Brewhouse Xtras

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......Christmas in July that is. For the last 5 years Scotty's Brewhouse has been collecting toys for children who are at Riley's Children's Hospital. While Christmas is a huge time for donations the summer months can be challenging as the hospital tries to give hope to the many children they are treating. 

"You know how you always have that feeling around Christmas and Thanksgiving, when people are helping others and embracing the spirit of giving, where you find yourself saying, 'why can't we do this year round?" said Scott Wise, President and CEO of a Pots and Pans Production. "I was tired of thinking that way; but, not acting and doing something about it."

"Often the toys we bring, don't all get handed out during our visit.  A good thing for 2 reasons:  1) it means there aren't a lot of children in the ward we are visiting, 2) they are able to stock up their "toy closet" to help many months after we leave to keep the children's smiles coming…"

For the entire month of June all Scotty's locations will begin accepting donations of toys that will be delivered to the hospital in July. Guests who donate a toy will receive a coupon for a free order of dill chips on their next visit.

"Our guests are the ones that deserve a lot of credit, as they are the ones that donate all the toys the month leading up to us delivering.  I wish I could share the smiles from the children AND the parents, grandparents and others in the room with all our guests that donate.  If you would have heard the 3 year old girls yell, 'Baaaaaaaarbie', you too would have had a tear run down your cheek and you'd understand why I now do this twice a year," said Wise reflecting on his experience delivering gifts this past Christmas.

While the average stay at Riley varies with each child and their diagnosis a simple toy can give them hope and make their time in the hospital a little better.

"Some children are here for 23 hours, some are here for a few days, others can be here a month or longer.  Often children are here for a few days, but may be readmitted several times throughout their life," Said Melissa Sexton, Child Life Specialist & Special Event Coordinator for Riley Hospital.

At the end of June all the toys will be combined and a group of employees from Scotty's will deliver them to some of the children in the hospital. Any toys that are left over will be stored at the hospital and given out to future patients.

"It is an incredible experience to be one of the people who deliver these toys," said Eric Schamp, Chief Operating Officer. "We didn't want to just drop these off at the door and go on our way, we wanted to hand deliver these to help show these young children that someone cares."

If you would like to make a donation some of the favorite toys for children are Legos, craft kits and anything Fisher Price. You can also visit Riley's website there are ways to give back financially, ways to donate items to the hospital, and information about volunteering at the hospital.

"The patients and their families make my job amazing-they all have such a resilient spirit and face challenges head on.  I love being able to provide opportunities for them to feel "normal" again," continued Sexeton.

If you would like to drop off a toy you can visit any Scotty's Brewhouse, Lakehouse, Thr3e Wise Men or Burger Joint location. Just let the host know you have a toy you would like to donate.

 

After multiple banks told him a Scotty's Brewhouse in Indianapolis would never work, Scott Wise went ahead and opened one on the north side anyway.  Now, 5 years later, he is opening a new location on the south side, bringing his total number of Indianapolis restaurant locations to 5.

"As an entrepreneur, I love when people tell me I can't do something," said Wise, President and CEO of a Pots and Pans production, management company for all the Scotty's concepts. "'Can't' and 'no' were swear words in my house growing up and, when I hear them, it makes me more determined than ever. I knew we could make Indianapolis work but I, honestly, never planned on opening 5 different locations here."

With Brewhouse locations on 96^th street and downtown, Wise also opened Scotty's Lakehouse and Scotty's Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company in the Geist and Broad Ripple areas, respectively, over the last 2 years. 

Now comes a location on Southport Road, on the south side of the city and a return to the concept that started it all, Scotty's Brewhouse.

"Over the last couple of years, I have had a lot of fun with creating some new concepts," reflected Wise. "I feel like a painter with a blank canvas when coming up with a new concept but, at the same time, I want to grow the Brewhouse concept as well and that is what we are doing with our Southport location."

"I wouldn't be able to do any of this without an executive team of 26 people that make me look a lot smarter than I am, " Wise continued. "Coming up with ideas and concepts are the easy part but executing them and making them a reality takes a great team of talented people."

