Our biggest challenge in the beginning was just our inexperience. It’s totally possible though – it just requires a lot of time and effort. It’s also expensive, so finding investors can be challenging. I think the hardest thing is building one from scratch, navigating all the building codes, tax laws, alcohol licensing, and everything else. Ha! Nothing is easy in the restaurant business. What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced over the years? Then in 2013, I opened Horse Thief BBQ with my college friend Russell Malixi. and in 2006, I opened Thunderbird Coffee in Austin, TX with my brother Ryan. I started working a number of jobs in the restaurant industry, from barback, barista, bartender, etc. I studied business in college, but when it came time to go work in corporate America I found myself drawn to the restaurant business. I partially grew up in the restaurant business: my dad owned a couple cafes in Austin and my mother was an artist. Wade McElroy, Partner at Esprit de Corps, restaurant group responsible for Horse Thief BBQ, Cafe Birdie, Good Housekeeping, and Bar Angeles:
#HORSE THIEF BBQ FULL#
Ultimately, leaving Universal to run Horse Thief BBQ full time has been a really rewarding experience, because I get to see a direct result of our efforts and we get to work with a great family at Grand Central Market. I would be sleeping in my car at Grand Central Market waiting for my alarm to go off and then I would run in and check on the smoker. In the beginning, Russell and I would even take turns manning the smoker, setting timers when we would have to check the temperature. When Horse Thief first opened, I was still working at Universal, which meant my girlfriend at the time hated me because I was always working, five days at Universal and the rest of the time was spent at Horse Thief. So when I finished culinary school, my hobby became more serious. I had gone to culinary school on the side, thinking it would broaden my experience and just be a hobby, but my work in the music business often took me to SXSW which is where I fell in love with BBQ. Russell introduced me to his college friend Wade and when the space became available at Grand Central Market, we decided to open Horse Thief BBQ. We had always had the idea to try to open a restaurant.
I actually started in the IT field, in the music business, which is where I met Russell. Good value, good food.So let’s start at the beginning – how’d you get into the restaurant business? Seemed to be child and dog friendly too, but keep them both on leads! All in all, the Grand Central Market is a nice spot to visit, and The Horse Thief was the highlight for me. Don't expect any table-service, fine linen or crystal glassware - it's not that sort of place. Food is served on a tray, and you get your plastic knives and forks from the counter. There is a separate bar area that serves a range of draft beers too. I don't know if it gets rainy in LA, but if it does, this would not be a place to visit. So The Horse Thief is on the side of this market - it has no inside eating area, but communal benches outside, with parasols. It is full of food stalls selling everything from Chinese, Thai, Mexican, and Eggs (go check out Eggslut - they had queues around the block!). The location needs some explaining - it's in downtown LA's Grand Central Market, which is some sort of old market turned over to foodies. The service is fast and efficient, and the team are friendly.
#HORSE THIEF BBQ MAC#
The mac'n'cheese, while not something I am familiar with - I think it's an American thing - was lovely, with a perfectly good mac to cheese ratio. The pulled pork, while not spicy as I like to cook my own, was moist and tender and well seasoned. The brisket was moist, had good bark (if you don't know, it's the description of the sear around the meat from the smoker) and a good smoke ring. I had the brisket, pulled pork, mac'n'cheese and slaw, and aside from the slaw which was fairly boring, everything was excellent. I suspect there is some brisket snobbery going on with some of the write-ups that call it bland and dry - there are a lot of backyeard brisket kings in the US, and everyone has their own ideas about how it should be done. I was slightly worried about the negative review about the dry brisket, but it was totally unfounded on my visit.
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