EAST TEXAS UNFILTERED w/J. Chad Parker: Featuring Steve Barnhart

In this episode of East Texas Unfiltered, host J. Chad Parker sits down with Steve Barnhart, owner of Prime 102 in downtown Tyler, for a real conversation about what it actually takes to run a high-end restaurant—and what it cost him to get his life back.

Steve’s story starts early: working in restaurants at 12 years old after his dad left and his mom had three kids to support. From Lower Greenville in Dallas to Del Frisco’s Double Eagle in New York City, Steve learned the business at the highest level—then brought that standard (and that hospitality) to East Texas with Prime 102, opening in the middle of COVID to “prime the pump” and get downtown moving again.

But this isn’t just a restaurant episode. Steve shares the hard truth about the industry’s “work hard, play hard” culture, his long road through addiction, bouncing in and out of AA for years, and what finally changed when he surrendered it all to God. Today, he’s over six years sober, still goes to meetings, and believes staying free means staying clean and helping others.

And if you’ve been downtown lately, you already know one of the biggest storylines: construction. Steve explains how the project has impacted business—especially lunch traffic, foot traffic, and simple access—and why many people still don’t realize Prime 102 has options that make it easier than it looks (including parking behind the building and an easy entry that bypasses much of the disruption). Chad and Steve also talk about how critical it is right now for locals to support Prime 102 and every restaurant downtown—because when downtown wins, the whole community wins.

If you enjoyed the episode, like, subscribe, and share—and drop a comment with your go-to downtown spot. Even better: pick a night this week and go eat downtown. Your support matters more than you think.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I was playing sober in Dallas for four years before we opened New York. That's the only reason I got to go to New York, because I knew I was doing the right thing. And then when I open New York, you don't have to drive the bars up until four. It's readily available and everybody goes out. So how much people can you get in? And what the game though c makes it for you, uh can drink more like a scrub so that you don't get intoxicated with these ways.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Um, you know, full disclosure, Prime 102 is my favorite restaurant uh in the city of Tyler. Well, thank you. And so I wanted to have you on there because uh I wanted to support you, and I think you got a product worth supporting. Thank you for that. And I think if people hear more about your background, they hear more about your experience, then they'll understand why the product you're putting out may be a little better than something that they're used to in these parts, if you will. Thank you. Um reading up on your bio, it looks like you were involved or worked in steakhouse or restaurant business from a pretty early age, is that right? Since the age of twelve, yes. How did you come about or how did you come to work in a restaurant at age twelve?

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Well, at the age of twelve, my um my mother and uh I'd say my father left, and my mother had three children to support, and uh she worked part-time at a restaurant on Greenville Avenue called Kirby Steakhouse that my grandmother helped open with BJ Kirby back in the late or early 40s. Um then I started busing tables and bar backing and all that good stuff at the age of twelve. So that's how I began my restaurant journey.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Aaron Powell I mean, was it basically uh you're telling me your mother was a single mother?

SPEAKER_01 1:58

My mother was a single mother. My father left when I was twelve. Uh she hadn't worked, and she went into banking business and worked part-time in the restaurant business on weekends.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

And you soon followed uh because you were curious, wanted to be with your grandmother, or because you needed to make money? It's real simple. All right. So economics. You know, uh people look at you now, but uh you've pretty much been working most of your life, is that right? Yes, all of my life. Aaron Ross Powell, Jr. You know, you say the 40s. Uh the steakhouse business has really exploded through the last 30, 40 years, wouldn't you say? Yeah. It's awesome. I mean and in Texas, we're better, right? Yeah. I mean, uh there's a steakhouse, I mean, uh in Dallas, Houston, uh they're everywhere, right? I mean, it's it's one of the main restaurants it seems to open all the time. Um now, uh you probably know these type of figures. How many restaurants open uh and ultimately will close and not make it? Uh most restaurants close within the first six months of opening. All right. So that's a good sign for uh It's not easy. Especially uh if you happen to open up during COVID, which we'll talk about that in a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Um well tell us about life uh, you know, um in the eighties on Lower Greenville Avenue at Kirby Steakhouse. It was it was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Um what's going on down there? Well you had the Fast and Cool Club across the street, you had um the Blue Goose opened in the mid-80s down on Lower Greenville. Um you had all shucks. Um there's a lot going on. You had Stark Club down in down in the West End. You had the West End opening up in the 80s, so there was a lot going on.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

Now, from what I've read, I think you know Kirby's eventually closed on the in Greenville in 1987.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

B. J. Kirby uh sold it and then passed away a few years later, and uh his neighbor, Jim, and I don't his neighbor Jim and his brother John bought it. John had worked at Morton's downtown, and Jim, his neighbor was oil and gas, and they reopened it.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

Now I'm assuming you worked there through the years and maybe moved up in some of the jobs you did there?

SPEAKER_01 4:01

I worked there um in I guess basically junior high in ninth grade. I started sacking groceries after that and then went back in the restaurant business right after high school at spaghetti warehouse down on the West End. Aaron Powell All right.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

So you really didn't learn anything about the restaurant business at Kirby's, would you say?

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Uh I learned that it was profitable and it was something that you you could do on nights and weekends to earn extra money.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Aaron Ross Powell Well, how about this? I mean, people always say, well, you your margins are better on the food or the alcohol? Alcohol for sure. Okay. So that's not even a question. Correct. Uh yeah, because some people say, hey, I've seen that same bottle of wine at the grocery store, you know, uh for quite a bit less.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

But margins are shrinking because now everybody sees what it costs and they really don't want to pay it, which I don't blame them. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

But I mean, you've g you pay for, you know, food, ingredients, atmosphere.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: You pay for the experience, you pay for it. I mean, that's like people have food trucks, and people that have brick and mortar don't like food trucks because they don't have the overhead that a brick and mortar restaurant has. Because you have the insurance, you have all the utility costs, the rents, um, payroll taxes. All I mean, people don't realize everything that goes into it from the linen, the napkin that goes on the table. I mean, it's just so many expenses in it.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

And they add up. Correct. And you've got to usually meet the rent or the mortgage first and then get into those before there's any profit for you. Correct. Um now, as far as the restaurant bar business, I mean, it's always seemed to me uh that chefs and people like that were always somewhat heavy drinkers. Has that been your experience? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

I mean Yeah, they say, uh well, being a product of the 80s, alcohol and cocaine kind of fueled the restaurant business, restaurant bar business. And old saying work hard, play hard. So that's pretty much what everyone did.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

Aaron Powell And I know a little about your story and eventually that caught up to you, didn't it? Right. Um Tell us what you want to share about, you know, you kind of your journey uh with addiction, with alcohol, drugs.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Um Well, I bounced in and out of AA for 25 years. I've been sober, as you know, just um just over six years. Um I had a hard time admitting that I was an alcoholic because you know I didn't drink every day. I wasn't one that woke up and had to shakes and had a drink. It was more of a binge drinking thing or get off after work and then go out. Um For me, I would go I would stop drinking to get all the heat off of my back and then I'd go back to work. I I didn't drink when I was at work, it was always after work. I had been clean and sober for four years before I I was with Del Frisco Steakhouse for 14 years. I was clean and sober in Dallas for four years before we opened New York. That's the only reason I got to go to New York, because they knew I was doing the right thing. And then when we opened New York, moving to New York, you don't have to drive, the bars are open until four, it's readily available and everybody goes out, you know, so how much trouble can you get in? So uh continued with the journey. And what about the c though? C makes it where you uh can drink more? And can drink harder, longer, faster, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

Do you think it was the cane? Uh you said you were a binge drinker, didn't drink every day. Do you think it was the cane really that uh caused you to seek help or or get cleaned? Yeah, because I mean that that just kind of um makes it a lot worse. Plus, you can't really be a c addict and drink, can you?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

No. You can for a little while. I mean, you can be a I mean, there's several functioning alcoholics out there, and probably some cov addicts as well, but it didn't work very well for me. I can only speak from my experience on that. Aaron Ross Powell Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