The company will take over a preexisting building located at 4530 Southport Crossing Dr., previously occupied by J.T. Johnson's American Grill, and plans to open the latest Brewhouse location in early July. The restaurant will feature the traditional Brewhouse food menu, more than 20 draft beers and will join the other Brewhouse locations in carrying beer from Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company. Guests will be able to purchase carryout growlers of all the Thr3e Wise Men brews Monday - Saturday.

"Since the building was previously a restaurant, that allows us to speed up the process of opening quite a bit," said Tyler Thompson, Vice President of Operations. "Normally, we have construction and lots of other things to manage in order to get open but, in this case, a lot of the work has already been done for us."

While the location and building may be all set, the next step will be finding employees to run a successful restaurant. To help speed up this process, Scotty's is holding open auditions for all positions this Thursday and Friday from 10am - 6pm at the Courtyard by Marriot on Southport Crossing. More open auditions will be schedule for next week as well.

"We will be looking for great people to fill all types of positions," said Wendy Hantelman, Director of Human Resources. "From cooks, to servers to management positions, we will have opportunities for everyone."

If you are interested in applying for one of these positions or at any Scotty's location, you can start the process by filling out an online application here.

"We encourage everyone to get the process started by completing the online application," continued Hantelman. "The open interviews will, then, afford the opportunity to meet face to face and move the hiring process along."

With over 1,200 employees, a Pots and Pans Production offers great benefits including health insurance, 401 (k), health club membership reimbursement, companywide special events, and many other programs and incentives.

To get more information about employment and to start the application process, visit /contact-scottys/employment/. 

Dining at Chicago's trendiest restaurants, third row seats to the Cub's game, open bar at the city's hottest club. Sounds like the life a rock star, but that is just what 50 Scotty's managers and executives got to experience this past weekend as Scotty took his team to the National Restaurant Association Trade show.

The days may be informative, but at night is where the real fun begins. This year's trip included dinners at Revolution Brewery and Rockit Burger Bar, cocktails at the Public House and Rockit Bar and Grill, but the highlight of the event was the Cubs game where Scotty threw out the first pitch.

"Having my wife, kids, parents, sisters, 40 top management and 50 more guests/employees get to witness a "Field of Dreams" memory like that made it even more special," said Scotty Wise, President & CEO of a Pots & Pans Production restaurant management company for Scotty's concepts.

"As incredible as it was, I'm so glad it is over.  I've had so many sleepless nights and messages from friends, 'do not throw the ball in the dirt, get it across the plate,' over the past month, it was nice to get a full nights sleep finally."
 
The Chicago trip is an added benefit of working at Scotty's and costs the company nearly $40,000. Those attending do not have to pay for anything on the trip unless they decided to do something outside of the agenda. Wise believes these types of team building trips are well worth the cost.

"The most important part of that weekend was for our management team to spend time together outside our restaurants.  I know it is cliché; but, it is 100% about the journey, not the destination. And, the "working hard," makes the "playing hard" all part of the journey equation that I believe in. My management team is my family.  Our blood, sweat and tears are in everything we do for this company.  And, at the end of the day, the culture of this company is the most important part of our survival, it cannot be trained or taught, it has to be learned, lived and absorbed thru weekends like that."
 
Other employees agree. 
 
"Being able to socialize and spend time getting to know our teammates better during the events we have scheduled outside of time spent in educational sessions and on the show floor is such an incredible experience and a unique opportunity that our company provides," reflected Rachel Redwine-Nelson, Chief Branding Officer. "The memories that we create with each other will last a lifetime and go a long way toward developing and maintaining the awesome sense of camaraderie and family that Scott's company is so well known for."
 
"It was a great experience!  It's not often you have an opportunity to spend time with your co-workers and really get to know them outside of our normal working environment.  We were able to relax and enjoy ourselves and strengthen our team in the process," said Kim Lewandowski, Welcome Team Coordinator.

To all the photos from this year's trip. Click here.