017-18 is when we were able to get get that property and turn it into the new bar. Uh it wasn't until deep in the heart of the middle of COVID in 2020 that our landlord said, Hey, uh, we decided we want to sell the building. And I was like, You're you're gonna sell it to me, right? And like, well, yeah, but we need it, we're gonna give you first right. I was like, but it's COVID and we're literally hemorrhaging cash right now. We're doing everything we can to just stay afloat through this. They're like, well, if you want it, this is your opportunity. And um Did you get is that when you bought it? That's when we bought it. We had Jen and I had just sold our our first house that we had had and where we started our family. Both of my kids were born in that house in the Azalea district. And, you know, the the what little equity we had from from that house, I basically got it and then turned right back around and was like, here you go. But obviously it's what you what you have to do. It's just you know, one of the best decisions and best things we could have done to the city. That's the bar patio. Yeah, that's the bar. All three buildings were part of that, but we had also acquired a lot of the land back behind the train tracks that we in 2018 were looking to develop. Um COVID really changed the the direction of that thought to more of survival mode. But that's where the parking is. Yeah, and there's even more back on both sides of the tracks that are it's essentially just empty fields, but we've kind of finally recovered, gotten over the PTSD of that, and we're back into a place of considering growth. We're feeling creative again and want to do um a lot to develop that, especially as the city is considering connecting the medical district to the new downtown with kind of like a green trail, like Rose Rudman kind of thing, a connecting system from TJC to the medical district to downtown that comes right up through through our spot. So we've actively actively been working together to think ahead of how can we use things and how it can connect, but how it can also increase the quality of life for the community and that neighborhood.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Well, you know, that reminds me so much of the Katy Trail in Dallas. Exactly. I mean, because 100%. You know, my wife and I we love that trail. Yes. And uh, you know, we have a place in Dallas and we we walk that trail and you know the ice house is just, you know, off the hook, right? It is. I mean The trail's great, but yeah, that adds like, oh, let's stop. Right, I mean it gives you like well, let's take a break. It's it's it would be so nice. You know, I thought they were gonna try that on old Jacksonville a little bit. There's that coffee shop that backs up to that trail. You know what I'm talking about?

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Yeah, yeah. I I was kind of I got pulled into that discussion and just at the time I just I just wasn't ready. And you know, I don't know what's gonna happen with all this, but this is part of the dream again, right now.

SPEAKER_01 41:46

Um Do you know where the trail that you're talking about from the uh TJC where it's gonna wave through? Have they designated that?

SPEAKER_00 41:55

There is, and there's actually been a a tech stock grant that's been um given. They're doing the work right now to start phase one of that. I I've been active in the discussions with the city and and all the pieces, you know, everyone in in Midtown does the hospitals and other business owners are we're all want to actively help each other to see it through. So I've been talking about it for a while and and they're they're updating the old Tyler 21 plan to now focus on this, on the changes to Midtown and the medical district and how it needs to connect and play together with downtown. Um it's really exciting. I know as most things in Tyler, it's certainly gonna take a lot longer. Uh it's gonna take many years for this to kind of come to fruition, but um it's exciting to think about and and see what it could be.

SPEAKER_01 42:47

Well, some of the leaders, you know, have been a little bit more forward thinking, it seems, in the last few years. And uh and and one and one particular, you know, the Chamber of Commerce, Scott Martinez, TDEC, you know, they seem more aggressive at trying to get projects, you know, not only agreed to by the city and county if necessary, but then funded and and done, right?

SPEAKER_00 43:10

Yeah, I think we have some some great minds that are able to kind of think outside of the traditional boxes that maybe kind of really defined Tyler's growth or you know, constrained it really. Um there's a lot of really great people involved in the thinking, and I and I love who they're consulting with to try to see how what this could become. They're looking at other cities and models and how how where they've been successful. And if this all comes together, it's gonna be really fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 43:42

You know, and as you mentioned, the community is the one by and large who benefits, right? Because it's an enjoyable space, it's in a a good place. You know, I mean, yeah, your business goes up, but I mean, there's more and more people that get to enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

And you know, it's I don't I don't even really think about it in that way it's it's where we are and so I want to but to me it's it's really about the eight thousand people that work across the street. You know how does this the hospital when when you're at the hospital, yeah sometimes whether you're there because someone in your family is there or you work there you kind of just want to get out for a second.

SPEAKER_01 44:22

And there's a lot of people that I've met at the bar that I didn't recognize that told me, hey, I'm o I've been over at the hospital for the last two weeks and I just had to get out of the hospital.

SPEAKER_00 44:33

And and that's been something that we have to talk to our staff about all the time is hey you may come across someone here who's seems like they're having a bad day. Don't take it personally. You have no idea what someone's going through. They came over here to catch their breath to just have a meal to maybe think about a hard decision they had to make or you know lamenting the loss or some trauma like don't take it personally. Our job is to be here to lift them up and give them a space that's where they can get away from that for a minute.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

And I've seen that and uh she was irritating I will have to admit I mean I was like ah man I think I'm going to the grove or something you know but but yeah uh and but your people were great. I mean they were uh much better than I would have been had I been behind the bar. I'll just say that. Right. Now I remember the restaurant that you forayed into over on Fist Street. Yeah. What was the name of that? Roast Social Kitchen. All right. Unique concept but the the space was pretty cool for back then I thought.

