Inside Suda: Culture, Consistency, Community

A falling mortgage rate brings energy back to the coast, but the real story lives at a neighborhood table. We sit down with Suda’s co-owner, realtor, and wake-surf competitor Cole Kerby and general manager Mel Lashbrook to explore how a Santa Cruz favorite became the spot you can love twice a week. From leadership and systems to cocktails and comfort food, this is a tour through culture, consistency, and the realities of running hospitality in a high-cost market.

Cole shares how a career built on service—first as a Silicon Valley executive assistant, then in real estate—translated into hospitality at scale. His blueprint: listen first, codify what works, and make standards visible so anyone can win the shift. Mel brings a scientist’s eye to the bar, turning seasonal ingredients into balanced drinks through structured R&D, while protecting beloved staples on the food side. Together they’ve cut turnover to near zero, which regulars feel as familiar faces, steady service, and that “Cheers” sense of belonging.

We dive into pandemic pivots, patio strategy, and the razor-thin margins of restaurants today, from minimum wage to vendor creep to the sticker shock of liquor liability insurance. The counterweight is precision: staggered kitchen and floor labor, constant vendor comparisons, and menu engineering that keeps prices accessible. You’ll also hear how boundaries with guests protect staff and improve the experience, plus the ecosystem around Suda—Motive’s nightlife downstairs and Ulterior’s speakeasy upstairs—creating options for every mood.

Hungry for specifics? Daily brunch is on, hours are expanded, and Girl Dinner Thursdays offer a mini kale Caesar, fries your way, and a martini. If you love restaurant culture, bar craft, Santa Cruz dining, small business operations, or the human side of leadership, you’ll find ideas you can use tonight. If this conversation sparked something for you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find us.

Transcript

Banter, Intros, And Producer Shoutout

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Here we go.

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Welcome to the On the Coast Podcast. Hello, hello. Welcome back to OTC. This is Brandy Jones from Keller Williams Thrive. And to my right is Ryan Buchholt, Cross Country Mortgage. And normally Jerry Seagreaves would be saying, This is Jerry Seagreaves. I have a motorcycle and I am farmer's insurance.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

We don't even need him anymore.

SPEAKER_03 0:25

Yeah, we're going to superimpose him.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

We'll superimpose that.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

But we have been even being asked, who is that mystery person in the background? So I want to give a great shout out to Brian Upton at Santa Cruz Vibes. He's our fearless producer. Thank you, Brian.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Yeah, Brian. I don't even have to take the emotion because guess who just walked through the cover? Jerry, I've got something for you. Hold on. We've never even played it.

SPEAKER_05 0:47

Let's hear it. Let's hear it.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Yay.

SPEAKER_05 0:50

I knew it.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Thanks for showing up.

SPEAKER_05 0:55

That was the hard drive.

SPEAKER_03 0:56

Hey, we are hot. We're recording.

SPEAKER_05 0:58

I can tell.

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Wait till you hear my version of your introduction.

SPEAKER_03 1:05

Oh, yeah? I want to hear it. You're going to actually have to listen to yourself. You have to listen to this one podcast. You're like, hey, dude, it's me.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Jerry, are you looking up the definition of discombobulated right now on your phone?

SPEAKER_04 1:17

I was like running across town to get here.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

Don't forget me, my little feet. Jerry, do you say I'm going to do that?

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Jerry, we did. It's a weird one today because we don't have show notes and we were asking you to run the first part of this.

SPEAKER_05 1:28

Oh yeah, I'm ready. You're out. Let's do it. Fire. So Korean of cauliflower appetizers. How'd you get over that? Let's go.

Market Check: Rates, Applications, Activity

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Okay, no, stop. Stop, stop, stop, stop. First of all, Jerry, Ryan, me, and actually our guests. What do you want to talk about just real quickly in the real estate market? What do you see in Ryan and uh interest rates?

SPEAKER_03 1:48

Well, me personally, rates just hit 5.99%. That's how that was monumental for people to even say five, you know, in the five. So that was a huge spark, getting tons of calls, tons of refinances, and the market's active. Like, what are you seeing, Brandy?

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Oh, yeah. So for me, I I watch numbers really, really closely. I love data. We had January, end of the year was amazing. And I mean December and then January just flat, flat, flat, flat. And I think you were saying the same thing. December, you had a ton of loan applications, and then January they didn't pull the trigger. I'm telling you now, even in like hot spots like Capitola and like Santa Cruz, if it was on the market for over a hundred days, it's now pending within seven days.

SPEAKER_07 2:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

So, Cole, do you have anything that you think you're seeing in the real estate market?

SPEAKER_06 2:30

No, my phone started ringing again. So that's good. I have a couple offers out right now, a couple listing agreements out right now. So I'll be I'll be busy. I'll have a good spring.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

We like that. Yeah. We like that. And then so Jerry had some really good news last time, and it was he's got some competition to cow fare.

