FSR August 2022

On the Rise BY BEN COLEY

The Lion’s Share Thirsty Lion’s expansion strategy embraces opportunities for massive footprints.

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO, John Plew founded craft-forward Thirsty Lion Gas tropub & Grill in Portland, Oregon, a city where bigger restaurants like Chili’s and Macaroni Grill don’t typically survive. In the time since, the restaurateur has scaled his anti-chain, urban con cept to suburbs across the country, but none have been as elaborate as the recent opening in The Colony, Texas, which is about 30 minutes north of Dallas. For this particular Thirsty Lion, the company worked with Merriman Ander son Architects out of Dallas to create an all-new, two-story building with a roof top bar. The main floor comprises nearly 3,000 square feet of indoor dining and bar area and about 7,000 square feet of outdoor patio space. The second level consists of a 2,800-square-foot din ing room and bar section, as well as a 1,414-square-foot outside area. Overall, the restaurant can seat more than 650 customers, both inside and outside. The venue is equipped with lawn games such as corn hole and giant Jenga, and the patios have fire tables and flat-screen televisions for group seating. “There were no rooftop patio bars [in The Colony], but there were in downtown Dallas,” Plew says. “So the people here weren’t getting the same kind of expe rience. And so I was like, wow, if I could do a rooftop, two-story patio/restaurant/ bar like it would be in an urban core and

ESTABLISHED: 2006 FOUNDER: John Plew HQ: Scottsdale, AZ UNIT COUNT: 10 CUISINE: Gastropub

THIRSTY LION’S NEWEST LOCATION JUST OUTSIDE OF DALLAS MARKS THE LARGEST UNIT TO DATE.

bring it to the suburbs, people would be thrilled about it because it’s not just a normal restaurant.” The store is based in Grandscape, a gigantic mixed-use development owned by billionaire Warren Buffett. The first outlet on the land was Nebraska Furni ture Mart, which earned $1.3 billion in its first year, well beyond the previous $750 million projection. For perspective, Plew says regional shopping centers typi cally do anywhere from $500–$900 mil lion. In other words, Buffet’s furniture store “makes IKEA look like, I wouldn’t say it’s 7-Eleven, but it makes it look like a small, small furniture store,” Plew says. With Nebraska Furniture Mart as the anchor, Grandscape features more than 400 acres of entertainment venues, res taurants, apartments, and office towers. There’s even a 200-foot ferris wheel.

“I mean it’s just gigantic, right? It’s kind of like Disneyland,” Plew says. “It’s one of the destinations of developments. When they started this, that was just the beginning of what a lot of develop ers were trying to do. [Now] everybody’s chasing restaurants and entertainment things, and these guys had the vision six years ago to do this as opposed to trying to do a bunch more retail.” Thirsty Lion began working on the new prototype in 2016. The brand was in line with what the Grandscape devel opers were seeking, namely restau rants that were unique to the area. For instance, nearby is Windmills, a concept out of India, and Akira Back, the name sake restaurant of a world-renowned Michelin-starred chef. The innovative two-story building was supposed to open in 2020, but plans

KATHY TRANS

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FSRMAGAZINE.COM

AUGUST 2022