SPEAKER_00 45:38

Right right and Jen and I love to travel and we love to eat and we love to see what else what's going on out there and Roast Social Kitchen was little bits and pieces of everything that we were seeing all over the country and we were trying to bring it back to Tyler and be a little progressive in our thinking about menus and you were ahead of your time and and you know I I think that really was the case. A lot of people have said that I and I know that from experience because of how we had to dumb the menu down over time. At the end we were kind of s able to start bringing back some of the things that I feel like people had issues understanding which I don't know they didn't know they liked until they realized later they liked it. And and our plan honestly is to bring that restaurant back the same space or different yeah on the property that we own now and have it be closer to Stanley's and keep everything together to create some synergy. You know but our motto over there was thoughtfully prepared, joyfully shared that's was really from our heart uh working with a lot of local ranchers and other vendors to get food and and beverages and included in our menu it was kind of very forward thinking and the place was not a failure we it we closed it during COVID. It just coincided with our five year early termination option of our lease it was a really hectic time didn't know what was going to happen. I decided you know what this place was great but I I feel like we just need to walk and just be happy with what we did here and um still very very fond of that place and the idea and it is a it would nothing would make us happier to to bring it back.

SPEAKER_01 47:23

Yeah no I thought it was a great place. I I like that little bar uh I like the food um you know uh I don't know if the location was different you know again uh you didn't avail yourself to the the most people that might have the more sophisticated taste I our our idea there was our intent was that it was a neighborhood restaurant it was for the neighborhood the Azalea district and and yeah and the hospital and to just be something you know I I I'm I'm kind of anti-South Tyler.

SPEAKER_00 48:00

I really love Tyler I love the historic district I love the medical district I love Midtown and to me I was just kind of like look I want to put this where where we are and where we you know have have a commitment to being creative and and to spend our money. So it was it was for that whether or not that was smart or why why it didn't get as much traction I I don't I don't really know but you know people still drive all the way across town to go to Stanley's people were driving all the way across town to go to old El Charo anytime anyone ever had a birthday it was at old old El Charo right which is about as far away from South Tyler as you can be. So you know maybe we were a little arrogant and are like oh well if it's great they'll come and you know we built a really diehard following there and more people to this day if I'm out doing something I'm if I'm at Brooks or at a social gathering people ask me about roast more than anything.

SPEAKER_01 48:57

Well that's why I mean I remembered it you know and look COVID um I'm not sure I'd renew a lease right for a restaurant that was not you know going gangbusters right because you didn't know what the future was going to be at the time.

SPEAKER_00 49:11

And we closed it for four months. We we reopened Roast Social Kitchen at the end um and had a great little resurgence and had you know probably one of the best eras that we ever had there with that crew and with our our patrons and went out on a high note and I really hope that we can we can bring it back.

SPEAKER_01 49:34

Well you probably learned a lot from that experience um you know it's funny what you said and I heard it in Mundo's voice the other day I had Mundo on the show and we talked about it you know I was like hey you know did you have any uh you know questions about going out to Chapel Hill you know that's not you know South Tyler or someplace else and um he said not really but the other thing he said was Carlos was in charge primarily of of the menu and Mundo would say when they'd go somewhere like Argentina or I love this food and Carlos would go now wait a minute the people in Smith County they're not going to like this. Yeah. Right? And that's kind of what you're saying sure about the menu at at Rose Social Kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 50:19

Which you know ironically when we opened we had probably the best cheese and charcuterie board ever for a really really great price. And now that's hot everywhere. And no one bought it we we were throwing away imported meat from Spain and Italy and everywhere else and really great cheese like you you were getting a meat and cheese board for 10 bucks which is insane. And now they're yeah they're everywhere like there's beautiful meat and cheese boards and people are you know there's little restaurants of thriving like uh uh nurture um nourish nourish sorry yeah Jeannie um yeah Jeannie went Jeannie went to Robert E.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

Lee yeah yeah great spot I was gonna have Jeannie on the show and kind of showcase what her restaurant has to offer and how it's different and than everything you could buy.

SPEAKER_00 51:10

Super unique and great and cool and really happy that people can now come in and and do some things that you know even some of the things that she does I'm like wow I'm I'm surprised that people are are receptive.

SPEAKER_01 51:23

I mean those tasting dinners you know I think I'm not sure about this but I think um the next door tenant may be opening up in the near future and I think she has plans to expand. I hope so I'm I'm I'm glad she's doing really well.

SPEAKER_00 51:39

I'm glad that any any independent restaurant in Tyler is doing well. It's a tough game.

SPEAKER_01 51:44

Right. I mean you know um Steve Barnhart I had on the show from Prime 102 he said yeah most restaurants you know don't survive the first six months and you know that's probably true. I don't know if it is but it's it's tough.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

It's hard um you know and you know moving prices for beef um makes it hard to keep a menu I guess the same way right it is and I and I think also there's just it's hard to to keep people educated because generally the perception is just like oh well this is just too expensive. You're raising prices you're greedy yeah you're greedy but I mean really uh you're just moving with the price of beef. Sure and and it and in our in our industry and in my specific genre of barbecue, you know, we haven't been able to charge what we need to for brisket for a really long time. Because Tyler's really not a small town anymore. There's much smaller towns around here and if you charge what you need to people will just freak out and they won't and they won't do it. And it's the heart of a barbecue restaurant's menu in Texas and we try to make make our margins on on other things to make up for it is expensive. Well yeah we sell alcohol some people don't get don't have that well I'm just saying alcohol yeah is a good margin.

SPEAKER_01 53:10

It is um and you know if people watching this show have never been to Stanley's bar I really I mean I think that they're missing something that they don't realize exists in Tyler.

SPEAKER_00 53:25

I I don't disagree with that I I think people are shocked that you know we have a really high quality cocktail program at Stanley's we we were the first here in East Texas to really kind of amass the the bourbon shelf that we have a lot of other people have it now and that's great for all of us that love bourbon but that was a huge risk in a gamble and um you know people were mad like I don't want to drink a$20 bourbon poured out of a plastic cup. I was like I hear you and so we have glass like we're we you take those that feedback and advice and you change and adapt for for your customer and so I love the plastic cups.

SPEAKER_01 54:04

I mean you know I'm a guy who'd rather have a styrofoam or a plastic cup than a glass.