Insurance Shakeups And New Coverage Tactics

SPEAKER_04 2:46

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's um there's some challenges. Like we were working on one for Ryan the other day, and you know, there's some fine tuning, but they're taking risk. And we have we've written like 35 policies with them so far. So the the highlight is they give you a water leak detection device. Remember, we've talked about this a lot. They give you one, you don't have to buy it. They ask you to install it, and then they'll give you full water damage coverage on the home. So it it's a a new era of insurance where we're like being more creative. I think that's I think that's a positive thing. So yeah, we're I'm I'm busier than I've ever been right now.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

I think that's a great segue because our guests today, I think, are very creative. I I call their establishment the cheers of the point. So I want to welcome the co-owner of Suda, Cole Kirby, and his amazing bar or manager, general manager. GM Mel Lashbrook. Hello, hello.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Hello. Happy to be here. Yeah, thank you guys for having us.

Meet Suda’s Cole And Mel

SPEAKER_02 3:46

So, Cole, you took the helm of Suda. At the same time, you're a realtor, that's a f a fabulous realtor. At the same time, you were competitively wake surfing, and you live and thrive in Santa Cruz. Like, how do you do it all?

SPEAKER_06 4:05

Wow, that's a good question when you when you uh put it all out there. I kind of thrive in that chaos. My early career was as a personal assistant for a Silicon Valley executive, a serial entrepreneur. I did that for about 12 years. I started working for uh his sailboat racing team in my late teens, early twenties, and that kind of segued. I took on more responsibility and more responsibility, and before you know it, I was managing boats, planes, cars, houses, and everything in between. So I've always had a long running to-do list with that require like a large variety of skills. And when I segued out of that profession, I was focusing on real estate full-time, and there was something missing. And what was missing was restaurants and bars, I guess. So I said yes to a great opportunity that my friend Mike rolled out for me to be a partner at some of his businesses that he founded here in Santa Cruz. And everything's couldn't can't complain. Everything's awesome.

Cole’s Path: Assistant To Realtor To Restaurateur

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Every time anybody talks about you, they have amazing things to say. I've ran a poll of the whole world, and everyone likes you. 100% approval. Amazing. And and then under that poll is like, how's your GML? It's like a thousand percent approval. Oh wow. Mal, how did you end up in Santa Cruz?

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Oh, I moved here for love, actually. Well, yeah, I played volleyball for CSU and B, and then I was in Colorado for a Stanford grad school, came back to work in San Jose, and then I was obviously San Jose was not for me. So I moved to Santa Cruz about three months after that, and I've been here ever since.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

And you've made quite the life here. So you're a general manager, you have your partner, your lifetime partner. Yes, and you're a kick-ass volleyball player. I know because she kicks my ass all the time.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Not always true.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

We go back and forth, which makes it fun. So you inherited Cole. I did, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

I predated Cole as Suda. Yeah, I've been there since 2017. And yeah, it used to be very inconsistent. It just lacked a little bit of structure. The staff was more transient, including the kitchen, and that reflected on the consistency of the guest experience. And so I like systems, I like organization. So since I started, I've just been trying to implement more and more systems. And you know, I still was wearing, I was wearing so many hats, especially ones that I wasn't good at, like I don't know, fixing sinks and plumbing and who knows what, all the things that come with restaurant management. But then Cole joined, and it was so refreshing because he happens to be good at all of those things. He's good at everything he has. So now I can focus on things that I'm good at, and he kind of takes the helm at everything else, and it's very refreshing.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

I noticed that, Cole, that well, this is Jerry's favorite question. You want to go for it? As you're opening your own. Why don't we let Jerry just open his new shot?

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Why don't we let Jerry walk in five minutes late and just start opening things on the phone?

Building Culture And Reducing Turnover

SPEAKER_04 6:56

Listen, oranges. Um my question would be like, what's your favorite uh surf wake out of the boat? You know, like if you're really gonna be honest with me, I think I think the answer is super or centurion. Malibu. What were you gonna ask me to ask?

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Well, so I don't have employees. And these guys do. And they ask really good questions because it's one thing to be like, hey, I was playing volleyball, I was at school, hey, you know, I'm starting real estate. So then go for it.

SPEAKER_04 7:25

Well, I would say consistency in a restaurant really depends a lot on employees. And the biggest complaint that I see, well, in because I eat every day out, you know, is like consistency in my service or the food that you're getting. How hard is it for you guys to find and compensate people locally to do that great job, the high-level stuff that Suda brings to the table? How hard is it for you to find and I guess curate that?

SPEAKER_06 7:55

Well, it's it's culture, it's it's company culture and systems that keep those things trucking along, and hiring the right people is arguably the most important part. But if you have the right systems and you have the right culture, somebody can walk in the door as a C or B player and going through our training and seeing how hard everybody else works, they quickly become an A player. And if they don't, they typically find a a job elsewhere. But it is it is difficult to find, hire, and train and get people to the level where they're consistently producing you know a favorable guest experience and the food's coming out of the kitchen and wanting to raise the bar all the time, right?

SPEAKER_04 8:33

Like that's the big thing for me, I think, is you can get you can get somebody in that role and they just kind of do what they're paid to do, but they're not like they're not like bought in to like make the experience better. I don't know, that's what I've experienced with at least my little business.

