Whiskey Creek Wood Fire Grill: Best Steak & BBQ in North Platte

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Whiskey Creek Welcomes "Guests"
Restaurant opens as industry continues to face challenges

Original story by Kokomo Tribune business writer, By K.O JACKSON - 08/24/2009

Two door greeters thanked Jim and Candace Riley as they left Whiskey Creek Wood Fire Grill Monday afternoon.

After several months of waiting for the new steakhouse to open, it was the couple’s first visit.

Probably not their last.

In March, the Nebraska-based Whiskey Creek Franchise System – with 17 restaurants in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Florida, Arkansas, South Dakota and Minnesota – announced it was locating its first Indiana restaurant in Kokomo.

The menu offers steak, barbecue, pasta, sandwiches, burgers, salads and more than 60 flavors of Margaritas.

After eating ribs – but missing out on consuming one of the restaurant’s signature tequila-based drinks – Jim Riley wondered, “What took them so long to get here?

“We’ve been driving through here often [from Wabash] this summer, headed to Indianapolis, and we wondered when they were going to open and how good it was going to be. Now I know,” Jim said, as he patted his full stomach.

“The prices were more than reasonable,” said Candace, “and we’ll be back.”

During the next five years, the steakhouse plans to open a minimum of three restaurants in the state.

Jim Gardner, the restaurant’s president, said Whiskey Creek’s growth strategy is locating in secondary markets and bypassing metropolitan areas.

The Kokomo location was once home to Ryan’s Steakhouse. The site is now owned by Craig Harts of Kokomo. Harts has been in the restaurant business for more than 25 years and currently owns nine local Subway restaurants.

After hearing about Whiskey Creek through friends, Hart was interested in knowing about starting a franchise. Like the Rileys, it took a visit to convince him the restaurant was for him.

Well, not just visiting the restaurant, he said. “I was impressed with the food.

“I put it [the franchise] on the back burner for a while until I could buy this building. Then I knew we could do it.

“We [the Kokomo staff] went to their eight-week training classes, and here we are. When I brought Subway here to the Markland Mall in 1983, the interest rate was 18 percent, and we’ve made it through. Now is the time to get involved in the restaurant business.”

But according to the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the restaurant industry continues to face challenges.

Contracting Climate

In June, the NRA’s comprehensive index of restaurant activity declined for the second consecutive month.

The NRA’s Restaurant Performance Index is a monthly composite index tracking the health and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry. June’s index stood at 97.8, down 0.5 percent in May and its 20th consecutive month below 100.

The index shows the industry’s health based on a steady-state level of 100: Values over 100 indicate a period of expansion, and values below 100 represent a period of contraction.

“While there are signs that suggest an improvement may be on the horizon, the latest figures indicate that the restaurant industry’s recovery has yet to gain a firm foothold,” said Hudson Riehle, NRA’s senior vice president of Research and Information Services. “Restaurant operators continued to report declines in same-store sales and customer traffic in June, and their outlook for sales growth in the months ahead remains mixed.”

Nevertheless, with 14 years in the restaurant/hospitality industry, Jeremy Wilkinson, of Kokomo, isn’t focused on national outlooks. He expects Whiskey Creek to succeed.

Uncommon Offerings

The restaurant’s manager says with the unique menu – featuring bacon-wrapped shrimp, Southwest Tootsy Rolls and Campfire S’mores – people will keep coming through the doors.

In addition, he adds, unlike other restaurants offering grilled items cooked by charcoal or gas, Whiskey Creek cooks its food over a hardwood fire of “oak and ash we get from a man in Logansport, and we have other local backups to supply us with wood.

“We burn a lot of wood. It’s like a camp-out every day here. Fire grilling and Whiskey Creek’s own seasonings and sauces give meals a unique and distinctive flavor.”

Nowhere on the menu is that more obvious than the restaurant’s signature Flat Iron Steak.

Wilkinson said in 2002, the restaurant was the nation’s first to use the cut of steak from a steer’s shoulder.

He said each steer can produce only a couple of portions of the steak, and its tenderness has been linked to higher-priced cuts like ribeye or strip steak.

All the company’s beef is U.S. raised.

Another unique concept to the restaurant is its Branding Party. The event, said Wilkinson, is held before the restaurant’s grand opening. Area cattlemen were invited to bring their family brands and burn them into the restaurant’s bar.

Furthermore, to efficiently operate the restaurant, making guests – never customers – have an enjoyable visit, Wilkinson has hired 223 employees and four managers.

While that employment figure may seem large, Mike Donohue, NRA’s spokesman, said a restaurant staff of that size “isn’t out of bounds” for a large restaurant – a restaurant Wilkinson hopes people will like enough to make a return visit.

“On the very first day of training, we taught everyone we don’t use the word customer. These are our guests. That’s why we have two greeters at the door,” he said, adding Whiskey Creek is still working on getting a liquor license. Until then, it will be able to offer only beer and wine.

“We have the cowboy motif here. We wanted to have the country-western feel. We have the fireplace lit. We want it to feel like you are a guest in our home and not a customer.”

• K.O. Jackson is the Tribune’s business writer. He can be reached at (765) 854-6739 or via e-mail kirven.jackson@kokomotribune.com

©Kokomo Tribune 2009 - reprinted with permission

Whiskey Creek Wood Fire Grill
4016 Fredrick Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64501
(816) 676-1298

	...more Whiskey Creek headlines
	(August 24, 2009) KOKOMO, IN — Whiskey Creek welcomes ‘guests’ - Restaurant opens as industry continues to face challenges. Two door greeters thanked Jim and Candace Riley as they left Whiskey Creek Wood Fire Grill Monday afternoon.
	(March 25, 2009) KEARNEY, NE — Whiskey Creek Franchise Systems based in Kearney, Nebraska is proud to announce that it has signed a multi-unit franchise agreement with DAKALT, LLC in March of 2009, calling for a minimum of three Whiskey Creek restaurants to be opened over a five year period in Indiana. The first restaurant in the agreement is set to open in Kokomo, Indiana in August of 2009.
	(August 13, 2008) KEARNEY, NE — "RESTAURANT BUSINESS MAGAZINE" THE FUTURE 50 (2008). Whiskey Creek® Wood Fire Grill checks in at #28 There’s not a lot of positive buzz out there right now, but percolating under all the doom and gloom is clear evidence that you just can’t keep a good concept down or clip the industry’s entrepreneurial wings. The Future 50, identified by Technomic, Inc. as the fastest growing chains with sales between $25 million and $50 million, includes 32 that defied the odds to grow sales by 20 percent or more in 2007. Of those, a dozen hit 40 percent or higher sales growth. As a group, they’re hot, they’re nimble and they’ve got what many of their large competitors don’t right now—momentum.
	(February 15, 2008) DEERFIELD BEACH, FL — "Focus on America" to feature Whiskey Creek® Wood Fire Grill Platinum Productions TV is pleased to announce that Whiskey Creek® Wood Fire Grill will be featured on its innovative, educational television series, Focus on America. The organization will be showcased in a segment on “Be Your Own Boss” as part of the “Americas Best Franchise Opportunities” series