SPEAKER_00 54:09

My dad growing up always had a styrofoam cup in his hand at work and it was either it was one of two things. It was either full of coffee or scotch and water. Well you know I like cold okay even on my drinks and ice it doesn't melt as quickly you know what I'm saying there are it's but it was really just for us the decision there was it's it's about space and room to to have glassware you have to be able to dishwasher you have to be able to wash it um the place gets busy and pack sometimes and it's I mean it's a barbecue joint you know it's it's been there for 66 years this year and so that's just part of the persona and and the service model.

SPEAKER_01 54:56

But the specialty drinks um I think are impressive. I and you know if you've been around Tyler you know you don't necessarily see a Chilton uh you don't see a Barbie margarita you don't see these things you know that uh there's really something for everybody uh in in my opinion I truly believe and and that is very much by design and intent from Heather Brown who's you know so often one best bartender in Tyler and her grandmother worked for Mr.

SPEAKER_00 55:27

Stanley back in the day. She's got a long connection to it historically she's been there with Jed and I longer than anybody. Heather's been there 13 years uh we stole her fair and square you know we met Heather back in the day when we would just go out to eat with our kids. Where'd you steal Heather from? Well when we met Heather she worked at Clear Springs um kind of I can't even imagine that right she was behind the bar there and she would just embrace our kids because we always loved to sit on the patio at Clear Springs. There'd literally never be another person out there. We would bring a tub of toys for our son with a dump truck and he'd play in the dirt and Jen and I would have a a rattler one of their famous margaritas that Heather would make and she talked to us and we just really got to know her and when I knew that we were getting to the point that Stanley's was gonna go for a bar, I mean I there's no doubt of who I wanted and I called her and she was in between things. She was waiting tables at Rick's on the square at the time and she came over and has put herself through nursing school and you know has been a nurse in the ER. She also has one of the most difficult nursing jobs that probably exist forensic. As a forensic nurse I can't think of a a better person to have by her side if in that moment than than her and um you know despite all of that she loves uh our guests and the people she's met there and continues to work behind that bar because she truly is passionate about it and loves what she does.

SPEAKER_01 56:58

I mean there's no question okay at first I'm suspicious. Now she can't love me this much you know I'm like I mean nobody loves me like that okay she loves everybody but after a while she really does you know I start to believe I think she really loves me.

SPEAKER_00 57:12

She does she loves everybody like that. She's it's genuinely who she is. Yeah I think I mean I'm I'm hard to convince but I'm convinced um and she's such an asset is she not no she is she's she through through our time together she has carried the torch of hospitality in the heart and soul of that place sometimes brighter and hotter than than I was capable of in the moment. She is a people person marketer. Yeah I mean you know right I mean and now giving selflessly by being on the board at Path in Junior League and I mean who knows what other s uh civic organization she's committing to she likes all that she does.

SPEAKER_01 57:53

I think she's she just likes it you know she doesn't even act like it's work. She just enjoys it so much and uh I mean you know truthfully Tyler's probably better off because of her she loves helping people so much man and and Tyler definitely is uh benefiting from her heart. And you know it's funny you mentioned a phrase that you and your wife came up with for uh you know the uh social kitchen and what was that phrase? Uh thoughtfully prepared joyfully shared all right but the one for Stanley's seems to fit the vibe Heather and everything which is the famous Be kind have fun. Right. I mean you know I don't think I've ever been in there where I've seen anybody really you know aggravated really or in a b or or mad at somebody else in there. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that's not always true for bars.

SPEAKER_00 58:44

No and you know I Stanley's has a bar. I don't really consider that Stanley's is a bar.

SPEAKER_01 58:49

I don't either I mean because people are eating it's all it's not like it's just a bar.

SPEAKER_00 58:55

You know it's an extension of our service. Right I mean you're something we offer um kind of like our live music you know it's um we become a venue sometimes and that's just a selfish endeavor because of my time touring as you know that was a tool that I used to attract younger people to Stanley's early on because I knew guys that were in bands that were still traveling and I'd be like hey man can you guys come up and play at my place and you know we were BYOB people could pack a cooler and come and sit on the deck and hear a band and and be like what is this place? And they'd tell a friend and you know you'd hand them their food and made sure that bag of food was perfect because you needed them to be like this sandwich is amazing. This vibe is amazing I gotta tell everyone I know and then when they show up rinse and repeat you know and that's been our kind of our model from the very beginning.

SPEAKER_01 59:46

Well the live music I mean you you are one of the few and probably one of the more well known and better venues for Tyler right now aren't you?

SPEAKER_00 59:55

If hopefully I mean I can't think of any place it's not a great venue in the sense of you know right there's not room there's not room and the setup's not great but that's also part of the magic I think if I'm in the bar I can't really hear the guy over there very well. But if you're seeing a a a nationally touring band that the night before was playing to 700 at the Kessler in Dallas and now they're on our stage and you're literally closer to them than we are right now for someone who's a fan of the music and even when you're on the stage the energy that you get and receive in that moment is just something that that's really so special.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:33

Well I'm glad and I know who you're talking about I'm glad Paul Cawthron finally came back. Yeah right at Stanley's and Paul you know when you said the Kessler I mean Paul has these residencies it seemed like where he plays every Wednesday and then he came back and we had that concert and it was a great night I mean it was packed magical packed and you know where else are you going to be able to experience Paul like that anywhere else. I mean it's you know I was glad he did it I was always you know I don't know the business you know but I was glad he he came and played there and uh I know everybody um enjoyed the heck out of that and you've got other stuff you know you've got some 80s bands which is kind of cool that uh Fleetwood Journey's coming I saw yeah this weekend um that just kind of helps give people younger people something to do if they want to at night yeah Tyler's too small to kind of be pigeonholed into a genre so we try to do everything from you know there may be an 11 piece funk band from New Orleans one weekend and then next weekend maybe a garage indie rock show.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:35

We've had, you know, country Americana folk and everything in between.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:41