I would just think it would it it might you know be a slippery slope back to it. Oh, yeah. And the restaurant business and bar business to me seems to be such a place of temptation for a guy who's trying to stay sober and clean, is it? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Yeah, it is, because you're around it. And I mean it's still for this alcoholic. I mean, it was send uh surrendering completely, not just alcohol, s surrendering everything to God to where uh I'm clean and sober and free of it, you know. It's kind of difficult to explain. I mean, right.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

It's if people don't know, I mean, you uh eventually went to Alcoholics Anonymous. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

I bounced in and out of A for 25 years before I actually surrendered.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Aaron Powell You know, people have always heard of the 12-step program. Is that something that that you followed? Recommended. And you mentioned God, and I think that God is part of the 12-step program, is he not? Absolutely. I mean, I don't know the program myself, uh, but uh let us uh you know, give us an indication as to how they encourage people to, you know, to bring faith into helping them recover.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

For me, the main thing is as an alcoholic, it's all about selfishness and self-centered and only thinking of yourself. So until you surrender to something else, be it a higher power. I've had a first sponsor said I didn't care what it was, as long as it's not you. It could be a doorknob. You know. Um I was raised uh Southern Baptist and I finally got back to my Christian roots and uh go to Green Acres here and and all that. But um until I surrendered everything, I couldn't quit.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

And it's almost like, you know, the call, uh the Christian call, if you will, you know, I surrender all, you hear the church hymns, that kind of thing. I mean, I guess those two kind of things go together. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Well, AA was founded, I believe, by the Oxford Group, which was a Christian organization back in the day. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

Do you still go to meetings? I do. Um Do you find them helpful to have support? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

I mean, I'm sure you got a sponsor, somebody can call. The whole thing is you that old saying, you can't keep it if you don't give it away. You gotta help someone else if you want to stay clean and sober. That's what it's all about. Doing stuff for other people, just like you let's go back to the restaurant business. The reason I think the restaurants that I've been a part of that have been successful is because we have a saying we do things for the guest, not to the guest. And that's kind of how we try to live our lives. We do things for other people instead of taking me, me, me, I, I, I, I. You know? That's how you get a rapport with the guests where they trust you to to guide them through a great dining experience and not take them out of their comfort zone. Then they come back and see you. I mean, we're in a town of 100,000, 200,000 surrounding. It's not like being in New York City with Delfriscoes with eight million people. You want them to keep coming back. I don't care if it comes back for your birthday or anniversary twice a year or twice a week. Just put us on your rotation and come back and see us. And you get that by doing things for the guest and not to the guest, you know? Well, that's a good thing. Live only experience, but don't take them out of the comfort zone.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Well, I mean, you know, my dad always used to say pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered, right? And I think you can apply that to any business owner, any person in the service industry, right? Correct. People feel like they're being taken advantage of or something's pushed on them that they really don't want. Correct. Uh and you know, your place is um, you know, and I don't want to talk about Prime 102 just yet because we're gonna get to that. Uh, but let's talk about, you know, your experience uh at Del Frisco's in New York. Okay. I'm sure I've looked at it on a map. I mean the highest grocery restaurant in the country.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

It was doing$39 million a year in sales. It's close to Rockefeller Center. Rock Center, 49th and 6th. It's in the McGraw Hill building. What did you do for Del Frisco's in New York? I was sent up there. I was supposed to be there six to eight weeks to open the restaurant, train the front-of-the-house staff, and uh they asked me to stay on. I was there for eight and a half, almost nine years, and went into management and was on charge of all the controllables and all that stuff to make sure we hit our bonuses and all that. But mainly just taking care of the guests. People always ask me, how do you go from Texas to New York? We're very similar. We both think we're the center of the universe. You have the Empire State and the Lone Star State. The only difference is a Texas don't worry about hurting your feelings, where in New York it will tell you exactly what they paint. I like to know where I stand so it worked out fine. But I would get people that would high-fi me at the upstairs bar saying, don't ever change, because New York was not used to the hospitality that we brought. And that's why they were so successful. Because we smiled and other people just crusty old servers, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 11:54

Right. Yeah. Uh well, is this where you really learned the nuts and bolts of how to run a restaurant?

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Yeah, I had a great mentor, Jamie Coulter. He bought Del Frisco's uh, I guess 90 was it, 96 maybe. And um When I was with Del Frisco's, Del Frisco's um started out as independent with Del Womstadt and D. Lincoln. And then Jamie Coulter bought us, and D. Lincoln stayed on and Dell went and opened Three Forks and some other restaurants. And with Jamie, we had the structure of all the business stuff. We would fly to Wichita, Kansas every 28 days to go over the numbers for the restaurants. I mean, you were held accountable for everything. Where before it was just kind of it wasn't that it was loose, but Dell took care of everything. But that's how we learned the ins and outs of the restaurant business. They say this uh if you can't measure, you can't manage it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

Well, okay, so you spend you spend fourteen years total with Del Frisco's, and is that referred to as the double eagle steakhouse? Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

And it went by Del Frisco's only until they opened the grill and made it Del Frisco's grill and they tried to differentiate between the two to where it became Del Frisco's Double Eagle or Del Frisco's Grill and Double Eagle. That was kind of a mistake as far as I'm concerned, but that was when I left in 09. So now they don't really know what they are, but they've been bought. We were bought and sold three times when I was up in New York.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Trevor Burrus, Jr. But you know, the the product that's that's being put to the public, let's say in uh uh uptown, you know, on McKinney. Right. And there's a Del Frisco's Double Eagle there. I've been there. Have you been to that one? I have.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Uh I believe you you and I know the same bartender. Yeah, with us for years. That's the beautiful thing about the steakhouse business. We're it's a very small, tight-knit community, believe it or not.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Aaron Powell Yeah, I mean, uh first time I I got to know the bartender, I think it was Mike. Mike Rosett, yeah. Yeah, and Dan Hart. Fo found out I was from Tyler and he was like, uh hey, do you know Steve? And I'm like, uh Barnhart? He goes, yeah. He goes, he used to work for us for 14 years. Yeah. And I thought that was wild. But he said you he didn't know where you went initially. You kind of just went away. Right. Uh and I don't know if that was a lot of people wondered where I went and they wondered if I'm still alive. Yeah. Well, I maybe that was one of those those tough periods in your life. Yeah, it happened. Um But you know, you went to Philadelphia as well. Mm-hmm. How long did you spend in Philadelphia?

SPEAKER_01 14:10

I'll just a few months opening the restaurant. I left New York at the in summer of 08, and then towards the fall of 08, they asked me to come back and open one in Philadelphia. So I was in Philly for the opening.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

You on your resume, I see that you you'd done something when they reopened the Tavern on the Green. Yeah. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Aaron Ross Powell I had moved back to Dallas and uh our banquet coordinator at O Frisco's New York had gone to work at Tavern on the Green. They had reopened. And the two guys that opened it were from Philadelphia and had never taken on a tas that large. So they asked Heather if they she knew anyone that could come help them, and she mentioned my name, and I went up and interviewed with them, Jim and David, and he uh invited me to come be a part of it. So that was a great experience.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

You bounced around uh between then uh and ultimately opening Prime 102 in 2020. Correct. Um one of those bouncing around places is a favorite of mine, and that was Toulouse. Tell us how you got in.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Um I was living over off Lower Greenville and Henderson, and uh went over and applied for a job and he hired me on. I was operations director there. Surge runs a place, great chef. Uh it was an awesome experience. I mean it's very consistent, right? Yes, yeah. And that's the key for restaurants, consistent product, just like Gilder McDonald's may not be the best, but you always know what you're gonna get.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

So you know, I've told people that. It's funny you use the word consistent. I have told people um that if I go to Prime 102 and order the same um eight-ounce fillet that I always that it's always the same. Aaron Powell I hope so. Uh medium way, let it come out medium where it's I mean it's always the same. And so um have you found that people have echoed that sentiment that the consistency of Prime 102 has has really drawn them back to the restaurant multiple times.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

I've heard that, yes. So thank you for mentioning it.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