Community Vibe And Seeing Familiar Faces

SPEAKER_06 8:49

It's nothing but it's it's very hard. I think it comes down to company culture and and not accepting anything less than there's a million hospitality jobs you can get in Santa Cruz, and I I think you know the way Mel staffs, the way Mel trains, the you know, the standard that we have, people jump in and we've we've seen certain people be overwhelmed with the level. And it's sometimes it's not sustainable for them, so they end up going back to their old hospitality job wherever it was. And I would say right now, or since I started in 2022, we have very little to no employee turnover. And it's something that we're super proud of. And I think it's a testament to the culture that we've cultivated there. And you know, I when I stepped into the business, there was already a great culture. But just kind of fine-tuning it has been something that's been super helpful. I mean, at the end of the year, when you get W-2s to distribute at our Mike and I's bar down here at Motive, you know, we typically only have 15 to 18 people on payroll. The stack of sick W-2s that we have from security guards that only made it two shifts or bar back that only lasted a week. You know, Suda, our running team is anywhere from thirty-five to forty-five people. And at the end of the year, we don't have I'm not tracking down employees that uh change the address. Yeah. Exactly. So it's a testament to the culture, it's a testament to the work environment that that we've created, and we're we're super grateful for it.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

That's awesome. I love that because calling you the cheers of the point, like those of you who aren't old enough, use your AI to look up cheers. Everyone knows your name. And when you walk in, you know everybody's name. So it is something I didn't think about. I actually don't know everybody's name there, but I do recognize when you said that that I feel more comfortable when I keep seeing the same people, the same busser, the same, you know, the three different bartenders that might be there one day. Who do I get? You know, or I didn't realize that that hits deep, you know, it over time because your customers repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. And that's that's actually super cool. Thanks for bringing that up. And thanks for well, bringing that out.

Motive And Ulterior: Two Vibes, One Roof

SPEAKER_03 10:51

Yeah, I think it's a sense of community. Just, you know, go with people who know you, who like you, who trust you, who care about you. And so, Cole, how many businesses are you a part of here in Santa Cruz?

SPEAKER_06 11:02

Suda and Motive and Ulterior. It's the same, same building, same EIN, but two totally different looks and feels. Downstairs is kind of Santa Cruz's premier nightlife experience. It's a you know, nice big bar with some booths, a 20 by 40 dance floor. We bring in some very high-level DJs very consistently, and we we throw probably the best party downtown Santa Cruz has to offer. And upstairs, it's the old Pearl Ali Bistro for those that are familiar with that. It's a speakeasy craft cocktail bar. We have the old chef owner, Donnie Susan's old chef owner of Cafe Sparrow up there doing great small bite food. And two totally different vibes. You know, if you're downstairs, you know, I'm only 35, I feel too old to be down there the majority of the time. But you go you go upstairs.

SPEAKER_03 11:47

It's good that you look 25 if you blend in.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

They would not know you're part the part owner of that. That'd be hilarious. People are surprised all the time. You guys are gonna have to check this out on YouTube. Keep going, sorry.

SPEAKER_06 11:59

And then you go upstairs and it's totally different environment. You go through this really cool bookshelf door that we built, and you get great stirred and shaking cocktails with premium liquors, great mixology program, and some elevated bar food, which is super cool.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Remember Jan Daniel Javis singing your praises.

SPEAKER_06 12:18

Yes, he loves the burger we have.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Yes, he does.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

That's awesome. I didn't know Sparrow, the chef from Sparrow, was there. Sparrow was awesome when it was out there at Aptos for 30 years or whatever it was.

SPEAKER_06 12:27

And there's some serious lineage. Per Lali Bistro, you know, I talked to my parents and you know, other people that are my parents' age, and they say that was one of their favorite dining experiences in Santa Cruz. It was a thriving restaurant for many, many years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

And you get to inherit that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:42

And they're all like three different businesses, which all have three different concerns, all spinning at the same time while you manage all of it. Real estate on top of that.

SPEAKER_06 12:51

And real estate. You know, where your where your you know energy goes, the the money kind of flows. So I started in these hospitality businesses in 2022, right when rates took a huge leap from where they were 2020, 2021.

SPEAKER_05 13:05

Yeah.

Menus, Seasonality, And Cocktail R&D

SPEAKER_06 13:06

So my business slowed down pretty significantly. And I was just trying to wrangle what it meant to have employees. Because, you know, as an independent contractor, you know, I had my subs that I would work with, and I have my team of people that I use for listing prep and marketing, and my my transaction coordinators and my inspectors, and you know, they're not employees, but going from zero to ninety was a huge learning curve. A lot of personal development had to ensue. And I mean, it's it's been it's been great. It was great to, you know, both these businesses were, you know, both thriving in their own regard and kind of institutions of Santa Cruz already. So it wasn't like starting something from the ground up. I that's a good point. I constantly look to Mike who started these things, and I'm like, man, you were brave. And I know you worked really hard.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

And shout out to Mike. Yeah. People know and love him. Yeah. And so it was it was one of those things like, we're gonna have James Durbin on next, and he was in quiet riot. And a lot of people were talking about, well, is he gonna be good enough? And I could imagine matching up to Mike would be some sort of pressure, and and you did it.

SPEAKER_06 14:06

Yeah, he's a great great to have him as a mentor and as a colleague. You know, it's been fun to work side by side with them and and you know, carry on the lineage, which is super cool and definitely something that uh I'm grateful for. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 14:20

Mal, what is the most bestest, funnest thing you love about your job?