You know your menu over the years would you say you've added some things that were kind of uniquely you and your wife like mother clucker or was that something that was there or how did that come about?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:51

I mean the clucker was an abde a adaptation at the time to in even as long ago as this was the mother clucker was was born in 2014. That was reacting to beef prices at the time which is you know it's been a continuation of that. You needed something good that was chicken. Yeah we needed something that was could kind of offset uh have a price point that wasn't crazy but also it was you know something that was to create some excitement around the menu, something different and that was how that was born. Me and my good buddy Jordan Jackson and our our ex-Pitmaster Jonathan Shaw it was a collaboration and that thing just kind of really took off. I never saw that coming but that's just flexing your creative muscle having fun with what you're doing when when you're in the restaurant business you want to have fun right and it's in our it's in our motto. Yeah you want to you want to you want to make food that when you see people take a bite it's the instant gratification of seeing seeing the joy. I mean that's the best part of hospitality to me is that moment in time.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:54

Aaron Ross Powell Well I mean and uh for a barbecue place it is somewhat amazing that the clucker is not meat and it is a something that's ordered probably more than most things.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:09

The the still to this day though tried and true we are an East Texas barbecue joint and the number one seller is and probably always will be just a chopped brisket sandwich.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:19

Right I mean East Texas as it comes dub's barbecue over by TJC? Yeah you know I that's what I remember. You know this is kind of the old uh you know neon sign that that people can see at night when they go by if they don't is a designated historic landmark in Tyler, Texas now. Yeah and uh hopefully that doesn't limit uh your ability to expand with nice things like I like in the future. Um you know I I don't think that it that it will you know like certain building codes or whatever that you are restricted from.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:53

So yeah we actually had to go get a variance it's admitted variance application this week in fact to put a sign similar to this uh above the boot shop which is on the end everyone may remember Beckham boot and shoe repair on the end it's kind of just been our junk drawer since it emptied out uh more than six years ago but our plan is to revitalize that space uh it's gonna be called the smash bar we're gonna be doing smash burgers and the dive bar we just did our first pop-up with that uh last weekend it's great success but in order for it to honor here's the craziest part and I just found this out too is that building originally in nineteen fifty three was the first water burger in Tyler. Really? It was and now it's gonna be the first smash burger and in nineteen sixty three they became Texas sized hamburgers and it was a that for probably until nineteen seventy but there's a photograph of it with the same kind of sign on the roof. Sign ordinance now doesn't allow you to have signs on the roof that are like this but you know we just don't have the fascia or it just doesn't conform. It's a historic complex from the 50s. This is what they did then so for us to basically put another sign on the roof there that's gonna match the historic look and feel uh of here we had to get a variance and we're having to beg the city now like can we put a neon sign on the roof like this so that it fits the historical significance of where we are and how is that process going uh the application was turned in you have to turn it in a month ahead of time before the city council meeting or the planning and zoning which is next month.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:34

Will you go down there and speak at the podium about it? Yes. I mean because for sure anybody's ever watched it on TV. Right. They give you three minutes or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:42

Yeah. Which is so weird. Like I can sit and talk to you I I can play drums on the stage in front of thousands of people but every time I've gone down there and had to speak at the podium like I get so nervous like visibly handshaking and my voice is all weird. I don't know what I don't know what that's

SPEAKER_01 1:06:00

Alright, just give me your give me your points and I'll go down there for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:03

Yeah, you can.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:05

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to address the uh council here today. Uh we're right. I mean, all right. Everybody heard it. We're we're gonna make well I mean, you know, uh it's a good time. Yeah. There is a mayoral campaign about to start. Absolutely. So we need to find out who's lining up with us and who's lining up against us.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:25

Well, I've been having those conversations.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:27

Well, you know, it is uh it is nice, you know. I mean, uh Congressman Moran has been on this show and he's also uh, you know, uh we made reference to your place. And uh and you know, he's and you know, the people that he brought there from D.C. From DC. He he wanted to show them the Stanley's barbecue, you know, and uh that's gotta be that's gotta feel good to have that kind of relationship with the entire community.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:56

It it does. And and that's one one of the greatest things about what we're about and what our place represents, is that everybody is welcome there, and if we can't all sit down and enjoy a plate of barbecue together, then we're all kind of screwed, right? Like barbecue is a huge part of our culture in Texas, and it certainly is not people it's gonna divide some people. People always have the argument about what's best or whatever, but uh my good buddy Jason, who used to work for uh Senator Cruz, um said that people Jason Wright. Yeah, Jason Wright. I mean, look, I've got my pulse on the community. Jason, uh not one of the one of the greatest guys, and you know, people were giving us some weird flack uh about you know uh I'll I'll cater to whoever wants wants our food, right? And try not to be political about things because it's not about that to me. To me, everyone's just a customer, but someone bought food from us that people didn't like and they are all mad at me, and I was just like, it's just a customer, what's the big deal? And Jason stepped in and was like, Look, if we can't all just get along and eat barbecue together, we're in trouble. Just squash it, leave it alone. Like Stanley's is about being together, and that's it. And that's and that's true, and that's why when the congressman's there and he brought people from DC, it's just the same as anyone else who's been away and wants to bring their family and and have an iconic Tyler Texas experience. That's Stanley's.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:28

People forget, you know, Nathaniel uh years ago, not too he was just a lawyer, just like me coming in, right? And then he was a county judge, you know, and so it's like, you know, people um are, you know, their jobs change, but maybe, you know, maybe they're probably the same person. They like the same things as as we like. And you know, Stanley's is a great place if people don't know it. Um Nick kind of looks like a hippie, but he's really not. Um but you know, there's really no politics talk there, which is so dadgum refreshing, right? I mean, you go to a restaurant, you you know, you you're just trying to have a good time, and and I notice myself enjoying people that I know I probably don't align with. Sure, but I really like them because there's nothing that's brought up to make me not like them.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:17