No, I mean i uh it's not even meant to be a compliment so much as it is me saying how I actually feel about it. Uh because you know, I like steak. I like steakhouses. Right. I like bars.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

I mean, you know, my old mentor, Jamie Colton. That's what I always said. Consistency breeds credibility. So that's what we shoot for every day.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

Aaron Ross Powell All right. So tell us uh what leads you to Tyler, Texas.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Well, that's kind of funny. I had opened dealing in Prime and Frisco. I had worked for her brother Ricky Commodale, who's in the offshore living quarters business, but he was Man camps out in Permian Basin. Correct. He asked me to come out. They were having trouble getting people to stay at the camps because they would leave for an extra dollar an hour to go to the next one, so they wanted to elevate the food. So he was opening uh two lodges for Shell. Yeah, I was staying in Kermit, Texas. The lodges were in Mentone and Barstow, and we just put out a great food product to kept the guys fat and happy, so that was West Texas. And um it's funny. I had come back to Dallas from Tavern on the Green, uh, had a little restaurant in Windsboro, the Rooster Cafe, which was more of a something to do before I'd found another job, worked for someone else, which I kind of liked working for myself, though. Um met a young lady that was going to nursing school in Tyler, Texas. Well, Sernane. Her name was Timber, but that didn't work out. But Tyler, everything else would work Tyler. No, okay, but that's I mean, sometimes it is a woman to get you. Correct, which is a good thing. That's how I ended up in Tyler. So where I met my wife and that's uh got Prime 102. Um Tyler just happened to be halfway between the office in Homa, Louisiana and Kermit, Texas. That's seven hours twenty minutes either direction. So that's how I ended up buying a house in Tyler and being a part of the Tyler community. But when you first bought a house here, you were still working. I'm still driving to West Texas, yeah. Seven hour, twenty-minute commute.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

All right. And you picked Tyler just strictly because of its proximity?

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Proximity and and uh you know Dallas, Lower Greenville, the M Streets, Lakewood area. I found a house that was for sale by owner on Chilton, reminded me of the M Streets, called about it that was for sale. I told him I would take it. He said it's not ready to show. I said it doesn't matter, I want to buy it anyway. And uh eventually he sold it to me, and that's how I ended up at the house on Chilton. Had you been single all your life up to this point? Wait until I was fifty-three years old to get married, correct. So restaurant bar business, it's not easy to have a great relationship, you know what I mean. Right, because uh You work nights, holidays, weekends, and yes, there may be some alcohol involved and some other stuff, curricular activities. And that's funny. My wife asked me one time. She said, Have you ever been on a dating app? I'm like, I'm in a restaurant bar business. Why would I ever want to need to be on a bad dating app?

SPEAKER_02 18:38

So Yeah, that's okay. So you you had some money saved, maybe because you hadn't been married, you hadn't had kids. Oh no, I'm alcoholic cocaine. I didn't have any money saved. All right. So uh you cobbled together the money to put a down payment down on the house on Chilton to live there because you you like the area. Yeah. All right. And so when does this idea of a restaurant in Tyler start to get in your head?

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Well, I was actually in talks to go back with Del Frisco's to help him with the restaurant in Boston that was having problems. And uh had a friend that asked me if I had ever met Andy Bergfeld. I'm like, no, I know the name, but I've never met him. Bergfeld Reality. I knew Bergfeld Park around the corner from the house. Right. And uh you knew they must be somebody good to meet, right? If they got a park. So he said, Well, we need you to meet him. There may be an opportunity to put a restaurant downtown Tyler. I'm like, okay. So I went and looked at it, and it was Jack Rise at the time. That's what I was gonna ask. During COVID, and as closed used, they were closing because of COVID. Okay. So they needed something, someone to take it over.

SPEAKER_02 19:41

And um, because somebody they had already renovated this spot this place.

unknown 19:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Between here and Longview. Yeah, they were in Kilgore. Kilgore, correct. And then they had the one downtown.

SPEAKER_02 19:57

And they're and you know, it was a it was a beautiful restaurant when it opened.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

I mean, people were just it looked like wow, I can't believe this is here. Yeah, it's an old art deco building built in 1932. It's beautiful. It reminds me of something in New York City. When you walk up the stairs from the marbling, they did a great job renovating Mr. Brooks.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

They did not uh you did some renovations yourself to open it, right? Correct.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

And we reconfigured the kitchen, took out a wall, opened some spaces up, put a bar in a they had a private dining room, put a bar on the main level instead of just upstairs in the mezzanine. Right. So yeah. Um, a little more functional.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

There's one thing that you did uh that I really liked. I never liked steaks cooked in a bag. Sous- vide.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Right? It's great if you're cooking for a a hotel or a big banquet, but correct. I mean, you know, I mean you can do a lot of great things with sous vide, but I wouldn't do a steak with it, especially being from Texas.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

I'm just more a fan of the seared you know, you know, as opposed to the soggy. Yeah. I'm a seared versus a soggy guy.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Aaron Powell Roos, Chris, Ruth Vertel had a broiler that they came out with, the Montague, which was an 1800-degree broiler, cooked from the top down, so it sears in the flavors and not from the bottom where the juices come out. And they had it patent for a while and then they lost the patent and other people do it now. So that's what we used to cook our steaks with. That's what Del Frisco's uses. Most high-end steak houses use those now. Okay. So from this puts out a better product. Uh it's not and it's not something you can do at home. Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

But it also, like you said earlier, it puts out a very consistent product. Correct. Uh and I'm assuming it costs money to buy this machine. Yes,$24,000 oven, yeah. Okay. And and people need to know that. Like, you know, when they come in, they go, hey, you know, why is my steak fifty bucks uh as opposed to this much?

SPEAKER_01 21:39

And you can say, well, um, it's prime, top two percent of the beef you can get, too, the process that we go through to to make it perfect for you. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

And and and I've put your uh we got your logo up here so we can talk about it. You know, you do you have the name in your mind, or do you cut the deal with the landlord uh which is first?

SPEAKER_01 22:09

But that's not why it was called prime. If we go back to the A thing, we can think about stuff, we can talk about stuff until we actually do something that's irrelevant. Prime is what you prime the pump to get stuff going again. Right. During COVID, nothing was going. We opened to get stuff going again.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

All right. So you it was kind of a a double entendre. It was a word that meant two things. Two things, correct. And the 102 is just the address. Right. Trevor Burrus, Right. But I mean I think that's interesting because like you said, you know, you think about priming the economy back after COVID at the same time, prime is the top-tier steak that you'd be serving. Correct. So I guess Jack Rines is leaving, and I'm sure Bergfeld, uh Brookshire, whoever wants to keep a restaurant there, do they? Oh, yeah. I mean, I think they wanted it for the tenants in the building and keep downtown going. Correct. I mean, how did you even know somebody just knew that you were in the restaurant business from before and said, hey, you might ought to talk to Bergfeld? Andy and I have a mutual friend. Okay. Correct. And so because Andy went to SMU in Dallas. I don't know. Who did? Andy played football at SMU. Right. That's right. He was two years younger than me, my brother's age, and I've known him my entire life. Yeah. Good guy. Yes. And he's done well. Yeah. He's done well to help develop downtown as much as he's done anything. Right? The Greyhound Inn.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Sounds beautiful. Correct. I love the fact that they keep the old architecture intact and actually bringing it back, you know. So it's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

Well, let's talk about, you know, your restaurant. Okay. You finally uh and and this is kind of just another thing, you know, we call it God's restaurant. I just get to that's basically the uh thankfulness for where you are today versus where you might have been seven years ago. Yeah. All right. Now, this beautiful uh building that we've talked about has granite, all this stuff that you could never build today. Yeah. Right? Correct. It costs you a fortune. For people who haven't been there, um this is the stairway that you will walk up to, right, to enter the restaurant. Yes. Um you're looking good, a little shorter hair there, a little different haircut. Uh right? Oh, yeah. Maybe you've lost a little weight. I don't know. Um are you doing anything different? Are you exercising, eating different? What do you think? I try not to eat as late and I try not to eat as many fried food items.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

So French fries are tough, aren't they?