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Oh gosh, every day is different. And that's really exciting. When I worked in nine to five, you know, you clock in, you wait for the time to end, and then you clock out, and yeah, you're just kind of twiddling your thumbs. Um, but the restaurant industry, there's constant involvement. You know, you're working with staff, managing staff. There's always new people coming through the door, new problems, something breaks, the internet goes down, all of these issues on a day-to-day basis keep you on your toes. And you have to do so when you're in front of guests and main, you know, maintaining kind of a calm persona, which is challenging. And then also, you know, living in Santa Cruz, a place with seasonal ingredients and and it's yeah, it's a healthy place to live with the resources to, you know, sustainable produce and whatnot. It's nice to change the menu. That's really fun for us. So every six months we change the food menu and the cocktail menu and just try to keep things new and exciting because we do see the same people almost every day, sometimes every week, every month. We want to make sure, yeah. Hey, we have some people that come in every day. We do. So it's exciting, you know. You want to create something that's good and something new for them. So that's also really fun. The creative aspect of coming up with cocktails and changing the food menu.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

How do you go through that research of finding like what is it that you want to put on next?

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Oh my gosh, it gets hard. I've made a million versions of a margarita. So honestly, for me, I yeah, I garden and so I try to think of a new ingredient, like card bomb or something unique, right? And then how to build a cocktail around that. So yeah, something seasonal, something unique, something fun. And as long as you have a direction, it's easy to build around it.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

Yeah, that's interesting.

SPEAKER_06 15:59

Yeah, Mel definitely exceeds your typical GM's expectations. She has a ton of input on even what's coming out of the kitchen. She has great ideas where, you know, in the middle of a team meeting, she'll be like, This is this is what the Pleasure Point community and Santa Cruz Greater would enjoy. And she'll come with recipes and she'll even make it at home. And she has a huge influence on the stuff that we're we're serving the community, which is awesome to have.

Biochem To Bar: Mel’s Creative Process

SPEAKER_04 16:24

But I think that's one of the things I love about your place is that there's dependable items on the menu always, but there's always something new and interesting that maybe I haven't had before. And you do it in a way that's super creative and presents well. And I guess that'd kind of piggyback what you're saying. Like when you come up with that item, like how many revisions do you just get it right, or does the chef have a lot of input on how it should be done right? And then you guys taste it and decide if that's the final item.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Well, I guess I can always speak towards cocktails because James kind of focuses more on the kitchen. But in terms of cocktails, sometimes you nail it on the first try. It's amazing. And then other times you're struggling and you're, okay, I really want to use honey and chamomile. And you're thinking of, you know, okay, let's use it with gin and a shaking cocktail, and then it evolves to a hot drink with bourbon, you know. So it's sometimes you nail it, sometimes it takes a lot of expensive liquor to come up with a sometimes you're buzzed by the end of the market. You're like, wait, it's 10 a.m. on a Tuesday.

SPEAKER_07 17:25

I don't want to try another cocktail when I have to because it's not right.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

So yeah, it just depends. But I think just coming up with flavors and then also knowing cocktail structure for me is really helpful, right? You know what the basis of a sour is, or you know it's gonna be martini, and then you kind of know the sweetness and the build in that direction. Um, it's easy to kind of build specs around that.

SPEAKER_07 17:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

Well, I get it. You're smart. What what did you go to college for? And what were you gonna do?

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Biochemistry is what I mean. Do you see what I mean? So it does help. I studied mitochondrial function, and I've role in the development of insulin resistance to diabetes. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, chemistry, biochem was my background. I spent a lot of time in a research lab. So yeah, I guess there's similarities. Some people are like, what are you doing? That's nothing to do uh with what you studied, which it doesn't, but um it kind of does. It does.

SPEAKER_06 18:15

You weren't traditionally trained as a bartender, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:17

No, never. Wow. But I cook a lot, you know, and then you study anything. I read a lot, right? And then I can I'll read about herbs and spices, then I'll be like, oh, I want to try something with that. And also traveling, right? You travel, you try new things, and you're like, oh, that's that's delicious. But I think you know, going to San Francisco, you'll find a different style of cocktail. But you have to remember that we're in suit at Pleasure Point, and you have to know what your guests like. So not creating a menu for you per se, maybe a cocktail, yeah, but creating a menu for the patrons, like what sells? Like, I think it might be good with a little bit of this, but it's gonna be less accessible.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

So I'll tell my go-to is always the kale Caesar. Yeah, do not take that off, please.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

You could never. So sometimes, yeah, you have to retain those heavy hitters.

SPEAKER_02 19:00

What you're gonna say, Rhodan?

SPEAKER_03 19:01

Oh, mine's the burger. Yeah, just go over that.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

He's he's easy. It's either cinnamon roll or burgers for exactly. What's your favorite?

SPEAKER_04 19:10

You know, I've been I've been there's a pokey bowl that you guys have had recently on the menu. I really like that. I do like the burger a lot. And then the chicken sandwiches.

Twice-A-Week Dining Strategy At Suda

SPEAKER_02 19:19

I was just gonna say the fried chicken sandwiches.

SPEAKER_04 19:21

You honestly can't beat that. That's like a really good staple, lunchtime special, you know.

SPEAKER_02 19:25

So well, after volleyball, people literally are looking for fried chicken sandwiches. And so you've got what what direction are we going? And that's exactly right.

SPEAKER_04 19:33

I think it's like what, like a Nashville style right now?

