Herculean effort: Farm-bred work ethic launches Mac’s Eastside Grill in Brookings

BROOKINGS — The work that goes into getting a new restaurant up and running is a Herculean task — one defined by 100-hour workweeks and a lot of stress — but Jesse Davis and his crew are proving they have the fortitude to do just that with the opening of Mac’s Eastside Grill in Brookings.

It helps that Davis, 40, has 25 years of experience in the culinary world, one that began at age 16 in a nursing home kitchen in Minnesota.

“I worked there with my sister, my mom and my grandma, so it was kind of a family affair,” he said. “Likewise, I was blessed with a multitude of grandmothers that all knew how to cook, so … I grew up in the … home kitchen world (more) than (in) the professional world.”

Mac’s Eastside Grill at 621 32nd Ave. occupies the former Whiskey Creek location. The grill’s menu has been a big hit with customers, Davis said, especially its burgers. Selections include a barbecue-and-bacon burger, along with a Mac burger — “they have both been very high selling,” he noted, adding that the ribs are starting to come along as well.

On the other side of the menu, he said the restaurant’s mac-and-cheese pasta is very popular. “As to why it sells well, I just think mac and cheese fits the bill from a 2-year-old up to — everyone likes mac and cheese.”

Davis touted the restaurant’s family atmosphere as one of the factors that make it unique in Brookings.

“We’re more of a family-oriented place to go out and eat,” he said. “I think if you look at the sit-down restaurants in Brookings, you have some higher-end restaurants and then you have some bar-and-grills. I think this fits the bill between a place where you can come out and hang out, relax with or without the kids. It fits that little niche of a family place — a quieter family place to go out and eat where kids and family are welcome alike.”

Returning to Mac’s menu offerings, Davis said he’s most excited for the Mac burger and the mac-and-cheese pasta.

“It’s a homemade cheese sauce that’s just rich and good,” he said of the pasta.

Meanwhile, Davis said the burger “is simple, but I think it hits all the notes of just a good American burger that is just good to eat anytime of the day.”

The burger has meat, Mac sauce, American cheese and pickles. “Pretty simple ingredients, but it just seems to fit the bill and hit the spot.”

‘Sunup to sundown’

Davis’s roots can be found in the Minnesota towns of Sanborn and Springfield, small communities of roughly 300 and 2,000 people, respectively. It’s there where he grew up on a farm and had a work ethic instilled in him that drives him ever onward.

“The long hours and hard work were just kind of bred into me if you will, or beaten into me, however you want to say it,” Davis said. “You work sunup to sundown on a farm on a daily basis. That just seems normal to my system, which I think, especially now when you’re opening a restaurant, you’re working 100 hours a week until things are established and you have the right people in the right places.”

With that background, he’s used to the demands of his chosen profession, having previously worked in other restaurants both locally and in Nebraska.

It began with a long stint at Applebee’s when it was in Brookings, working there for eight or so years, starting as a line cook and eventually becoming a part-time manager.

“That’s where I really cut my teeth in the restaurant world,” Davis said.

It was during his time at Applebee’s that one of the managers made a lasting impression on him.

“(He) was willing to train and was extremely knowledgeable and good at his job, so it was nice there,” Davis remembered.

Following his time at Applebee’s, Davis came over to Whiskey Creek when it first opened in Brookings, where he worked as a manager. After that, he moved to Kearney, Nebraska, where he ran an Old Chicago restaurant for two years. It was then that he and his wife, Jen, returned to Brookings and started Craft Chophouse & Lounge at 610 Medary Ave.

The Target-Aldi effect

Many would say that Mac’s Eastside Grill is perfectly positioned for success not only because of its menu and personnel, but also because of its location. It’s just south of the Dacotah Bank Center and just east of the Brookings Marketplace, where an Aldi grocery store recently opened, and a new Target retail store is under construction.

“I think Target will definitely have a draw. With Aldi over there and Target opening soon, it gives Brookings residents a reason to come to the east side of the interstate,” Davis said. “If you go east of town all the way to the state line, I think you’re going to have a lot of folks that are going to get drawn into the Brookings market for Target and Aldi rather than skipping town and heading north or south to Watertown or Sioux Falls.”

He added, “I think (Brookings) itself is going to see more traffic with that Target open. Along with being located next to them, I think that’ll also help our traffic inside the (restaurant).”

The prospect of even more customers walking through the doors is always an exciting one for a business, but Davis also focused on another aspect that’s equally important to him.

“Just to have a spot on the east side of town here where folks can gather,” he said. “I think it’s easy to point to hotel traffic due to the location … but past that it’s a place where folks can come and gather and hang out and eat and have a good time — that’s what excites me.”

Building a career path

Once fully staffed, Davis expects the restaurant to employ between 75 and 100 people in a mix of part-time and full-time positions.

“It’s exciting to give some individuals a new opportunity to grow within career paths for themselves and grow the staff and give them an opportunity to have a career and something to be proud of for themselves,” he said.

Davis pointed out that the speed involved in getting Mac’s Eastside Grill up and running — “new restaurant openings are never easy” — speaks well to everyone involved.

“It would just be hard to watch this building sit empty and just kind of deteriorate over time. … The fact that it was only closed for only a couple of months before we reopened is a good thing for the town,” he said. “I think it emphasizes, also, the team that we have behind us that was able to support that and facilitate that opening.”

Davis’s aforementioned farm experience certainly helps, too.

“It’s a mountain of work to start off with and then, for myself, it’ll tail down quite a bit as time progresses here. But, yeah, I think that farm background really was great in setting me up to be successful in this job,” he said. “Just understanding that things have to get done, somebody has to do it, you just work until the work is done, and then you get up and do the same thing again tomorrow.”

Good, good and more good

In closing, Davis spoke to the inspiration for taking on this latest restaurant venture.

“I think we would have done the town a disservice to not — I think it would have been a shame for the building to sit empty,” he said. “It’s a good building; it’s a good location. I feel Brookings has a shortage of food places where you can go sit down and get quality food and good service.”

Davis added, “(It was) maybe a good opportunity at the wrong time for me. I don’t know that I maybe should have taken it on, or maybe done it, but if you sit around and wait for the right time, the right time will be never, I suppose, right?”

He returned to the growth potential the restaurant has.

“It’s a good opportunity with Target and Aldi … this little pocket is growing. There’s a lot of manufacturing over here, and those folks don’t have time to buzz into Brookings to get lunch,” he said. “(Mac’s is) a good place to go out and eat when they forget their lunch at home.”

Oh, and one last thing, too, and perhaps the most important one in the whole story.

“It’s a local-owned restaurant. We’re just trying to provide good service, good food,” Davis said. “I just want to create good food, good atmosphere, good restaurant — that’s it.”

— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].