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yeah, and and not to get to the menu yet, because we're going to, but it seems like you guys make your own chips or something. We correct.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

We try to make everything that we can in-house. So I mean, and that's just a smart business thing because it saves you money, right? Hopefully it saves you money to put out a better product, and it's not something everyone can do. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Aaron Ross Powell So you're at 102 North College, and this building is referred to as what? That's People's Petroleum Building. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Back in the heyday, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Built in 1932, back in the so it's a great Art Deco building. Um I believe it was designed by an architectural firm out of Houston, and it was supposed to go to New York, which is pretty interesting. Then because of the Great Depression, and a gentleman that hit oil in East Texas ended up in Tyler, Texas. And you're the beneficiary of this spot.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

That's awesome. All right. Yeah. Let's before we talk about the struggles of COVID in opening a restaurant, what are the challenges of opening a restaurant? You've said if you don't last six months, you know, you're Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

Staffing and training and consistency. And it's another thing that's kind of funny out in East Texas, it's not always easy to get product like it is in Dallas or any of the big cities. That's why you'll have people say, well, that's what that costs more or it costs the same here as it does in Dallas. I'm like, well, it's not any easier to get product out here. You know, so I mean whether it be seafood. Correct.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

I mean it's we're kind of in a weird. It's much harder to get product here. Correct. Um the challenges in in East Texas would probably be there weren't as many people that were used to maybe high-end serving as servers. Right.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Yeah. That's true, but I like training someone the proper way rather than hiring someone that's not. Bad habits maybe bring bad habits or think they know. I'll have a saying we'd do it with us, not for us. So you've had have you had pretty good retention with people with us. I mean it'll be five it's we've had the the lease for five years. It'll be five years open in February. And I have several people that have been with us from day one. What about the chef? Chef Jessica, she's awesome. Uh she's the sweetest. Now I brought Terry White, my opening chef from Del Frisco's open New York with me, came to Tyler to open Prime 102 and show Jess all the menus items and set the standard.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

So I mean, one of the hardest things I've seen for restaurants in Tyler is how difficult it it is to open without there being maybe poor service, the food's not they hadn't figured it all out. People get a bad experience and then their impression is set. Did you were you worried about that? Um I was hoping we got it right the first time. Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

You only get one chance to make a good first impression. That's what I'm saying. Right? I mean, if you go up there and and they go, oh man, this is you know Well, here's what I try to tell people. If you have a an issue or something's not right, let us know. I mean, we'll fix it. If I can't fix it, I promise you you're not gonna pay for it. We want you to come in and have a great experience. Well, the most frustrating thing for a restaurant owner is someone that has a great experience, says they had everything great, and then goes and leaves a bad review. Why do you let me fix it while you're here?

SPEAKER_02 27:41

Well, because they knew you wouldn't take care of business. Just like that bad review they left on me. I don't want to bring that up. I mean, full disclosure. Full disclosure. I'm sorry. That was my only thing. I was like, you know, it was in the evening. Mm-hmm, uh there were two kids screaming nonstop, and I simply said, which I thought was funny. Chuck E. Cheese. Hey, why don't you take them to Chuck E. Cheese? And uh that offended them. And and the man didn't say one word to me. The woman came over and asked me if I had a problem. I was like, uh, you know, a little bit. But and then they left a review. He did, and he never said one word to me.

SPEAKER_00 28:19

Right.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

But luckily, other people have reviewed them on out. Correct. It happens. But I mean, I helped set policy going forward. Correct. Right? Yes. And I mean, I think it's a good policy. You don't need five-year-olds in a bar that's exclusively a bar. Correct. I think. Now, I mean, I know when you're trying to make a living, you do a lot of things, right? And that's one of the things that aggravates me about the Grove. The Grove has a sign outside the bar that says, no kids allowed. Sometimes you go in there, it's a it they're full of kids.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

And I'm like, try to keep the place. There's an old saying, too, the most expensive thing in a restaurant is an empty seat.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

So you want to try to keep them. I try to feel for that, right? I'm like, man, I'm my kids are grown. You know, I mean, I I'm not trying to raise kids again, right? I mean, we're finally free. But I understand, you know, the push and pull of, like you said, uh an empty seat, you know, versus making somebody happy and maybe they come back without the kids. Right. Um, so you know, here comes COVID. I mean, it seems like the craziest time in the world for a guy to say, hey, I'm gonna open up a restaurant in downtown Tyler and it's gonna be a high-end steakhouse. Right. You're right. Um now, I'm sure the other guys, the landlord, I'm sure those people were cheering you on. Oh, yeah. Because they couldn't great relationships. Um, and uh, I know from knowing you that they provided a lot of financial support and help for this to happen. Is that a fair way to say it? Yeah. Um but ultimately y'all cut a deal, restaurant opened, um, and were you the owner yourself or were you married at the time, or when did Perry come in the picture? We got married after we opened the restaurant. All right. Because I mean, you know, Perry is a fixture if you come to Prime 100. She's the face of Prime 102. Absolutely. The minute you walk up. She has to keep me in the back in the kitchen, just make sure all the food comes out properly. The minute you walk up those stairs, I mean, people don't know this if they don't know it's your wife. She works as the hostess in the restaurant, and I've never been there and not seen her. Right? She does all the the large parties, the banquets, and all that stuff as well. And and she supports you. Correct. I mean, and I know how that feels. My wife works in our business and does about three jobs, you know, and uh it'd be difficult to hire somebody as good as Perry, I'm betting. Right. And you know what's good about she's fully vested, yes. So if you can work with your spouse and some people can't, right, the best thing about it, I think, is that they understand the pressures and the and the things that are going on, right? Because they're there at office or there at the restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Well, being a guy You go home at the end of the uh night or at work or whatever, and your wife asks you, How was your day? You don't want to talk about it. She knows because she's seen it. Right. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 30:59

Yeah. We're fine. Uh okay. So uh you know, y you seem to be in the sharing mood. So let's talk about how did you meet Perry? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

I met Perry at Path. People attempting to help.

SPEAKER_02 31:21

Most people know Path and Tyler. Yeah. That's a charity that provides you know. Yeah. Well, okay. Well, you've brought us there. Now, some reason for some reason you're there working at Path.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Uh is there can you tell us why you were there? Yeah. Well, originally I went to Path because I had gotten in trouble in West Texas and I needed to do a little community service. I did, and I loved it so much. After I finished my community service, I stayed on as a volunteer. And my wife was working with uh with Liz at Rose Festival. Liz Ballard. Liz Ballard.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

I know. I'm gonna have Liz on the show. Oh, awesome. I've talked to her. Yeah, that'd be good. No, she'd be a great guest.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

They they were gonna they wanted to have the kids in the Rose Festival help pass out groceries at Path, but the parents didn't want the kids being down there, so Liz and Perry came down and volunteered to pass out groceries. So we met and had our masks on, and you know, I hated that time. And uh she had actually asked me, Are you um doing community service or are you are you volunteering? I said, Oh, I'm volunteering. Yeah, that's what I said. And then afterwards, she and I had gone out a few times. I said, if you'd asked me two weeks earlier, I'd have been doing community service.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

So I mean, because you seem like a great guy. You're just down there volunteering for the community. You know? She's going, uh now you say you've never been married, you have no children. Now, Steve, I mean, where have you been? Yeah. But, you know, I know you feel thankful because I know you, you know, that you met her. Y'all got it.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

All this is a God thing. I mean, during COVID, me and my wife, open a restaurant, and I go from being single with a dog to married with three kids, three dogs, two cats, and thirty-four employees. And that's all God. That has nothing to do with me except suiting up and showing up.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

And the continued sobriety that that is ridden along with that, right? Correct. Do you find that Perry, you know, in your life, uh, that she's very supportive of, you know, continuation of sobriety.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

She'll tell me when she thinks I need to go to a meeting. All right.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

Yeah, because I mean, for people who don't know, we wouldn't know what that looks like. Like maybe you you're getting quiet, maybe you're not you don't have the same disposition. I mean, fuse may get a little shorter. All right. You get a little aggravated. Oh, yeah. Um is it just decompression at the meetings where you just let things off your chest? Where you can talk about stuff, correct. Yeah. Uh with people that totally understand. All right. Well, you know, one of the things you did, you mentioned earlier, you reconfigured the restaurant uh from what people knew. And the corner bar, uh, you know, believe it or not, you know. I believe you were seated right here in the kids' room here. That's right. Uh for the record, yeah, me and my all my kids and my wife, we were at that far table right there, uh, and they were directly across from us. Correct. Just so uh everybody understands how aggravating that was. But in any event, you changed this to what's called the corner bar.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

That was a private dining room that we turned into the corner bar. Uh something that I wanted to do. When you walk up the stairs, the restaurant's a little intimidating. Right. I mean, it's it's two-story. It's awesome. It's a little intimidating. So I wanted to put a little more casual spin on a bar in there that you didn't have a reservation. It's first come, first serve, a little uh more casual menu. You can still order off the dinner menu or the lunch menu at lunch, but still has the corner bar menu to make it more warm, welcome, and inviting for anybody walking in out the streets, flip-flops, blue jeans, ball cap.