SPEAKER_06 19:36

Yeah, it's so good. Yeah, I'm very good. Yeah, and that's that's one thing that you know James Manns has recently come back as a chef partner. He was a chef at Suda pre-pandemic. He then went to Venus West Side to help help them start that business. And then he went down to work with our friend Nick at Trestles. So he's you know, top top caliber Santa Cruz chef. It's a very small talent pool in Santa Cruz as far as as far as great chefs. So James has come back and and everybody's in alignment on what we want Suda to be, which is the spot you can go to twice a week, not once a week. When you're too stuck in one specific genre, you know, I don't I don't eat Italian food once a week. Right. You know, I eat it once a month.

SPEAKER_04 20:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:16

And you know, we have tacos, pokey bowl, burger, we have elevated mains, whether it's with chicken, steak, or seafood. And and you literally can go to, you know, you can go to sudo for brunch, you can get invited for a happy hour with your friends later that week, and you're not like, oh, I was just there.

SPEAKER_07 20:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:32

Um, you know there's something different with a completely different flavor profile profile, and the you know, pricing is accessible. That's one thing that's helped us remain successful is being a good thing.

SPEAKER_04 20:42

And the atmosphere too. Like you guys have a really killer patio. There's a lot of there's there's a lot of major benefits to your location, obviously being midtown or on the east side. I would agree with you though, like Santa Cruz typically in the past. I mean, I was born and raised here. I went to the college in Napa Valley for eight years, and I would say that like eight years. Yeah, I was just up on that. I was a slow student.

SPEAKER_05 21:07

No, I uh I had a I'll beep this out, but that was fucking hilarious.

SPEAKER_07 21:13

Eight years. High school too.

Pandemic Pivots, Patios, And Community Support

SPEAKER_04 21:16

A different business program I did there. But yeah, no, like going to college in Napa Valley, you know, you you are exposed to a different type of food cuisine that I've never experienced before. And then you come back here and you're like, well, these are my choices. And now all of a sudden, in the last couple of years, we've seen a lot of care and and and desire to create a better local food economy, I guess you'd call it. You know, I think that Suda, Eastside, Trestles, like all these really amazing chefs are coming through and creating. I mean, Lava Hia. I don't know if you guys have eaten high tide is amazing. You know, there's a lot of stuff coming to town, and it's really cool to see. But you were talking about pandemic, really quick. And my big question is I have a tap room, or I used to have a tap room up in South Lake Tahoe. And Pandemic hit like right after we opened. How did that affect you guys? How were you able to like roll through the closures and the the that takeout dining? Like, was that super difficult time for you guys?

SPEAKER_06 22:11

I got involved post-pandemic. I mean, there was still some variants kind of rolling around, and you know, I helped Mike like build the patio and the parking lot that we called Suda Square Garden. Real quick, what was the name of your tap room? Uh the Hangar Lake Tahoe. Good friends with Nate. Oh, you know Nate? Oh, cool. That's right. I didn't know you were involved.

SPEAKER_04 22:26

Yeah, so I was the original partner to Nate, and then I sold out in 2023, I guess. Just my business started getting crazy. So I told him like can't commute all the time like that anymore. So he's a good dude. He's great, dude.

SPEAKER_06 22:42

Love, love that family. I'll defer to Mel because she was there. She was in the trenches.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Oh, I was there. Yeah, I still have it on my calendar the day that shut down. I think it was March 16th or something like that. But we were lucky enough to be open after two weeks. I mean, it was it was a lot of management though, and it made it fun though. Because you know, you're like, okay, we're working with these parameters. How can we work with them and still create something great for the community? Labor was at an all-time low though, because of the distance. So actually, I think Suda balanced out okay. Yeah, we did pretty well. The community showed up, and that's what was really special. Yeah, there was a lot of people that came in just for takeout, and then we were lucky enough to have an established patio where a lot of Santa Cruz didn't. They had to do that.

SPEAKER_04 23:22

Yeah, they had to make like parking spaces into a patio.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Yes, and we did that too, but we already had the established patio. So that really helped us in the beginning kind of maintain customers, which was great. There's somewhere that they knew that there was a safe patio with safe distances, distancing where they could go. But it was crazy. I'll never forget when the fires were happening during the pandemic. And there was like red sky. That was the apocalypse. And then people were still sitting up there and eating. I'm like, what is happening? I think everyone's losing it. People were using it. Yeah, so it's it was nice that they had somewhere to go. Yeah, and it was just constantly, it was a roller coaster, and then it's you know, training your team. The hardest part is coming up, not coming up with the protocol, but then making sure everyone's on board because you can't be there all of the time for every shift when you're open for lunch and dinner, and just making sure that everyone knows everything because yeah, everything was changing all the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

With California passing minimum law, wages, and different regulations, and then having an area where we have exceptional food, how do you keep costs low for us who are coming to Suda?

