Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick DeMarco.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Patrick. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Cane Island Bar & Grill is the brainchild of myself and our chef Eliab Olivares. We have been friends now for over a decade and worked in the industry for the same in various capacities. As for myself, I attended the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. I waited tables and bartended throughout school, and then managed at a few bars and restaurants in the Houston Area, as well as taught Bartending school for a couple of years.
Eliab attended Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy in Dallas and worked at several boutique style restaurants in the Dallas metroplex. He has also worked at several restaurants in the Houston area as well. We both shared the dream of one day opening a place of our own. We both grew up in the Katy area and as such experienced what Katy had to offer in the culinary world. After so many years of nothing but chain restaurants and fast food, we wanted to bring something unique and fresh to the local restaurant scene. Thus, Cane Island Bar & Grill was born. The name is a throwback to the Katy area in the 1800’s. You can actually still see what is left of Cane Island Creek over behind the VFW Hall in old town Katy.
Our concept is fairly simple. Local. We serve a variety of southern fare and bar food items all scratch made in-house and locally sourced whenever possible. Our bar features 20 taps of Texas craft beer, a wide selection of Texas liquors, and even a few Texas wines. We are doing our best to break the stigma of a “Bar & Grill” serving food that is mediocre at best, and so far the community has responded well to our efforts.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any new business, there were a few bumps in the road along the way. We had delays with the building of our shopping center, delays with our abysmal contractor who did the build-out of our space in the center. Permitting is always fun as well… Since we opened in May we have gone through the usual growing pains. The chaos of the first few weeks of business, working out the kinks and streamlining processes both in the kitchen and in the dining room. But we have come out of it in one piece, and our customer base grows every day.
Cane Island Bar & Grill – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
As I said previously, we are focused on scratch made, quality product at an affordable price. We really want to bring the inner loop experience out to the suburbs, minus the price tag. As far as specialties, we get rave reviews on our Burgers. Our chicken fried steak is made with real choice ribeye, and is the size of a small child! I also feel confident in saying we have the best wings in Katy. We also have a great beer selection, 20 taps of Texas Crafts that we rotate out fairly regularly. We also do pint nights with our local breweries, we have started doing live music on Saturdays, and are hoping to add a kids’ play area next to our patio in the near future.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
So far, I would say my proudest moment was getting through our grand opening in one piece. Eliab and I have put together what I believe is a great staff, and they performed better than I ever could have anticipated.
Pricing:
- 75 cent wings and $3 Lone Star Pints during Houston Sports games.
- Teachers get 10% off their meal on Tuesdays with their ID badge.
- Police, Firefighters, First Responders, and Military always get 10% off their meal.
- Kids eat free on Wednesday with the purchase of an adult entree.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4747 FM 1463
Suite 100 Katy, TX 77494 - Website: www.caneislandbg.com
- Phone: 832-437-3048
- Email: patrick@caneislandbg.com
- Instagram: @caneislandbg
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaneIslandBG/
- Twitter: @caneislandbg
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cane-island-bar-and-grill-katy
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