SPEAKER_02 34:49

It's funny you say that. The other day when I went to lunch over there, I saw some guys. They clearly were workers. They, you know, had on, you know, clothing like they had been doing something manual. Right. They they came in, they turned the corner and went straight into the corner bar. Correct. They don't even ask. Right. I mean, and uh, you know, and they didn't meet any resistance or questions from people saying, hey, you know, there's a dress code here or whatever. But it is lunch, right? And um but the dining room itself is uh it is super nice for people who haven't seen it. Yeah, it's beautiful. You've done some renovations more recently to the booth area, I thought.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

I'll cover the booth, red velvet's gorgeous.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

The uh the booths are are those one of those things that people request, you know, for wedding anniversaries as opposed to sitting out in the tables. Oh, yes. Yeah, well, speaking of kids, since we recovered them, we don't let kids in the booze either. Right. I mean, that's a good idea. I mean, that's the policy you should have had. I mean, before I came through. Um you know, um your dining room capacity. I've never really asked, and and it's hard to tell what it is. 222 seats. All right. You got 220 uh Well, that's what the fire marshal says we can In the dining room that's downstairs. All of it. Including the corner bar. How about the uh you know the private dining room that looks out on the square? Oh, yeah, the Liberty Room. You call that the Liberty Room? It's seat sixteen comfortably. All right. And that's gonna be it's already a great spot, but that's gonna be a really great spot.

SPEAKER_01 36:17

Square's done, it'll be awesome. Looking out there. Yeah. Right now it's an observation deck to see all the construction going on down there.

SPEAKER_02 36:24

Yeah, and I know you guys are troopers down there uh during the construction. It's hard on you guys. It's difficult, but we'll make it. Um upstairs, there's kind of an upstairs bar and seating, but it doesn't seem like that's really open all the time. Is that right?

SPEAKER_01 36:38

It's mainly for private events, Christmas parties. Uh if we do a lot of pharmaceutical events up there as well.

SPEAKER_02 36:45

Corporate events, I guess you'd call it. So uh is that a good part of the business throughout the year?

SPEAKER_01 36:49

Trevor Burrus, Jr. That's awesome. We love the fact that we have UT Health here, Christas here, the the universities. I mean, they do a lot of the recruitment dinners in there, a lot of celebratory dinners in there.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

Aaron Powell, I mean we've got the medical school kind of ramping up.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

Correct. Yeah, we do medical devices dinners in there now to bring the doctors in to go over the medical devices. So pharmaceuticals.

SPEAKER_02 37:09

You know, I've had Don Warren, the mayor, on the podcast, and uh Don has talked about his, you know, passion for that downtown four-star hotel. Yeah. Right? And the interest rates may be getting in the way right now or something. I think they have it done. Do they? Yeah. The Blackstone, I believe, is the name of it. They're gonna call it the Blackstone, uh kind of again a tip of the hat to old Tyler. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 37:29

Um but it's gonna be a game changer for downtown.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

I think it is too. And I know you're looking forward to all the guests that could be there and a walk across the grassy. It'll be the grassy area. Right. Yeah. The green space. Fighting, looking for Shorty the Squirrel. That's correct. He's been relocated. I don't know where Don put him, but he's been relocated. Don said there will be, there will be a plaque. Okay, good. That marks. All right. Let's uh, you know, knowing you like I do and being interested in the restaurants and bars because I like them, I I think they're peaceful to me. I guess as a lawyer who's you know always revved up and you know, it's kind of calmed down. That's why the kids was bothering me so much. Um But you know, meeting Mike over at Del Frisco's, he was like, hey, Chad, you'd ought to try this VIP. Yeah. And I was like, what's a VIP? Vodka infused pineapple. There it is.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

Came up with that when we opened New York.

SPEAKER_02 38:24

And so I was kind of surprised. That's the yellow rose and Tyler. Right. That's what I was about to say. Here's a picture of it. It's called the Yellow Rose. The same pineapple in the Use the nicer vodka.

SPEAKER_01 38:34

We use Tito's with the pine dull pineapple. The Capitol Grill came up with that. It was used to be called the Stoli Dolly, or still is a Capitol Grill. It is. Then it was a VIP with Del Frisco's. I had it at the Rock and Rooster at the Rooster Cafe. It's the the Yellow Rose and Tyler.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

Yeah. And uh I mean it's pretty tasty. Yes, you gotta be careful though. Ah. I mean can't taste the vodka. I mean, knowing you, Steve, you're probably putting only a little in there. You get what you get. Oh okay. All right, you know, let's turn to you know, the question of it is a steakhouse. Um you sound like a guy who would probably try to locate good meat.

SPEAKER_01 39:12

Where do you source your beef from? We actually get our meat of an um independent butcher out of Chicago called Purely Meats. Um they ship it to us every Sunday, comes on a truck, fresh, never frozen. Um we cut our our strips and our ribeye's in-house, um, the long bones and that they cut there for us. But it's a great product. Well that's independent. Everybody I mean, I don't want to say any names. Well, everyb everybody's been bought and they're all big conglomerates now. Right. We still have a true independent, so they give us a good, great, consistent leaf consistent product and very happy with them.

SPEAKER_02 39:48

I mean, and that's pretty interesting, you know, that y you can tell people that it it's never been frozen. Correct. And and you get a new supply every week. Correct. Have you kind of figured out, you know, what your stake count is going to be? Or have you gotten kind of honed your order to where you know which order?

SPEAKER_01 40:06

We have pars that we keep and then we ramp those up during the holidays. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

Now you mentioned Prime 102, and you know, obviously the name and the type of is is that somehow related to the stakes that are bought? Steaks or prime beef. And for for us, people that go to the grocery store very seldom and pick out steaks. It says choice, it says top sirloin, it says prime. I mean, what's the hierarchy? I mean, let me know. I'm not I'm not the stake level.

SPEAKER_00 40:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

Prime and everything else is in between. Um then you have the the Japanese Kobe Wagyu high-end stuff. So we have that as well. Uh it's just it's because of the marbling and the the color, and that's how it's graded. Uh a lot of people talk about consistency. Would I love to have a a local independent that could produce prime beef in the amount quantity that we need here? Yes. But it's hard to do that with the volume that we do. Yeah. And most independents don't have someone that comes in and grades their beef for them. You don't have the D F the USDA inspector going over the products, rate rating it as prime, top two percent or the only guy I know is Scott Herod in that cut beef.

SPEAKER_02 41:17

I have no idea what the operation is. I just know he's in it. Yeah. He's got a little store. Um I don't know if they sell enough or or have enough to supply some of it.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

His uh Business Mile is geared more towards the individual. It supplies some restaurants around Tyler, but mostly individuals.

