Members of the Tallahassee media and other invited guests got a sneak preview of the city's newest restaurant Monday (5/9/16) night. The eatery is part of an Austin-based chain whose keywords are "fun" and "fresh".
Robert Newall, the owner/manager of the new Tallahassee Chuy's, is giving his preview guests a behind-the scenes look at the food preparation and storage areas.
"The produce comes in 6 days a week," he's telling them in the vast expanse of the restaurant's walk-in cooler. "We make our sauces and salsas from scratch and then cool them right here in our cooling rack."
Chuy's began in Austin, Texas in 1982. Today it has nearly 80 restaurants across the country. Because nearly all of the food is prepared fresh and in-house, Newall has almost 200 employees at the new Tallahassee location, most of whom he plans to keep long-term.
"At Chuy's, we can beat our year-over-year sales versus opening at a lot of our locations," he explains after the tour. "Just because the food is that good. We don't advertise. Once people come out and try it, they just keep coming back."
The decor? Think "wacky" and "quirky" with photos of local dogs at the bar and even an Elvis Presley shrine.