Ryan Mann - Lincoln’s Pub
MARCH 22, 2020 © Right Here, Right Now.
I’ve been in food and beverage since I was 18. My former high school football coach owns some local bars and restaurants and at the time he was getting ready to open up a new concept downtown and he was looking for a barback for the position…I had never done anything like that before. I started down there like on a Thursday night and just became hooked I’ve been in it ever since. So just different restaurants, for the most part, I always gravitated more towards that side of the industry opposed to late night. I’m from Southwest Iowa, from Underwood, so not far from where Jon lives now in McClelland. I graduated from St. Albert here in Council Bluffs and worked primarily in Omaha until I came back here to open this with Jon.
Josh - How did this all come about? How did you meet Jon Nelson?
Knowing Jon locally in the Omaha food scene and calling on different accounts, you seem him at different places. As I was still moving and growing in the industry I would still see Jon at different places. We had a mutual friend that Jon was talking about doing this with and we ultimately came together in on it and just like forces of nature, just kind of unwinded the way it did. But the first 12 months were definitely a learning curve no matter how long you’re in the industry, owning something is way different than working as a bartender or server or even a manager. Jon and I have really gotten to know each other and he’s become someone I really look up to and it’s awesome to have him a business partner, it makes it a lot of fun. We get to be really creative, especially for his proteins. I’m more known for beverage curating, making cocktail lists for different bars and restaurants. And Jon’s obviously a butcher so he likes to be in the kitchen and do creative things, but it balances out really well. It’s hard to explain. I wouldn’t want to do it alone. I know that for sure. It’s nice to be able to lean on someone besides just like your significant other. And when times are good, they’re good, and when they’re bad, they’re bad but it’s nice to have that other person there to help you, you know?
Josh - How has your business bond helped you through this current situation?
It’s helped a lot. Cause ultimately we both had the same idea for Lincoln's Pub and when we first opened it wasn’t exactly what we wanted for the space but since we’ve continued to grow and been here for how long we’ve been here now we’re definitely on the path with where we want to be. With everything going on right now, Jon and I are pretty similar in the sense that we aren’t going to let things slow us down. We’re both very fast-paced, like love to work, want to grow as much as we can, do as many things as we can while we can. So ultimately it's been…okay…(laughs). Um, we’re going from a full-service restaurant with the bar on the other side to fast take out delivery pizza place. Especially since we have condensed down to 40% of our overall menu. Which is all we’re serving. But ultimately, Jon and I during this thing have been really good, there are days where it obviously hurts more than others cause it’s literally day today already in the industry and with this happening its hour by hour, you just never know what’s going to unfold next. You just gotta hang in there.
Josh - What’s it been like coming to the restaurant not being open inside and not being able to have people in here?
It's kind of like a wake at a funeral...(Laughs)
I just miss the energy man. I think that's the heart of restaurants and bars, that’s like their soul. It’s like the energy of the space. I think that’s what I’m having a hard time dealing with right now, is like, I’m such an energy guy and I fuel off of energy, and I love to go to other places that are thriving on positive energy. That’s what we wanted to create for our core, is just like, when you’re walking into this place you know you’re in good hands and you’re going to have fun because we’re putting that out there. So I miss that. I miss our regulars, I miss our customers, I miss people being excited to get off work and come in and get some drinks and get some food and just socially gather. And right now it’s just kind of everyone coming in and just can’t wait to leave because they don’t want to be in here you know? So we’re trying to get the food out as soon as possible and trying to let them know when the food’s going to be ready for pick up as best as we can so they’re not here longer than they want to be.
You know, when you’re moving like 100 miles an hour in the restaurant industry 7 days a week, you don’t have a lot of time to sit back and think about “ Can I change this”? “Should I change this”? “What’s the right thing to do?”. And I think since this started unfolding a couple of weeks ago, and ultimately Jon and I wanted to start a delivery program anyway to help get our product out there without people having to come in especially like a small community like Council Bluffs, there are a lot of families over here. So a lot of people don’t have the opportunity to bring all their kids in every night or find a sitter. So that was something I really wanted to focus on, was a devilry program and now that’s like the only thing we can basically do with, take out, considering the matters at hand. Yes, it’s gonna change things for sure.
Josh - What are you worried about?
My employees. It’s a labor of love for sure and anyone involved in the kitchen or the front, week by week, day by day, living situations you know? It’s a grind. A lot of these people in these kitchen work 2 or 3 concepts just to put food on their family's tables, to stay busy. I would say almost 100% of kitchen people are out of work right now, it's just devastating cause I know that they’re not making what they need to be making just to survive. So ultimately my employees, that’s what I’m most concerned about right now.
Josh - What are you doing personally to keep yourself strong right now?
Uh, deliver pizzas. (laughs) I like to deliver pizzas. It makes me feel like I’m doing something and it makes me feel like I’ve got to be somewhere, I like the energy, I like the fast pace of restaurants…the movement. So when we’re still pushing out tickets I still get excited about that. And spending time with my wife and dog and just holding on to things perspectively that are more important than just my business.