SPEAKER_02 41:36

All right. Um let's look at that tomahawk steak. Okay. Well, uh no, actually, I'm glad I'm glad Chris put this up. Yeah, I want to talk about the tin burgers. Most people order this in the corner bar, don't they? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

Tell us the story behind why you called it a tin burger. Aaron Powell Yes, this is the tenth president is John Tyler, and we're in the lovely city of Tyler, Texas. Now, did you get that kind of idea from another restaurant? Aaron Ross Powell I got the grind from another restaurant. That grind of brisket, short ribbon chuck came from Tavern on the Green. So they have this old saying, you know, uh imitation of the greatest form of flattery. Yeah. Took it, tweaked it, made it our own.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

So I mean, what are you the when you say the grind, what are you talking about?

SPEAKER_01 42:16

The meat in that burger is a blend of brisket, short ribbon, and chuck that we grind, that we blend in-house for that burger. So that's a great flavor profile and texture that's not your your run-of-the-mill burger grind. Is it uh is that an onion ring? What is that? Those are frizzled onions, which are matted and fried onions on top, um little tomato, arugula, a little tin sauce. Yeah, it's good stuff. Do y'all make any of this stuff? We do all that in-house. Everything. Well, uh the buns I get from fresh at Brooks's twice a week. I mean, they got good buns? Correct. They are good buns. They're great buns, that's the onion rule. And uh with the volume and the space we have, with the the one double convection oven, uh we do all the desserts in the restaurant, the cakes and all that. I don't have time to do the buns and the bread that we serve to our guests at the restaurant. We do the bread, but not the buns at the restaurant.

SPEAKER_02 43:05

Well, you know, this tin burger um is this a meal? Is this just a burger by itself? How is this, you know, priced and sold?

SPEAKER_01 43:13

That's I believe$18 worth of fries. That's a half a pound of meat. Enjoy it. All right. So that's that's what you get for$18, right?

SPEAKER_02 43:21

Yeah. And it's and the meat's great. Uh you got the fries. I mean, uh it seems like a pretty good price for your restaurant. Oh.

SPEAKER_01 43:30

I think it's a great price in general. If you go to a burger joint, I I could spend fifteen bucks a Taco Bell right now. Yeah, no, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 43:37

How about inflation? How about uh you know 2020 to now? How has that uh impacted your you know the pricing you've had to do to figure out how to make a profit?

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Aaron Powell Let's just say it's sales have increased slightly and profits have gone down quite a bit. Really? Yeah. Well, we reneg renegotiated the lease, which did go up. Uh insurance has gone up twice. In five years, 24% each time. I mean, costs are going through the roof, but well, I mean what are you doing? No, I mean we increased prices uh a couple of times, a couple dollars here and there. But I mean you have to.

SPEAKER_00 44:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:15

I mean there's no way. We have to keep the lights on. Right. You know? Um That's like people we have the$8 double-double cheeseburger. Comes out on a white paper plate. You can get that in the corner bar. You can't get that in the dining room because the burger itself doesn't cover the white tablecloth in the dining room. So is that on the menu somewhere? No, it's a that's one of those secret items you have to know about.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

Okay. Well, I mean, we're putting it we're putting the secret out. It's okay.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

You can walk in there and say You can get it at lunch or you can get it at after eight in the bar. That way you can have a a nice old fashioned and uh a beautiful cheeseburger to go with it. Yeah, I want to and you say you call it a double double. All right. CBCB. That's different from the 10 burger. Correct. Same same meat grind. It's just a very simple burger. You're uh just a patty, a little mayo so that the grease from the burger doesn't absorb into the bun, a little American cheese, and then a top bun. Very simple.

SPEAKER_02 45:11

I mean, I had one recently, and uh I mean it's good. And I don't eat hamburgers that often, right? Because I don't know. I try not to eat too many bread too much bread. But you mentioned, you know, an old fashioned, you know. It seems like your bartenders have always been pretty top quality when I've been in there. Oh, yeah. Like able to make drinks in a way that, you know, are not just Tanner and Meredith are great.

SPEAKER_01 45:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

Yeah. Again, consistent. Right. I mean, I don't know, do you play any role in, you know, talking to them? Well, we trained them from the beginning with the right. Like this is how we're gonna approach people. Yeah. Well, smile. Yeah. That's the most important part of your unicorn. Right. But I mean, like, you know, like uh Well, just be comfortable. Some people are less, you know, I mean, I'm a veteran of the bar game. Um, you know, I n I go in there, I know what I want. Right. Right. Some people, you know, that are maybe they don't have as much fun as I do all the time. They go in there and they're like, they're not sure what they want, right? And it's it's helpful that bartenders.

SPEAKER_01 46:09

Tanner can guide you, you know. He'll ask you whether you want something sweet, something bitter, what you know, he'll get a feel for what you like, and then they'll make something, let you try it, see if that's the the direction he wants you to go.

SPEAKER_02 46:20

You know, a lot of people like to drink wine and they sometimes might think, well, there's no bottle of wine that I can afford at a Prime 102. Is that true?

SPEAKER_01 46:27

Yeah, plenty. You have plenty of. I don't know that we have forty bottles below forty dollars, but I know we have at least a dozen below forty dollars to date$39.

SPEAKER_02 46:36

I mean, that's you know, red, white, red, white, plus, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

Um Or we can spend as much as you want. You know, we have susakayas, we have high-end old world wines as well.

SPEAKER_02 46:46

Are you optimistic based on uh you know how the business is going, the medical school, the hotel, the construction being over, that this is going to be a successful endeavor over time? I mean, you're gonna make it. Very very optimistic. Even with the price.

SPEAKER_01 47:11

What would you say?

SPEAKER_02 47:13

What would you say uh has hurt you most in your business about the construction? Access.

SPEAKER_01 47:19

I know lunches is difficult. That's what I mean. And then most guests don't realize we have our own parking lot behind the building. Right. So you can come in on on on uh Moldark and turn right into our parking lot. After five, the arms are up and you can come in. At lunch, you can park across the street and get a voucher for that. But people don't realize we have our own parking lot behind it. So that's been the biggest obstacle, if you will. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 47:43

Right. I mean, if people knew how easy it was, because the other thing you didn't mention that you people really need to know is that you can park in that parking lot and walk right in the back door. And right through the lobby up to the stairs. Right.

SPEAKER_01 47:55

Or to take the elevator if you need to. Trevor Burrus, Jr. But right. It's very easy. Uh completely bypass all the construction going on. That's right. The lunch is probably what's been hurt the most, I guess. Aaron Ross Powell, Jr. Yeah. Because we don't get the foot traffic because of the construction and the sidewalks. You can't really cross the street.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

Aaron Ross Powell What have they told you about predictions on that out in front of you being completed?

SPEAKER_01 48:15

Trevor Burrus Well, they said they started with our corner first so they could complete it first, which that's great. So that college could be and Irwin. Irwin will be the first corner completed. But uh it'll it'll probably be another three months or so, I'm guessing, before that's done. But I mean I guess even then I don't know how they're gonna direct traffic when they still have the other corners to do. Yeah, I mean, I guess it'll have to be one way. Well, when they've complete it, it's supposed to be two ways. But for now, yeah, it'll still have to be one way.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

I mean that's a big project down there, right? Yeah. I mean it's probably long overdue. Oh yeah. No, it's gonna be great when it's done. It's just getting to that point, you know. Because the courthouse is uh I can I think it's slated now. They they added an additional floor that they were gonna renovate because maybe they were on budget. Okay. That's what I heard. And it was gonna push it back maybe to December. Yeah. It was gonna be fall of 2026. I think it's December. Have you heard that? Yeah. Either way, Steve Barnott, he's got to survive one more year. Is that Yes. Please. Right. I mean, that's it. Right. I mean, if you can make it a year, um, and people will come out and support you and help you do that. It'll support all of us downtown. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

We're not the only restaurant down there. So yeah. That's right. I mean, um That's the beautiful thing about downtown. We support each other, we've mentioned each other, come have a drink here, have a bark burger here, go see Chef Lancet Culture, go to Rick's, go over to um what's my Mexican food restaurant? Don Wan. Don Juan's. I mean, just come see us. What about uh Rick's? Did Riggs has that sold? I was told that he has, but I I don't know for sure.