It's it's about be kind, have fun, is your food good, how's your drink, how's your experience? That's what it's about. And you know, that's our focus.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:27

I can't I think you've captured it. I don't know how it got captured, but it was captured before I first come came down there because I moved into town, you know, a little over a year and a half ago. And before that, I lived so far south I was almost in Flint. And so, you know, I mean, I I never went to Stanley's. And my crazy cousin Alan, who I love, uh, you know, he got me coming down there.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:50

I I remember the audition. You were you were checking us out. Yeah. Like I'm I'm looking for a place I can come. I'm gonna be in the neighborhood now.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:56

I'm just making sure. That's right. And I'm so thankful, truthfully, and I'm not just saying this because you're on the show. I am so thankful that place exists. Me too. Uh because Tyler doesn't have that many places that aren't just kind of colder, chain-like, you know, without the hospitality that your people serve up.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:17

It's not fancy, but it we are passionate about what we do, and the people that that have come on board with us have been bitten by by the hospitality bug, and they care about it. They care about everyone that's there and the experience that they have, like truly.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:33

Well, that's what I would tell people if if they, you know, if they're intimidated by Stanley's by the crowd or or you know, whatever, it's not there's plenty of room and they should try it.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:43

There's a moment in time where it it will be crazy. There's moments in time where it's not, and you'd be surprised. And the the crazy nights aren't for everybody. Sometimes it's not for me. Um, but it's just it's part of what we do, and um I want to just be able to offer that to the community, and I love bringing people together, and that's what we're gonna keep trying to do.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:06

I'm about to unlock the riddle, okay? Let's go. Um The greatest misconception I think about Stanley's are the people that drive on Beckham. And what I mean by that, the only thing they know about Stanley's is that there's a line way out the door. Sometimes, yeah. And they go, Well, I'm not I'm not stopping there. You know, and they don't know that the bar exists, right? Like if they hadn't been there in a long time. Um and all that parking is around the back. Because you look in the front, you go, man, there's I mean, I can't stop here, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:41

By the time you get somewhere else, you would have already been to the front of the line and had your food. Because it does move quick. I mean, it does move quick. What we learned in COVID is and we we adopted a service model that we will always have now, curbside. You can call your food in or use the app or online ordering. There's at all times six six dedicated secret in the bar. Six dedicated parking places out front that you can pull in. You don't even have to get out of your car. Someone's gonna run it out to you and give it to you, and you can pull out and take off. And yeah, that is a that is kind of a local thing. People understand that they'll get their food to go, grab it, and go sit outside. We have QR codes on the tables now where you have limited menu things that you can get that if you're having a drink after work and you kind of want a snack, you can get some nachos. It'll bring it right to your table. You don't have to get up and go order. You can just scan the thing on the table.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:34

And we're working on one more thing you haven't mentioned. Uh-oh. I mean, this is insider knowledge. Okay. You can order breakfast tacos at the bar all day long. Okay. Now listen to me. There's multiple kinds, but the brisket, egg, and cheese, like me, if you don't want the carbs, you can get it in a bowl. That's right. So I never leave the bar. I never wait in the line. I never have to do anything.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:03

Tacos are great. We're using a local homemade, handmade tortilla. Uh breakfast is back. That's another thing that was gone that we lost during COVID. We just now brought breakfast back again this last summer. Um, there's our breakfast is better than it was the first time for sure. So that's another thing to try. It's like 6 30 in the morning, hit us up. You can grab some overnight oats or our our breakfast taco or a biscuit.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:29

Well, that's just evolution, like the you know, that you can order this at the bar, the breakfast tacos. You know, you're kind of I guess you're perceiving, you know, want our needs and and responding to some of them.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:43

Always. I mean, that's good. That's like the bourbon glass.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:46

Exactly. Right. I mean, we're about to do that again in the hospital as we're thinking about being creative and investing more capital and improving our spot and building some more. Like, I want to literally put a survey out to the people that work at the hospital in downtown and be like, what do you want? What is lunch? What do you need options-wise? Is it healthy, is it quick? Do you want to sit down? Do you want pizza? Do you want a salad? Like, what do you want to eat?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:12

I say it ends up being healthy and quick. I better at the top of the list. Absolutely. Um that's why I love a barbecue joint because I can eat protein and I don't have to eat barbecue all the time. Our turkey is a sleeper, man. Right. It really is No, it is good. That turkey is good. The uh the Rose Social Kitchen, you know, would uh allow you the opportunity to bring a different menu, uh, completely different from a barbecue style in the same vicinity if you ever got that going.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:39

And that was very s very much centered around better choices with food. Yeah, just the ingredients, the menu choices in general. And also the social aspect. There were no TVs there. Uh when we had date nights, you could put your phone up front. And roost. Uh at roast, yeah. And have a a meal without having to be distracted by your phone. We had a an emergency breakthrough that if your babysitter needed to call, like our our host would would know and would would come and tell you, hey, someone needs to get in touch with you. But I mean, it was about sitting down and talking. We had the little conversation starters on the table to encourage people to talk. All the food was there to share a meal together. Same kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:22

Phones are irritating, aren't they? They are, man. I mean, I'm like, I'm thinking some people are making love looking at the phone by the pillow nowadays.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:31

I mean, it's that bad. I I am so anti I I don't have mine. I got rid of my Apple Watch. It's ruining our kids. Like I'm it's so hard to see our kids not wanting to engage in conversation or play outside or see the world. I mean, right. Go outside. I had this conversation uh, you know, before I left. Like, guys, go outside. It's a beautiful day. Like, just look around.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:56

What are we gonna do, dad? You know, yeah. Well, uh, maybe throw some tennis balls at cars or you know, maybe ring somebody's doorbell and run. You know, do something fun, guys. I mean, that's what I'm saying. Uh that's kind of what we uh grew up doing. Water balloons. Uh water balloons. I mean, uh that was exciting. Uh but you know, we've talked about some projects, but I mean there are some rumors about, you know, Stanley's maybe connecting with a bigger company, you know, uh for uh a new restaurant space. I mean, what can you tell us, if anything, about that?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:31