SPEAKER_06 24:33

You f you fight really hard. You have to get strategic with scheduling, you have to get strategic and you know, it creates more work. You can kind of get on a path when you're working with specific vendors and they'll kind of slowly raise their prices over time. And if you're not not consistently shopping, you know, where we're getting our produce from, where we're getting our b where we're getting our alcohol from, where we're getting our wine from, they'll just, you know, it's kind of death by a thousand paper cuts. It just starts to get a a lot really quick. So you have to, you know, structure the schedule. You know, we we'd love to be staffed perfectly all the time to provide the best guest experience. But Mel and Alex, who's also helps with scheduling at Suda, do a really good job kind of staggering when people come on. James does a great job staggering the labor in the kitchen. So, you know, right at eight o'clock, there's not five guys doing prep, there's just two, and then the guys that are going to be cooking when the restaurant opens at eleven thirty get there a little bit later. So you just you re you have to have both hands on the wheel because it can get out of hand really quickly.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

That's brilliant.

SPEAKER_06 25:34

The the margins are razor thin in a restaurant. I think there's a general misconception that they're like money machines, they're very difficult to operate profitably.

SPEAKER_03 25:45

It's one of the hardest businesses to be in from my point of view. It's just it's tough.

SPEAKER_06 25:49

Yeah. You got a lot going on. Yeah, for sure. There's a there's there's so much. And you know, also I know Jerry can probably speak to it, but insurance has gone crazy. Yeah, we're just got dropped by my workers' comp carrier because we don't do enough, you know, our payroll's not high enough to meet the premium and you know, general liability, liquor liability, all of those things have been, you know, there's a lot of people not writing policies for that anymore.

SPEAKER_04 26:15

Yeah, surplus lines is like the regular spot now for anything with liquor liability, and that's that's really what's made it hard, probably, for you guys. It's gone from like eight grand a year to 20 grand a year overnight. That's the same thing happened on our tap room. Like they, you know, farmers used to write our tap room, and now it's like, you know, Atlantic casualty out of New York, and they're just charging massive premiums. And you know, their risk isn't any higher than any other business. It's just they they like to you know make sure that they're making money on every contract. Really?

SPEAKER_02 26:47

All right, on that happy note.

SPEAKER_04 26:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:50

Leave it to old Sea Graves. I'll just stay with York.

Insurance Realities For Hospitality

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Hey, I had one, um, you know, you guys were talking in, you know, Cole. It makes me think about like your experience before you took over this industry. And it seems like you're talking about infrastructure, and it I can't help but get like that sports connection a little bit, like existing system, call it a franchise. It's not, but call it that, that's what it is. And kind of a new coach comes in, right? And it's the message in the locker room probably changed because I like the fact that you were there to see both sides of that. And I can't hope, but it begs the question. You were a single kind of proprietor and you had a background athletically in whatever it was, but what did you what blueprint did you bring to that? Like, so you went from never managing that many employees, right? Before you took that position. So before you started that week before you started, what was your game plan coming in?

Leadership, Systems, And Mission-Driven Service

SPEAKER_06 27:43

Well, I I don't know if I can draw a parallel to like anything I've done or competed, competed in athletically. But, you know, I was like I said, I was a personal assistant for a Silicon Valley family, and the role of that job was to, you know, meet their needs and expectations. I didn't really think of it as hospitality, but the goal was to help them get what they want or get what they wanted, manage their, you know, whether it was putting an elevator in a home or getting a different sprinter van or, you know, going to a house and another house they own somewhere in California and and managing that process seamlessly. And then, you know, I started selling real estate in 2016. It's kind of the same thing. You know, you're working with your clients on a one-to-one basis, you're helping them meet their expectation you're meeting their expectations, you're helping them get what they want, whether it's a income property or a single family home or you know, their first town home that they're you know, they want to establish some roots before they start a family. At the end of the day, hospitality is helping people, you know, get what they want or help helping people have a good experience. And in a restaurant, people are relinquishing their basic human need, which is to like nourish their bodies or like have a cocktail connect with people. So, you know, I just kind of was like, okay, well I've I've always done hospitality. I hadn't hadn't been a what I like to say is I never worked in a restaurant before I became a partner in one. Like I was never a host, I was never a buster, I was never a bar back, I was never a food runner, never did any of that. But I was like, what I am good at is making people making sure people have a good time and their needs are met. So when I started in the bar and the restaurant industry, I was like, I really just need to take what I've always been good at, which is helping people on like a you know, one-to-one basis. But like, how do how now how do we do that for 500 people on any given Friday?

SPEAKER_07 29:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:27

So so that was it. And just getting people to work cohesively with like the common goal and becoming mission-driven, you know. What one thing that Mel and I have been talking about is having Suda be recognized as the best casual dining experience in Santa Cruz. Not the best restaurant in Santa Cruz, doesn't need to be the best steak that you can get in Santa Cruz. It's gotta be really, really good. But just 10 out of 10 times you can go to Sudo, whether it's for brunch, lunch, or dinner, and have an incredible experience. The food's great, the service is great, the ambiance is unmatched, the music is good, the lighting's right, like all of the things that go into a great guest experience, those boxes are checked 10 out of 10 times.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

That's amazing. And Mel, from your standpoint, now that it's all worked out so great. So he walks in and you've been there for a while, and you you can't get away from the fact this guy's coming with no experience. And so the feeling is right now fantastic. It's a great spot to be in, but buy-in right out of the get-go, trepidation. What was it?

SPEAKER_01 30:23

I mean, obviously you're nervous. Yeah. Like, what is this? Yeah, what is this person gonna bring into the business? Are they gonna throw a wrench in things?