Josh - Is there anything you may have taken for granted, like during the business of owning a restaurant? And now having some time with your spouse or business… Is there anything looking back that you feel like you may have taken for granted?
I mean, I’m always looking back on myself, and yeah I have learned a lot. It is like everyone together in this space, all the time, and you know there are moments where you want to get away because everyone is on top of each other or someone is having a bad day and you don’t want to be around that, or I’m having a bad day and you don’t want to be around that but right now with no one here, it’s like man I’ll take all of those, what I thought were like bad days or bad moments and just rectify those situations cause those bad days sound like good days to me right now. Does that make sense? You take a lot of things for granted in general, regardless of business or anything and right now, like yesterday when we were at Dandelion and you guys came by, I turned to Jon and I’m like this changes gears for a second as far as perspective when people are just happy to get a meal, even though it’s 35 degrees out. And we’re over here trying to build a business and create something and then it’s like, well maybe sometimes those are the things that matter the most, so it’s good, it just felt really good to be down there.
Restaurant people want to serve food, regardless if we’re getting paid or not, we want to take care of people. When you're in the hospitality industry you care. No matter what, regardless of your level of skill or your personality you’re there because, maybe mother motivates you, for most, but there is also a level of care in everyone that works in this industry. For sure.
Josh - I’ve heard people say that you have to be a bit crazy to own and run a restaurant…
Uh yeah, you do. It’s non stop work and that’s okay…it’s fun.
Josh - What drives you to want to do this?
The creativity, it’s another thing. I’m a hairstylist too, but I can’t let this part of the industry go. I just can’t. It’s like you work for years and years and years, and I remember like 12 years ago I was like “ Man, I just want to own my own restaurant, I just want to own my own bar, man if I just had this opportunity or the money to just do it”. Now I have it. So back to that question you asked a little bit ago about ever having regrets…Like those bad days, then I’m like “ Oh wow. Hold on, you own a restaurant man, you own a bar, you’re growing, your business is thriving. This is everything you wanted. Remember that”. You know?
Josh - What would you say to someone that is going through a hard time right now?
Honestly, and I’ve said this to a people the last few days because I see the customers coming in here to get takeout and I see the look on their face and I try to talk to them a little bit to feel more at ease from what they’re thinking right then and there, but everything is going to be okay. Regardless of how bad things get here sooner or later, there’s no way we’re not going to come out of this stronger. I mean it’s all perspective, right? You’re going to suffer soon enough if you have to suffer, so why suffer before the suffering has even started. Does that make sense? So I’m just trying to let everyone know that regardless of what happens, everything is going to be okay. Restaurant workers, people out of work. I mean it’s got to blow over right? It’s just when restaurants slow down it’s harder to get going again.
Josh - You said you’re a hairstylist too? Are you still doing that while running these businesses?
I do take clients. I do here and there. That’s fun, that’s another opportunity to be creative, granted I’m probably better at this than that. Cause I’ve don this much longer, but I like doing both. Ultimately I would like to get back into doing it more but I just can’t right now.
Josh - I feel like the food community is very resilient. They were some of the first people to help the community by feeding them, like you helped with at Dandelion…
That’s why I’m in this industry because I care about people. I want to make people feel good. Food is super important, we all want great food, we want great drinks, we want our food in 20 minutes, we want everything to be prompt. But I want an experience. I want to leave a restaurant knowing that, man those guys just made me feel so good. That is the number one thing I care about is hospitality and concern for everyone. That’s why yesterday I got a high from it, that’s why it felt good. Not on top of just feeding people but taking care of people. My mom always wanted me to be a nurse, always, but I was like I’m not doing that I’m doing this instead. But it goes hand in hand, you know, taking care of people.
Josh - I mean you are, in a way, in the healing industry…so in a weird way you’re like a food nurse. A food doctor. (Haha) Is there anything you want to say? Anything you feel like talking about that’s been on your mind?
I have to limit the things that I say, I already say too much because I’m just so passionate and I’m just so fiery, I’m this redhead…I’m like a teapot that steams over (haha) I get it, especially with Omaha, we’re opening a lot of restaurants, things are expanding where everyone is coming up with these cool concepts and like, we want to be as progressive as everywhere else, you know what I mean? We just want people to get behind it and really enjoy it because for the longest time it’s been a lot of the same things over and over again and it takes longer for things to trend here in the Midwest. But lately, I’ve seen that we’re kind of on track with doing some really cool stuff, if not more than some other places. I mean I go out to eat at a lot of these restaurants and I’m just blown away. I mean we’re in a population of what? 2 million people in Nebraska? The majority of those people in Omaha? The same with Iowa. And its like, look at the food we’re putting out with only that many people and that we can actually stay open and do this.