Um I mean, nothing's been official, but one of our one of the greatest partnerships that I've I've um formed has been with with Brooks and they got food. Obviously uh a huge strong local company, um, deep roots in Tyler. When they opened their fresh store back in the day, they came to me and they said, Hey, we want to sell your barbecue sauce at fresh. And at the time, like literally we sold barbecue sauce in a styrofoam cup. If someone wanted something, we poured it in there, put a lid on it, it was like, There's two bucks. You weren't prepared to buy it, baby. They they helped me through that process. They taught me how to do that, they put me in touch with people to help us be able to do that and get our products to retail, which started at that one store, then they gave us a couple more stores in town, and I had to deliver the product and stock the shelves myself. And now we're in every single brooks store that they have everywhere. Really?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:33

And well, I how big a part of the business uh are the, you know, the you got sauce, you got you got pickled uh Yeah, pickles, we have some rubs, we have we now we have a a bloody merry mix that I think is just outstanding.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:49

I I love it so much. Um you know, and they approached me when they started talking about having when they lost the original store number one downtown to the fire and it inevitably torn down for the new courthouse, they had to choose what was gonna be store number one again. And that's their plan for the development on the West Loop, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:13

Right, because I mean we know that they're building I think they're gonna break ground in a couple of months, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:18

Yeah, they and they asked me about a partnership and would I be willing to discuss with them um partnering and having essentially a Stanley's outpost in that store. And again, I'm at a point in my life again where for a long time I said no to everything. I just was burned out, I was beat up um after COVID and just really jaded. And now I'm invigorated. And when they came to me, I told my team we're gonna find every possible way to say yes to what they want to do. And it's it's looking like the the possibility is very real that we will be a part of their store with a patio and a full bar and kind of a mini full Stanley's experience, including a pit house over there and live music, and um it's a partnership that I value greatly and and really excited about the opportunity to work with them on this.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:12

Well, the people around the West Loop, you know, that'll be that'd be awesome for them, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:15

I guess you and uh Richie, you got your little dry run at the East Texas Fair this year for what we're gonna have out on the Um You know, and one of the things that we don't have the room to do at Stanley's now is and we've never done is third-party delivery. We just can't accommodate the infrastructure and the logistics that it takes to do that. And the opportunity that if this moves forward, we will be able to offer that from that location. And when you drive a draw a five-mile radius around that, it really kind of reaches the heart of what I consider probably what our our reach is anyway. So we would be able to start offering delivery and open up some other opportunities that we haven't had before.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:02

Chris, let's look at the uh the slide on the right there. And then okay, so we'll just run through this. Uh, you know, uh Texas Monthly every year has the 50 best barbecue. It was every five years. No, it's every four. Okay. I mean, I don't know why I thought it was every year, but five consecutive times, I mean, that's over 20 years.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:20

Uh the first time was in 2003, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:25

And so this last year was 2025 when they uh were up. Yeah. And here's the Texas Monthly uh best barbecue joints. We've got an honorable mention for Stanley's uh famous pit barbecue, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:38

Look, here's the deal. I mean, barbecue over the last five years has exploded, has exploded, and there's so many good joints. You know, it's it's it's almost impossible not to find good brisket in this state now because there's so many incredible barbecue joints. So I mean, essentially this is still considered the 100 best barbecue joints in Texas, which is an honor that I'll take every time. I'm grateful and I'm proud of that. Um, there are a lot of joints that are historically significant, as well as you know, who placed well in the last list that are also honorable mentions. It's a great company no matter what, and it's um it's something that we've really, really, really worked hard on. And this is my 20-year anniversary at Stanley's, and I feel like just in the last few years, I'm finally to the point that I'm the most proud of what we do, and I feel like we've finally succeeded of getting the food where I really have envisioned it since that time in 2008, when I was like, we have to be better at this. I think we're finally getting there now, and I'm the most proud of what we're doing at this moment in time.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:48

Aaron Powell It's hard to mass produce consistently good food, is what you're saying. Especially barbecue. Well, you know, uh I know you've got uh this this podcast you do with some other people like uh Wayne Mueller, for instance, uh Louis Mueller Barbecue, something that my dad's iconic. My dad took me there and went out of his way to stop there. Yeah. Uh in the years that when I went to UT and Austin, you know, and I had no idea what Louis Mueller was, but it was a big deal to him. Um do you find people stopping at Stanley's kind of on a road trip or on, you know, uh a journey or a quest to hit barbecue joints and they're not from in in Tyler?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:28

For sure. And that's kind of what you'll see a lot on Saturdays, is uh there's a lot of traffic in Tyler, Texas on a Saturday afternoon. People who are intentionally driving I-20 from the DFW Metroplex or somewhere else in Texas who are doing barbecue tours, people are traveling now to go and eat in East Texas in general, not just our spot. There's some really amazing barbecue joints in the 903 area code. Uh we've got a group text, the 903 Barbecue Mafia, uh, of all the guys in East Texas who, you know, are our incredible barbecue joints. Longview, Sulfur Springs, Grand Celine, Jacksonville, Jefferson. I mean, there's there's some really, really great barbecue joints out here right now. And people are traveling to eat and they're coming to Tyler, Texas to s to come to Stanley's and see what East Texas is all about.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:20

You know, when I was a uh in high school, um, you know, not that I was doing it, but there was some underage drinking going on. Really? And uh oftentimes we would go out to a place called Pat G's. Yeah. Oh my gosh. And that's the only barbecue, you know, when I was in high school, really, that I ever went to or knew about, and that's because we could go out there in the middle of nowhere, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:39