SPEAKER_06 30:29

Yeah, we're gonna get rid of the Kelsey.

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Yeah, all right, yeah, exactly. Yeah, you gotta you gotta be prepared to fight a big battle.

SPEAKER_00 30:37

I'll die on that hill.

Handling Conflict And Having Staff’s Back

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Yes, you should. But I knew Cole before he started there, so that helped. I kind of trusted I wasn't like, okay, who is this person? Yeah, and then also he came in and he kind of just worked and listened for a while. And that was really cool. It's weird how that's what it takes sometimes. Worked less and got the feel, and then was yeah, kind of leaning on the managers. And then when he felt comfortable and we all felt comfortable, then he stepped in with perfect timing, implementing new systems and kind of showing his vision. Um and so yeah, it was a very smooth transition. I think we were all hesitant, but it was so nice to be like, hey, I need this thing fixed. And instead of me trying to find a plumber, he found a plumber, you know, you just he's filled the holes very nicely. And I think we are all very thankful.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

That's rad.

SPEAKER_03 31:22

How long do you think that took, Cole, from when you started that night to like where you actually feel comfortable?

SPEAKER_00 31:27

A couple days.

SPEAKER_03 31:28

36 hours.

SPEAKER_06 31:30

That was so funny. I'm like super, super extroverted. I feel like I'm a great conversationalist. I like just wanted to polish glassware for the first time. I didn't want to talk to anybody. I like didn't, I didn't really like my my like knowledge on allergens and ingredients wasn't that great. And I don't, I don't really, I'm like kind of shy when I'm not good at something. You know, I'm a little timid. So I was just like, let me just polish a glassware for like that's who was lurking in the corner polishing. Let me come in on a Friday night and just like just restock the glassware.

SPEAKER_04 32:05

How much is that of that was observation though? Like I kind of feel like you're like me that way where you're just kind of quiet in the background, like just watching and seeing how things work on their own before you jump in.

SPEAKER_06 32:15

It was super helpful. Yeah. And now it allowed me to kind of establish the 10,000 foot view because I know what all of the roles are like. Like I'm not I'm not a fantastic bartender, but I can jump in my table.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Oh Lord, you feel the restaurant flow now, which is great. I would say in the last year, he's really That's way cool.

SPEAKER_06 32:37

Sometimes sometimes I hear the ticket, the printer like print out a bar ticket, and I'm like, I'm gonna make this one. I see like six cocktails on it. Like, never mind.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Hey, what's the high weeds there? When you said feel the restaurant flow from your position, what does that mean?

SPEAKER_01 32:53

Well, everything's is priority, right? So in your head, you constantly have all these different levels of things happening all the time. So you might see the I might see the ticket printer print, but I already know that there's two people sitting at the bar that need to be served first, or this thing over here at the host stand needs to be accounted for. So you have to in your head know where to go first and then maybe a stop by at the person that's just sat down at the bar. Hey, I'll be with you shortly. Just, you know, making sure your your timing is impeccable, moving as fast as you can and as efficiently as you can.

SPEAKER_00 33:21

It's some air traffic control. Yeah, it's a good thing. Well, just gonna sit.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

It really is. Yeah. And you can't be everywhere at once. Right.

Santa Cruz Moments: Shopping Carts And Serendipity

SPEAKER_02 33:27

The theme that I'm hearing from both of you is that you guys have really this innate timing. You're 10 steps ahead, but you know where each step needs to go. It's not that there's 10 steps and you just make sure they're done. You're like, no, two needs to be at five and five needs to be here, like with your career before and then with real estate and now with Suda, and then like with your volleyball, with your schooling and now here. That takes a lot, a lot of brain cells. So on that note, brain cells. Let's talk about supporting Suda. First of all, we all support you and we love you. But Santa Cruz Vibes has something cool.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

Yeah, but we're we're we're down at Utteria right now for a month doing our food story with Donnie Susan's, who's already been brought up on it. Um, and Utteria's been great kind of doing their part behind the bar. But it's just a series where we're actually asking the community to come in, linger a little bit, put the phones down. We do want you to eventually tag and take a picture, but really it's to slow down. And Donnie's a big proponent of mental health, so there's some you know community check-ins, some prompts in there. Uh, but mostly it's just questions to, you know, kind of get the table talking a little bit, linger a little bit more.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

So I will have you guys, we're gonna pretend we're doing this. You can scratch off any one of those, you can use your keys. I didn't because my last person.

SPEAKER_00 34:34

But the one thing is we're lingering and we're waiting for it is that the the other thing I want to just compliment you listening, because we've talked a little bit on and off again, Cole, here and there, but you know, that we don't do a lot of consulting with Vibes, but eventually we can't quite get away from it. And the one thing I the only advice I generally give restaurants is it if you treat your customers as a human relationship, and I'm not saying that's not it's it's not as obvious teams, and your employees as a human relationship, you wind that back and you think about what makes a human relationship, like even stacing or whatever it is. Well, you you start these other words start coming up, which is agency, equity. You also want to be interesting to that person. Remember when you first meet somebody, you're interested in them because they're across the room, you're interested in it, you don't quite know what they're gonna say next. So the only advice I ever give business is it's a really good idea. And you've got it a little bit. You've got that idea. It's like if they don't quite know 100 percent what's coming next, and it could be a drink, could be a special, that's gonna get the people in there twice a week. And from the employee standpoint, I think the biggest mistake when we're consulting is owners want employees to have uh owner type agency in the business. It's impossible. It's impossible to get that point. But you can get almost all the way there by giving them agency and equity in their position, making them feel basically like they have standing in that business and they have a voice and they their time is respected, they're getting paid a certain amount. But the biggest mistake is when they clinically think that a a busboy is going to have the same basically kind of investment as an owner, you've already sort of missed the boat and you're gonna be disappointed. But I think you're nailing it in a lot of ways from what I've heard.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

I think so too, because you said something earlier. D can I repeat it?