SPEAKER_02 49:44

Yeah, I don't either. I just heard it was for sale and maybe it had sold to somebody. Correct. Because i is that a that's kind of a competing steakhouse, is it not?

SPEAKER_00 49:53

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 49:54

Yeah. Yeah. Uh they have a lot more they have a lot of different stuff, right? Right. Um Your menu. Let's talk about your menu just to give people kind of a sample and and and I can make my, you know, uh my food review here today. Right. All right. Now on the salads, you have uh, of course, the tried and true iceberg wedge salad. Correct. I mean that's a blue cheese, so yeah. Yeah, that's one of my favorite things. Um bacon lardon, can't beat it.

SPEAKER_01 50:22

That's my favorite salad.

SPEAKER_02 50:23

Is it theater's great, but uh the wedge is my favorite. That was gonna be my next qu next question. What you like. You like the iceberg wedge as well? Correct. Now, on the appetizers or starters, um, I'm gonna have to tell you my favorite is the tuna tartar. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 50:38

Have you had the the Sierrahi tuna yet?

SPEAKER_02 50:41

Uh Did I have that last time? I don't know if you did or not. I don't know. Is that on this menu? I don't think it's on this menu. I mean, Steve, you've got to get information out if you want people to enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01 50:50

It's easier if they talk about it rather than just point it out on a menu. Yeah, we we don't have a dessert menu. It's all verbal. I I look.

SPEAKER_02 50:57

Last question on my thing is hey, Steve, why don't you have dessert? Yeah, plenty of dessert. Okay. But I mean, this is the good part of the show, is that we we learned that one, you can ask questions like, hey, do y'all have anything off menu like a double burger? Right. Do y'all have any desserts? You know, oh sure we do. Right. But hopefully they're verbalizing without you asking, yes. I had seared tuna last night at the Grove. That was it. Great. I hope. It was great. Okay. I mean, I liked I liked, I think their chef and their food is good. Okay. I can't say that about uh some of the others. Uh you know, no names being mentioned here today. We always try to take the I'm trying. Uh uh You know, your seafood. I don't know that I've ever delved into the seafood at your place. I guess I've always, when I went there, I wanted a steak. Well, you should try some seafood. Tell me tell me what's impressive or what you have on the seafood front.

SPEAKER_01 51:54

I would probably start with the appetizer, the four-ounce jumbo lump crab cake with a little Cajun lobster uh cream sauce, baked, not fried, not your traditional crab cake. We call it the cakeless crab cake. All right. Um the salmon, best you can get. Where do you source that salmon? It comes out of uh cold waters of chili. It's what it's not a farm raised. Oh, the water's cold in chili? Correct. Uh-huh. It's an aquaculture, so yeah, it's good for the environment and it's a great product.

SPEAKER_02 52:23

It's not a farm-raised salmon in a big pond. No.

SPEAKER_01 52:26

No. And it comes in whole fish, beautiful. I call it the Gucci of salmon because it has the label on it and all that good stuff. All right.

SPEAKER_02 52:32

Some people say sockeye salmon. I don't know what that is.

SPEAKER_01 52:35

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: It's the aura keen's the salmon you want, the good stuff. Okay. Is it orange? Dark orange or light orange? It's dark orange. All right. Is that better? Do I like light orange? If you get it in farm raise, it's probably got color added to it.

SPEAKER_02 52:46

It's a whole other story. Okay. We won't go there. Trevor Burrus, I'm getting fooled then. All right. So what else we got?

SPEAKER_01 52:51

You mentioned Do you source lobster tails in this restaurant? We get lobster tails from the East Coast that we use for the angry lobster and our lobster mac and cheese, and then we get cold water, uh, Western Australian lobster tails for the large lobster tails.

SPEAKER_02 53:03

Now, I don't know that I've ever seen a raw oyster in your place, have I? No, we don't do raw oysters. I mean, there's that whole food. Yeah. That whole food allergy thing, right? Right. And then if it doesn't have an R in the month kind of thing. I mean, because one of my favorites is SD Oyster Company. And and on McKinney's. Oh, man. It's great stuff. I love oysters. Only when it's cold outside, though. What about a soup? You got a soup that you think is is worth mentioning? I'd I do the chowder. Or the tomato bisque. I mean the one, they're both great. When I think bisque, I think creamy. I better go chowder. Come on, go chowder. Okay, I'll go chowder. You know, the tent now, here's the here's the sleeper, in my opinion. The thing I didn't know was on the menu, and I felt bad for you when I saw the police that the lunch crowd was getting hurt, so I came on down about a month ago, remember? Okay. And I've been back three times since. And uh somebody, the waiter, he said, uh, hey, this prime wrap is a favorite of ours. And I'm like, what? You know, because I usually avoid the bread, so I usually don't even look there. I'm getting a salmon. Right. And I thought the prime wrap was the best thing I'd ever had, like a sandwich type wrap.

SPEAKER_01 54:18

Well, if you like the the wedge, you got the the lettuce in there with the blue cheese crumbles and the the ribeye steak, so can't go wrong with that.

SPEAKER_02 54:25

But there's no creamy dressing. It's like a uh it's like an olive oil. Kind of like a vinaigrette. Yes. And the prime rib taste with that, I just think that's the uh I mean that's a bad if you found something you like. I do. I mean, I'm not just saying that because I'm not a food person. You know, I don't know if you don't consider yourself a foodie. You know, I only eat because I'm getting a headache. Right? I mean, like, you know, I feel like I gotta eat, man. I'm kind of getting I'm getting grouchy. Just like when those kids were in there. I hadn't eaten. I couldn't get any service back then at your bike. I was, man. I I mean I I was waiting on a drink. I hadn't had anything to eat, and then these kids are screaming their head off. You know, I've never heard anybody get the chicken stroganoff, but it sounds interesting. Oh, yeah. Is that right? Mm-hmm. Um Farpadell Noodle. You know, you've got the full array of steaks, I've noticed. I mean, you've got an eight or a twelve ounce for the big eater, right? And the medallion for the composed dish with the potatoes. What would you say was your the most popular steak that's ordered and bought at your place? Okay. Is that because people's natural inclination?

SPEAKER_01 55:31

That's why it's the most land tender cut of meat you can get. Right. Yeah. I'm a ribeye guy. I like the flavor, you know. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 55:36

Right, because ribeye is really marbled with fat and it produces flavor. Right. That's why people like it. How would you describe a New York strip? You know, is that kind of in between a filet and in between a ribeye?

SPEAKER_01 55:49

That's the steak eater steak. You get a prime strip that's got the beautiful marbling in it. Can't go wrong. It's not going to be as tender as a fillet. Right. And it's not a good thing. It's not going to be as fatty as a ribot. It's kind of the happy medium. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: That's what that's what I've been told. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Another one that's not on the menu that we do in the bars at uh, which is the strip. Please don't tell me that's in a bag. No. No. It's a seven-ounce strip that we pepper crust, serve with al-poi sauce, and french fries. You know, in Tyler, that would be all all pooh or something sauce. It wouldn't be correct. Yeah. I've had a guest one time complain that their filet alpoi was too peppery. And I had to explain that the alpoi was the peppers. It's okay.

SPEAKER_02 56:26

Yeah, but we didn't educate the guests. I'm sure you did it with a smile and kindness. We hope so. And they were happy about it. You know, I mean, anytime it says 45-day dry age, 30-day dry age, what is that telling people about the steak or why they'd want to order it.

SPEAKER_01 56:44

Dry age is the old traditional way of of um aging steaks, where you've seen the Rocky movie where they're beating up the steaks, hanging up in the lockers. That's dry aging. That's what they're doing. Most steaks that you get are or what you call wet age, which are cryovect where it's sealed so it doesn't have any opportunity to have uh bacteria or whatever. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Like you see at a grocery store where it's sealed into plastic. Correct. So dry aging is the old world manuf uh way of method of of uh aging steaks. So it gives it more of a um what do they call it? Some people call it a umami funk. You ever you like blue cheese, right? Yeah. I mean, you know, blue cheese smells like dirty feet, but tastes good.