Aaron Ross Powell It's that also is is iconic and an experience that is unlike anything else. Daniel Vaughn, the the barbecue editor um for Texas Monthly Magazine, who who curates that list, said if there was a colonial Williamsburg of barbecue, it is Pat G's like it's it's that old school kind of thing that it is an experience everyone should should have while it exists. Because, you know, it's it's burned down before it was open again five days later. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:14

Yeah, I know. I mean, I remember when Pat, Mr. G, Pat himself would be in there, his wife in there, his son, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:21

I mean, it was um It is an experience that is so deeply East Texas that it words can't describe it.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:30

I mean, it's when you think about Piney Woods, it's in the sticks, whatever. It's literally in the sticks. Yes, it is. Right. But it is a great experience, and to us it was great barbecue, and I'm not sure what the quality was relative to what there is now, but it wa we sure liked it back then.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:46

Yeah, it that's one of those things that's you embrace the experience fully of of what it is, the drive out there, walking in that screen door and and being in that place. It's it's unique, one of a kind.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:01

You know, when you think of food and you think of classification, you think of Michelin, right? Like to try to signal to people that this is an exceptional place with exceptional dishes, artistic, innovative, right? Yeah. But there's also what this thing called Bib Gourmand. Yeah, man. And uh there's one in Segin that just recently got that designation.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:22

They are also number one on the Texas monthly 50 bus list this year.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:26

Yeah, and that's interesting. And uh, you know, you guys on the podcast, I mean, there's uh Wayne Mueller and Justin, I think he's got a place in Dallas, Pecan Lodge.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:35

Pecan Lodge, yeah. They kind of launched the whole um modern day uh Dallas barbecue scene. And for people that don't know where Pecan Lodge is, that's in Deep Elm. It's in Deep Elm now. They started on the farmer's market a long, a long time ago. But these are guys that hugely respected, accomplished a lot. Wayne's the third generation owner at Louis Miller, and you know, talk about tradition and upholding some I mean, the place is an institution and doing things like barbecue festivals, you you meet your peers. It's the only kind of time of year where we could see each other. Usually we're too busy, but we've forged deep brotherhoods and friendships, and you know, we always talk about our challenges, we always talk about our mental health. Hey, are we good? We're checking in, you okay, you burned out, how you feeling? Like it's a it's a really tough thing. And these are conversations we were having all the time anyway, and just trying to relate, find ways to navigate problems. What are you doing about this? You know, how are you addressing this? And one day Justin's just like, man, we should talk about this on a podcast. And it's been almost a year now, we're really kind of getting some momentum. We're talking to uh I mean, I'm interviewing later today one of the guys who was in the new Michelin guide, Evan LeRoy at LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue in Austin. Um we're talking to we've documented and tried to investigate the beef price crisis in 2026.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:02

Like what's causing it?

SPEAKER_00 1:27:03

Yeah. And we've talked to, you know beef analysts, we've talked to cattlemen, we've talked to, you know, Commissioner Sid M Sid Miller from the from the state of Texas.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:15

Is there a clear answer?

SPEAKER_00 1:27:18

I I I don't have one, you know. I'm still confused. I mean, there's there's a lot of talk about, you know, where it's gonna go. Uh apparently it's all about the the beef herd, the lowest numbers in in in 75 years, and the the plans differ of how we're to navigate away from that and to fix that problem. Right now we have New World Screw Room screw worm, which has closed the border. The million head of Mexican cattle that we get typically every year on feed um are not here. And so feed lots are closing, but they're reducing capacity. Those are the things that feed. The majority of America's appetite for beef in like a cheap fast food hamburger. Right. But if those aren't there, then they have to take the good cows where you might get a brisket or a prime steak and it cover the the demand. The the beef demand is at an all-time high right now. And so even through f uh five, six episodes focusing just on that, it's still really muddy and murky. And you know, we're just trying to encourage other barbecue joint guys or even just consumers. The price of beef at the grocery store is insane. Of just like, hey, where is the light at the end of the tunnel? So we're doing that, but we're also talking to other upward-running barbecue joint owners and just getting perspectives about how they deal. Um, how are they dealing with stress? How are they being being successful? You know, what's what's going on with them?

SPEAKER_01 1:28:54

I mean, the podcast is called Smokeless. Yep. And uh you guys put it on once a week, once a month, once a So right and now we're kind of on a run.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:04

We we're getting it out once a week, um, which is great, you know, for the longest time. There would be months that would go by without an episode. We were kind of doing it all on our own. And and at the end of one episode, I just said, Hey, if anyone's out there who knows how to do this, like we really need help, like reach out, send me an email. And this dude from Ireland, Vic Berry, who is a content producer in Ireland, emailed me and was like, dude, I'm a barbecue fanatic. I love your show, I would love to help. And Vic's now producing our podcast from Ireland, and he's you know, busting our chops. He's teaching us we're creating systems of how we can be consistent on this and keep it scheduled. And we've consistently now had an episode out a week every week for for the last last little bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:49

So Yeah, I mean, you know, um I put one out every week, and you know, it's been like, you know, 25 straight weeks.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:59

You gotta have 25 in the bag at this point.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:01

Um I don't have that many in the bag, but I mean, you know, you're the first of four shot in the next two days, and there was two or three shot last week. And so, you know, my my history, my experience as a lawyer has prepared me to prepare in an efficient way where it just doesn't take up all your time, right? Right. And then my natural curiosity, I think, to learn about people and just like people in general makes me want to know about their story, why they're doing what they're doing, how they got there.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:34

Um Well, I will tell you, Chad, you're really great at this. The very first episode I saw was JB Smith, and I was fascinated. I watched it multiple times because I love JB. And um I'm I'm assuming it's your tenacity as a lawyer and your ability to listen quickly and formulate a question for whatever the reason. I you're great at this, and I love your interviews, and I love watching this, and I'm glad you're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:00

Well, I mean, I don't want you to give me any compliments, but I br I appreciate the uh feedback because uh, you know, um, as you know, you have to have a producer, and I have one for this show to take place, and I think we've gotten better and we keep trying to get better. Um if people want to check out Smokeless, how do they check it out?

