The Thirsty Golfer
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When Greg Croker and Carlos Oliveira came up with a pub concept for The Thirsty Golfer, they knew they needed to serve both food and alcohol.
It wasn’t going to be one or the other to go along with their indoor golf simulator, which had opened a couple years ago as Croker’s Indoor Golf adjacent to The Wine and Beer Shop at 101 Broadway, Tillsonburg.
“We had to have food,” said Croker, sitting at a table not too far from their new bar, just two weeks after The Thirsty Golfer opened its doors on Dec. 7, 2012 next to The Wine and Beer Studio.
“We had to had to have food – but our idea was very small,” Oliveira nodded. “We were thinking maybe having pizza. We weren’t thinking kitchen.”
The pub and eatery concept took off over the summer.
“It turned into something a lot bigger than we anticipated,” said Croker. “At one point we were thinking about bringing in catering… and it turned into a full-service kitchen. Our first objective was being a pub, and as everything came into place, we became an eatery as well.”
The golf simulator was moved away from the entrance area, a bar was installed, and seating for 33 people.
“We hear it a lot, ‘Oh wow, I didn’t realize it was this…’” said Oliveira. “It was a snowball effect, it kept just getting bigger, one idea with another.
“We’ve already been asked when we’re expanding this side… but a lot of people have commented they like the fact that it’s small, it’s clean…”
“It’s still ‘Pubbish,’” nodded Croker.
COLLINS CONSULTS
Chef Jonathan Collins was brought in as a consultant to help with the project.
“He kind of steered us in this direction, gave us some ideas, said it would work,” said Oliveira. “We wanted to come up with something different than the rest of the establishments in Tillsonburg.”
“We wanted to stand out,” nodded Croker. “We wanted to serve our own beers and wines – we wanted people to be able to taste our products on ‘this side’ that can be made on ‘that side.’ So we applied for a brew pub and wine endorsement license which enables us to actually make all of our beers that are on tap.”
AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario) rules prohibit ‘taste testing’ inside The Wine and Beer Studio. But the door was literally opened with The Thirsty Golfer.
A new cooler was built in The Thirsty Golfer basement allowing them to pump ‘tap’ beer directly upstairs, along with a fermentation room, cold storage, and the beginnings of a wine cellar.
“All of the wines and beers that we can make on that side, we can actually make them ‘on premise’ on this side.”
“You can’t cross sides,” noted Oliveira. “You can’t make it over there and sell it over here.”
“But we can cross-promote,” said Croker.
“Exactly like he’s doing now,” he added, as Oliveira got up to help a customer from The Thirsty Golfer move over to The Wine and Beer Studio to examine wine-making options. “She came over here, had a glass of wine that we made on this side, and wants to see products we make on that side. It’s for people who want to drink our products at home, and want to know how to get the products that we serve here. It’s all cross-promotion.
“They’re two totally different businesses. You still walk into The Wine and Beer Studio, then through another set of doors to get to The Thirsty Golfer. You also walk through The Wine and Beer Studio, again, to leave, which is a great thing. After you’ve tried the products, you see where you can make it…”
“That’s the beauty of it,” Oliveira agreed. “We had so many customers before who said ‘I want to try the wine before I buy it.’ You’re committing to 30 bottles of wine or two cases of beer, and it’s nice to know what you’re buying. But we had to say, ‘We can’t… there’s so many legalities, we just can’t do that.’ This was our way around it. We found a way to legally do it, and make it ‘the new thing.’”
“The cool thing is that this hasn’t been done yet,” Croker noted.
Six craft beers are featured ‘on tap.’
“Our prices are competitive,” said Oliveira. “We went a little bit lower, but that’s because our costs are quite a bit lower.”
“The biggest difference is they’re not making their own product, whereas we’re making it here,” said Croker. “We bring in all of our (ingredients) from a microbrewery and we can do it from scratch. That’s a big thing.”
They also have nine wine varieties on the menu, but will be expanding.
“I’m making 10 more this week and it’ll be on the menu in four to six months,” said Oliveira. “Most of our wines are aged about six months. We encourage our customers on the other side to do that, too, because your wine obviously gets better with age. It depends on the type of wine, some six months, some up to a year.”
In the first two weeks the response from regular golf simulator patrons has been encouraging. The golf simulator has not changed – it still offers 33 golf courses, plus a driving range that can analyze the swing in detail. All at the same price.
“I definitely think it will all tie in – the pub and the golf – now it’s just a matter of finding the right finger foods on the ‘golf side,’” said Oliveira.
“Here, you have all the fun of golf… and have a beer or a bite to eat. It’s much more of a relaxed sport,” said Croker. “It’s entertainment.”
The simulator has a dual function, also serving as a big-screen TV.
“We’re just now starting to do the theme nights. So it can be golf or it can be Monday Night Football on a 9x12 screen. Monday nights are football – a pound of wings and a pint for $10.”
“And $3.50 pints after 6 p.m.,” Oliveira noted.
“Thursday nights are Martini Night,” said Croker. “Wednesday’s Wine Night.”
“We haven’t come up with a Tuesday night yet,” Oliveira smiled.
Some products (not on draft) are not made on premises, like Somersby Cider.
“The cider is very popular. We also offer some LCBO wine. I brought in some imported beers, to please those that didn’t want ours, and…” he shrugged with a smile, “everyone wants to have ours.”
If the food on the menu has a theme, it’s ‘old-world style’ golfing cuisine… with a bit of a twist. From meatloaf sliders to stuffed pork chops, it’s not your usual pub fare.
“We have a Butcher’s Block, and it’s a cutting board that comes out with cheeses, breads, olives, marmalades… things like that, very different,” said Oliveira.
“And very good,” nodded Croker.
“Jonathan Collins helped us with the menu,” said Oliveira. “We had ideas of what we wanted, and then he expanded on it. We tried samples for like two weeks straight, every day.”
“Everything was delicious,” said Croker.
“All of our food is essentially made from scratch,” said Oliveira. “There’s a lot of prep to be done.”
Because they have a ‘smaller’ kitchen, the lunch and dinner menus are separate.
“Our food may take a couple minutes longer to get out to the table,” Croker noted, “because it is a smaller kitchen.”
There was a collective sigh of relief from both entrepreneurs when The Thirsty Golfer officially opened Dec. 7.
“It was a lot of hours. We’d come in first thing in the morning, and a lot of nights it was until 11:30.”
“There was no schedule,” said Oliveira, “and the majority of it we did ourselves, too… minus the hydro and plumbing.”
“We just planned it as we went,” said Croker. “Both sides of the building have been taken back to the original brick.”
“Talking to people, they figure it’s from mid-1800s,” said Oliveira.
“That’s the original stuff,” Croker nodded, “just cleaned up, with the barnboard theme.”
With their expansion they added seven new employees – six for The Thirsty Golfer, including three who work in the kitchen.
“That was a big jump. From the two of us, to…”
“I thought we were pretty lucky, we were able to get some great, experienced staff,” said Oliveira, “which is pretty important. You’ll either come back for good service or good food…”
“And we want to make sure we have both,” Croker summed up.