New owner gives Browns Socialhouse another shot

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/10/2018 (2566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After its abrupt closure last year, Browns Socialhouse will return to Brandon’s food scene at the same location later next month, but under new ownership.

The popular upscale dining restaurant shut its doors at 1260 18th St. in September of last year. The original owners subsequently opened the Wheat City Bar & Grill at the same location, which has since also ceased operations.

Hailing from Victoria, B.C., the location’s new restaurant franchisee Scott Rumpel said that he’s looking forward to re-opening the eatery.

“We’re so excited to get up and going; we’re hoping to get going right away,” Rumpel said, adding that their goal is to reopen the restaurant by the end of November.

“It was a shame that it didn’t work out the first time, but we’re coming back to show you that we belong there and to provide the great food and great service that Browns has to offer.”

Their menu includes a variety of sandwich items, steak, nachos, burgers and desserts.

Rumpel has a lot of experience in the restaurant business. He started out working for Cara Operations Ltd., running all the Montana’s BBQ & Bar restaurants in British Columbia.

He switched to Browns in 2009 and has been running four locations, soon to be five one in Prince George, two in Victoria, one in Nanaimo, and one soon in Brandon. He was contacted by Browns representatives with the Wheat City opportunity a couple months ago.

“It just seemed like such a great opportunity to pass up — there’s a store already there, existing,” he said. “It just needed a little bit of TLC and some licensing and get some staff in place, and you know, we can open up a Browns again.”

There are a few minor changes Rumpel said he has in mind, including adding a few more booths in the spring, different artwork and a new TV setup.

Getting the opportunity to work with so many different people is what Rumpel said he enjoys the most about the business.

“There’s so much,” he said. “I love the food aspect, I love the atmosphere of a place like Brown’s, but most of all I just love working around people. I’ve always been a people person. I love talking to people, I love meeting new people. So for me, whether it’s my new staff or staff that work with me or customers at the bar, I love it all.”

Over the course of many years in the business, he said that he has learned many important things, but one in particular that stuck out.

“The people around you really can make or break you, so you need to make sure that you’re hiring the right people in the restaurants to be able to provide that service,” he said.

The Brandon location will be hosting a job fair Oct. 25 to 27. They will be hiring approximately 75 employees, Rumpel said.

“We’ve had responses from people that have worked at Browns before that were excited it was coming back, so it will be nice to have some already-trained people, and there will be a lot of people we’re going to have to train as well,” he said.

Although the tentative opening date is Nov. 20, Rumpel said they still have to get things in order with a liquor and health licence, and staff hired.

After that’s all done, he said they can reopen to the public.

» mverge@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @Melverge5