Uptown Beer Garden aims to be a garden oasis in the heart of Center City, Philadelphia, a place where visitors can pretend they’re not in the big metropolis during their visit.
At 18,000 square feet, Uptown runs year-round in Philly and is available to seat 350 guests during business hours and up to 700 for private events. It’s the picture perfect set-up with twinkling beer garden lighting, 20+ foot tall trees, lush greenery, colorful flowers and a koi fish pond. And it all comes together in a beautiful way to transport customers.
In addition to Uptown, Crafts Concept Group President Teddy Sourias owns Tradesmans, U-bahn, Bru Craft & Wurst, Sueno, Blume Burger, Finn McCools, Kontrol and the holiday pop-up bar, Tinsel.
Bar & Restaurant spoke with Sourias to learn how they’re innovating, how they create an experience at Uptown Beer Garden, advice he has for other bars to be successful, and how they retain staff in a time where staffing is an issue – among other topics.
‘Nobody Likes the Boring Stuff Anymore’
In regards to innovating, Sourias advises other bars or restaurants to utilize as much outdoor seating as they possibly can and to get creative with their establishment’s cocktails.
“Nobody likes the boring stuff anymore,” shared Sourias. “You have to get the consumer what they want. You want to get them excited about things. An old fashioned was cool. It kind of still is, but I think people want to get creative. If you're going to make an old fashioned, make it with mezcal. People want to be entertained. They want smoke in their cocktails.”
Uptown’s most popular beverage is actually frozen margaritas. They offer a spicy frozen margarita, and they get creative with these drinks via custom palm tree cups that the customer keeps. In the summer time, seltzer drinks are really popular with customers, but people just want something lighter, Sourias explained. However, he prefers to sell his own cocktails because they're more profitable and his team can get more creative.
Uptown doesn’t focus on mocktails, but they have had conversations about doing a non-alcoholic margarita. “It's funny you brought that up,” said Sourias. “We're actually working on a version of it, because my son [he's 14] is having a graduation pool party. So, I was going to do frozen mocktails at the pool party and it's a tester. And then we are going to possibly start using them at either the beer garden or Sueno.”
Creating an Experience at the Bar
Since it's outside and it’s summertime, people want to feel like they're elsewhere, not in Center City or a big city, according to Sourias.
“We give them really good music,” he said. “We built these cabanas with these fixtures and ornate steel partitions. And we put curtains on them to give them a boardwalk feel. So, when they're sitting in these cabanas, they don't feel like they're in Center City. You incorporate a good appetizer or sandwich, a creative cocktail, music – it all comes into play.”
Retaining Staff When Staffing Is an Issue
Sourias said he is lucky to have multiple locations through Crafts Concept Group, so he can move people around. He also incentivizes staff more these days.
“Managers are incentivized with bonuses when they bring in customers,” Sourias said. “They also get an amount that's specific to bottle service when we have them a couple days a weekend at Uptown. A lot of the employees want to be there because it's outdoors. We're obviously battling the elements, which is what it is. If it rains, it's going to cut your night short. We have ordered some pergolas to combat that.”
Sourias said bar owners shouldn’t ever be harsh with their staff. “We are very understanding of any little issues that they have,” he said. “We make sure that they're happy and they stay because they can get a job anywhere right now.”
Advice for Other Operators to Be Successful
Sourias advises bars to focus on customer service. “Customer service is lacking at more and more restaurants,” he said. “I see that as a customer, as well, when I go out. If you give the customer the experience from the door – from the host and throughout – people will feel more welcome and want to come back.”
Sourias added: “People are less reluctant to come back when little things might annoy a customer. I've been doing it for so long that I can literally read a room. I can look around and say, ‘That guy over there needs something for sure.’”
Everything from the time it takes to greet a person, to when they want the check, to how fast you can get it to them is important, believes Sourias, in addition to everything in between.
“It's just the way the customers are handled,” he said. “Customer service is overlooked because it's so hard to find employees – we're just kind throwing people to the wolves. They're not focused on giving a good a dining experience. From the bar, how you greet the customer, and those little things, are a big deal. And I think they're overlooked more and more.”
Working with Suppliers
In terms of working with suppliers, Sourias said order as much as you can, whenever they have anything in stock. In fact, Uptown buys in bulk whenever suppliers are stocked up.
“Everything from straws is still a problem,” said Sourias. “Cups – we've ordered in bulk, hundreds of cases of 10 ounce and 16 ounce plastic cups. People don't realize that you can get custom made cups with your logo for pretty much the same cost as you would for regular cups. We didn't realize how much we were actually saving with a lot of the custom-made things as opposed to buying them week to week. We're actually getting a better deal. It just takes longer, but you're guaranteed to have them.”
To learn more about Uptown Beer Garden, visit UptownBeer.com. To learn more about Crafts Concept Group, visit CraftConceptsGroup.com.
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