SPEAKER_02 57:23

Makes no sense, right? I mean, you know, yeah, it ha I mean it has a funky taste sometimes. Yes. It tastes good. But I mean I'm wanting to know where I'm gonna go down at your place and and work the meat locker.

SPEAKER_01 57:34

You you talk about Do you have one? No. I'd love to someday. Well, that's another thing purely does for us to age our steaks right. Okay. That's how you get them ace. Yeah. All right. Correct. Um we talk about steaks. Let's talk about guests. Um something that we could do better is educate the guest that comes in and orders a dry age steak. There may not be used to the flavor profile of a dry age steak. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 57:57

And be disappointed.

SPEAKER_01 57:58

Correct. Because it's not for your average I mean, you you need to know it. It's kind of like if you go for a drink for the first time. You didn't go order a scotch or a whiskey. You probably had a Warhammer James, something special. Right. Correct. So you gotta kind of work your way into that. It's kind of a I don't won't say it's smacking the face, but it's a completely different flavor profile as a a wet aged steak. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 58:19

Just like, you know, mezcal and old-fashioned, you know, I'm not a huge smoky flavor. Right. And people, if they didn't know that a much more intense flavor profile. They'd be like, man, this sure is smoky. Yeah. You know. You know, you've got something for everybody. I mean, I'm looking over here at the cauliflower steak, I guess that's kind of a vegetarian option. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:37

And we'll also do we do vegetarian pastas. We I mean we have a full kitchen with some great talent back there. We can make whatever you need.

SPEAKER_02 58:43

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: But I mean, if somebody shows up and goes, look, uh, my daughter's this way, she'll eat some fish, but for whatever reason, you know, she doesn't want to eat meat. Okay. Right. And if somebody showed up and said, uh, you know, I'd like to have a vegetarian option, what options would they be presented with by the server?

SPEAKER_01 58:58

Aaron Ross Powell Well, besides the cauliflower steak, like I said, we do a pasta primavera with vegetables. We could do sauteed spinach. I mean, we we can create a plate for them for with vegetarians.

unknown 59:09

All right.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

Or with pasta as well.

SPEAKER_02 59:10

Aaron Ross Powell You know, you've got you've got a good array of sides. And steakhouses always have sides, right? I mean, you order and then you buy your sides by the side, right? Family style. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Right. They're usually and so people don't know. Uh when they order, say, lobster mac and cheese, it's not going to be just a little old bitty one.

SPEAKER_01 59:29

It'll feed four people.

SPEAKER_02 59:30

All right. What about the lobster mac and cheese? Is that one of the favorites?

SPEAKER_01 59:34

Yummy delicious, yeah. Um Most of them have the full knuckle lobster claw on top of it, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:40

And that's part of, you know, treating people well, right? I mean um the Brussels sprouts. I kind of like those because, you know, I mean, I feel like it's healthy. But sometimes I I I admit I have to get the French fries. Oh yeah. Um You mentioned something earlier. Um and I'm sure you probably ask yourself this sometime. You know, tell us what you think you do good as a restaurant, and tell us what you think, you know, that you could do better uh to make it a better experience for people at Prime 102. What do you think you do good, see? I mean, uh in the way you run your business, in the way that it's going now.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:22

I hope we show people that we actually care. I mean, when you walk in the door, you'll see Perry with a smile on her face coming up the stairs. Um your servers want to, like I say, we do things for you, not to you.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:32

I thought she was just smiling at me like I was kind of a VIP. You know, coming in. I mean, I didn't know she was smiling at everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:40

Guess what? You're all VIPs. Everybody comes in. Right. I mean, I feel like hopefully we put out a consistent product all the time. One of the most I've been in I've worked in many restaurants, right? Right. The most difficult thing to get out consistently in a timely fashion is a French fry. Because the other food will come up and you want to send it out nice and hot and fresh, and you're still waiting on the french fries. But you've got a warming light or something, don't you? No, we don't have warming lights. We don't have no microwave or something. I saw a microwave back in the back of your phone. Three things I got rid of when we took over is a microwave, a sous-y, and the warming lights. Got rid of the. I mean, this isn't Mel's Diner, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:21

So no, it has to be hot and fresh and go out that way. I mean, do you think, like you mentioned, communication at a restaurant? I mean, the a great communicator could be a great server. Like they could explain, they could pick up to paint you a picture.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

Not you can read what's on the menu, but paint me a picture and tell me why it's your favorite and what you like about it. Yeah, and if it sounds like it sounds like when I was a server, the guest would say, How's the salmon? I'll say we sell a lot of it. I don't like salmon. Yeah. Just be honest.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:47

Right. Because I mean, sometimes you feel like you go to a restaurant and these people are just saying stuff about they want to sell you the most expensive menu. Uh you know, I think this is paired well with a bottle of Dom Perignon. I'm like, really? Wasn't everything Give me in and out burger and a bottle of Dom. Yeah. I mean because I mean at the liquor store, Dom Perignon's 300 bucks. Right. So at the restaurant At least 450, if not 600 bucks. That's right. Uh I mean, I'm happy, you're happy. Um and I mean that in a in a in a good way because I want your restaurant to be here because I love it so much. You know, imagine if we didn't have Prime 102. Uh imagine if we didn't have a couple other restaurants. I mean, we would be left with a lot of chains.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:31

Right? Well, you have we have a lot of restaurants that you don't have to drive to Dallas or Austin or wherever that's right. Shreep. Right, right. You can stay in in Tyler, Texas and get a great dining experience.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:43

Because if people are listening to this, I mean, you know, Shreeport obviously has some good places. Bosier City as well. Right. And then Dallas, right? Right. And maybe if you want to travel to Three Forks, that's out there.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:59

It's in on Dallas on the towway. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:01

Well, I thought there used to be one, Leroy Jordan, a call cowboy house. Oh, that's that's uh four wins. Four wins. That's Dell's nephew. Is that still out there? Oh yeah. Uh I've been there one time. But I mean, for around us, I mean, it your steakhouse kind of stands alone like one of those, in my opinion. Thank you. Is that what you were going for? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:21

I mean, hope to exceed theirs, but yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:23

But I mean, Ryan, you come from a a big steakhouse background and and you're looking around and you're seeing Tyler really didn't have it. Correct. I didn't think it had one.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:34

I thought it needed one. You know what's funny? I don't know if I've ever mentioned this to you about Tyler. I love the community. And Tyler is very conservative. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Very And Tyler is the only restaurant town that I've been in where you have a steakhouse and you don't have the male ego like you do in the big city, Dallas, New York, where you see a big lobster tail go by and you want to have one, or you see a very expensive bottle of wine and you try to one-up them, you don't have that ego here. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah, give me one of those, which is which is great to be a part of, not necessarily great for business, but it's it's a a completely different atmosphere. And it's nice to be a part of. When you go from being in Dallas and New York and Frisco, and then you find a home like Tyler, which is what I call it, it is home. That's it's just it's much more of a sense of community here. I mean you come through the restaurant on a Friday, Saturday night, how many tables do you go by and talk to?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:20

Uh I mean, you know. Everybody knows each other. Yeah, a lot of people do, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:23

And you see people praying at the table when before they have dinner. That's right. And we break bread. We don't cut bread, we break bread. That's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:30

Do you f do you see a lot of the same people? Do you have a lot of repeat customers, people that really love the restaurant? No. Yeah. Um a lot. Well, I can certainly see why. Um like I said, um I always thought it'd be cool in my mind, my wife corrected me, uh, that I could have a bar or I could have a restaurant, you know, or whatever. Let's call it don't get hurt twice, you know, bar and grill. Right. And uh she always tells me it's a lot harder than than it looks. It's not for everyone, not for the weak at our butt it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:03

I love it. I thought I always say it's either an addiction, a genetic flaw, or some sickness. But yeah, it's I love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:10

Well, you know, the podcast East Texas Unfiltered is about people that live here, people that are from here, people that are part of the community, if you will. And certainly you're a big part of that now. And uh, we're glad to have you, and I appreciate you coming on the show today, Steve. Steve Barnhart, Prime 102.