SPEAKER_00 1:31:17

Um we're on all the platforms. We're on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, uh we have a website, smokelesspodcast.com, and um, you know, the first few episodes were not represented visually, but now every episode is is video, you can get audio or video format. Obviously, you go to YouTube for the video, and um, you know, we're trying to build that base, and you know, I'm just trying to uh get my chops up in it and be as good of an interviewer as you are. So we're used to a asking the questions. This is weird for me to talk.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:55

Well, you know, the good thing about the podcast for you on Smokeless, I would think, would be it's also a way to exchange ideas in your business. Yeah. And maybe solve problems that somebody else has already solved.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:07

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Well, I feel like we're we're doing it in a way that you don't have to know about barbecue or necessarily be in the barbecue business or a fan of barbecue to relate to the things we're talking about. Struggling with with mental health and burnout is something that we all probably deal with at some point.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:23

I mean, I get bored. Yeah. Prax and law, right? I mean, this podcast is a natural, you know, I think, uh, you know, outsourcing of maybe things that I know how to do, but uh uh doing things that I I might love more, talking to people.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:39

Well, and you're giving a great perspective on the amazing people that make up East Texas. And there's a lot of interesting stuff happening here. There's a lot of interesting people trying things here, and it's really great for you to be able to spotlight, shine a spotlight on that and show everybody uh, you know, about what's going on here, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:00

I mean, that's the point of the podcast, really to highlight the exceptional men and women, uh, business, philanthropy, and just unique people that, you know, that live where we live, uh, and make our community whatever it whatever it can be. Now, the future. What is the future of Stanley's? We've talked about it. Do you think it's expansion around the property that we that we have with the smash bar, potentially the root uh the roast kitchen coming back, that type of thing? Um and the Brooksers thing if it if it comes about.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:31

Yeah, I mean that's that's my focus. You know, uh I had intended to take Stanley's to the East Coast where Jen's family is from, and actually uh it's where I live now. I live in Virginia and I'm commuting back and forth uh as I have been for the last six years. We started doing this in two in 2020. I mean, that's tough, isn't it? It's it is tough. And that's why I'm a little disheveled today. They had to change the tire on my airplane last night and it took four extra hours. But you know, it's it's all it's been a blessing and a curse because I've been able to focus on my family deeply when I'm there. And I have an 18-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter, and this is a time in their life that is that I will not have back with them. And so when I'm there and we're together, the it's really great to be able to focus on that. And but it, you know, there's I feel like things suffer here when I'm not here, but when I'm here, I feel like you know things are suffering there, and it's a hard battle, but I'm doing the best I can. Our intent was to maybe try and see about bringing Stanley's to the East Coast. There's not really a great representative of our style of barbecue there. And I just after really trying and exploring that idea, we just came back to, you know what, let's just finish what we started here. We're in a in a good space again to start trying. And so our focus now is to focus on Midtown, the property that we have around Stanley's, and create uh some more opportunities for Midtown to flourish, to have things that might be available further south, but to just really enrich our community and be the best neighbor that we can be and have fun while doing that.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:18

So, you know, the older I get, when I was younger, I I kind of got aggravated by people using the word community and this and that, but now, you know, I've kind of changed my my view on that. I mean, you know, when you see people getting along and having a good time and being of all different, you know, walks of life, you do kind of say, you know, it is important. It's uh meaningful to me to do what I can to make m people a better community, right? Because you know, Tyler's kind of, at least for me, where I was born and raised, and I've only been out of here for college and law school, and I probably won't be leaving, you know? Right. So what's the future for uh Nick Pensis?

SPEAKER_00 1:36:00

Um I'm gonna be 50 this year, man, and got a son going off to college, and my daughter will be right behind him, and I really want to try to create a plan. I really don't have an answer, but I I want to be able to get back to um enjoying life and exploring and seeing what my kids are gonna do and if they're gonna be a part of, you know, I'm not trying to make them be a part of of what we're doing, but if they choose to do that, I would love to work with them and and teach them about what Jen and I do. Um but I it's that moment in time right now when I'm myself trying to figure that out and I don't really know, man. I but I'm I'm invigorated and I'm gonna give it my best shot to to kind of finish what I started here and um we'll just see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:54

Well, you mentioned Jen. Does she help out in any way with the business on a daily basis, you know, from Virginia Beach?

SPEAKER_00 1:37:02

Yeah. I mean we're it's we're super connected with everything that's ever happened there. You know, in the very, very beginning, everyone remembers her being a a front-facing part of the business. They would come in to the register and and she was working the register pregnant or with our son literally you know, strapped to her. And um to this day I would say that Stanley's exists because of her, because of her ability when I would be stuck in a in a place where I had tunnel vision or just was really she could always see the bigger picture and made some really pivotal decisions that led to us surviving. I mean, we're here to this day because of her. And people don't see that anymore because they don't see her, but you know, she's fortunate enough that she was able to step away to to be a mother to our children and teach them how to be great people. And that's really, really important. But it also is hard for her because she misses it. She misses the connection to our business and to to the people who come and and you know, some of the greatest friends that we have to this day are people that we met through Stanley's and just being there and and hanging out. And so it's really, really tough. But you know, uh we steer the ship together. Um people see me because I'm the one that's flying back and forth, you know. If we we just both can't do that, right? It's not possible. So yeah, she's very much a huge part of what you see and experience and is a major influence of of our future for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:42

Well, Nick, it sounds like your family um is forever will be connected with Stanley's as part of your family. Yeah. Um, and I think anybody who watches this is probably gonna thank you for allowing us to have that family experience every time we go in. Thanks, man. Man, thanks for coming in and uh fighting the airports to be here today to put on this show. I appreciate it. I'm grateful to be here. Thanks, man.