SPEAKER_00 36:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Yeah, you got your employees back. Just having you say those words to an outsider, I felt that.

Hours, Daily Brunch, And Girl Dinner Thursdays

SPEAKER_06 36:16

Yeah, I I think the example I used is, you know, as a I've been a people pleaser the majority of my life, and I uh have strayed away from friction. So there'll be moments where, you know, sometimes customers are just uh out of hand. Is that what you were gonna say? I like how you switch that in the right. There were situations. There was situ yeah, am I allowed to cuss on that?

SPEAKER_00 36:38

Yeah, I broke that seal about 12 minutes ago.

SPEAKER_06 36:42

It was challenging for me in the beginning when there would be conflict between employee and customer, and you know, I came from like, okay, it's hospitality. The customer's gotta be right. And then you kind of after establishing the situation, you're like, what the fuck is wrong with you? You know? Yep. And I give I give agency to, you know, Mel, Mel and the people there. Well, there sometimes people are just out of hand and they and they they need to be told no.

SPEAKER_00 37:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 37:08

Because at the end of the day, you you can't undermine the employees. They have to feel like they are working in a safe place and you know they won't be disrespected and they won't be, you know, if it's so different when it's an honest mistake when a burger comes out overcooked and it's like, oh, let us let us address that for you, you know. But sometimes there's some characters in San Cruz.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

No, can I tell them? Okay, so I'm hanging out with my friend at the bar, and this guy comes in. I am not shitting you. Can I bring my motorcycle in?

SPEAKER_07 37:39

You would be surprised. Oh, we've all got one in the back door.

SPEAKER_02 37:43

But he didn't leave it alone. He's like, no, no, I'll take it into the I'll bring it up through here. She's like, no. He's like, no, then I'll use the back door and just park my bike. It will just be there. And she's like, we don't want the fumes in here. And finally she's like, no, and Cole's gonna be here. He's like, is he here now? I was like, she was so graceful about it. I was like, wasn't the motorcycle rider named Jerry?

SPEAKER_03 38:03

I think it'd be like I'm sorry about that there.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

If he scratched when I put him down, I think unintentionally, Cole might have the best segue that a guest has ever had to this conversation. Did you get the Santa Cruz question?

SPEAKER_06 38:16

Yeah, what's the Santa Cruz thing that's happened to me lately? Well, there you go. Another one. I'm walking into Suda like free dinner service. I see a shopping cart tucked on the side of the patio, and I'm like, who's go to the host? I'm like, whose shopping cart is that? And she's like, Oh, I don't know. And I'm like looking and scanning the restaurant, I'm like trying to find someone that would drive a shopping cart. Somebody's house. And I see I see a guy on the patio enjoying a plethora of beverages and food, and I'm like, that dude's obviously not gonna pay for this shit. You know? So I go to the host, I'm like, hey, did you see that guy rolling with a shopping cart? And she's like, no. And I'm like, okay, well, who's serving him? Because like, let's try to receive some sort of payment. Anyways, he bails. Surprise. So you know, we had a little team huddle, and I was like, hey, everybody, next time someone brings a shopping drives a shopping cart to my menu. Let's not seat them in a serving. Let's not just give them a whole thing of the thing. He tried every cocktail on the menu. He literally ready.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

Okay, that makes sense. And as an owner, and we we can wrap this up. As an owner, some people they give short fuses that would just infuriate them. Like, how did that happen with my loving employees? I just spent 45 minutes saying they're amazing.

SPEAKER_06 39:33

He hit a shopping car. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

This makes more sense now. You've done it before. Mel gets the answer too. Mel, you get an answer. I think there's a positive or a negative, right, Cole? Can you go gnarly or positive?

SPEAKER_01 39:46

That was gnarly, right? That was a pretty gnarly Santa Cruz. Gosh.

SPEAKER_00 39:49

Mel, do you have one? Oh, neither are. Whatever. The Santa Cruz story.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

I'm gonna go positive.

SPEAKER_00 39:53

All right.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

God, this is tough. This is actually kind of a tough question.

SPEAKER_00 39:56

Well, they're not meant to be super easy. It's supposed to, they're supposed to be just on the edge to kind of like have exactly this happen at the table where you almost like need to pass and somebody else's answers and you come back to it. Yeah. But it could be the simplest thing, too. Like anything that you kind of feel like, you know, that that you feel like that happens here, not anywhere else.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

God, that's so I love it. Well, I'm gonna let you just answer these. I like it.

SPEAKER_03 40:19

You're trying to force my wife to talk to me when we're at dinner, huh? I can see it.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

Oh, yeah, it's just tough.

SPEAKER_06 40:24

I I have a positive one. There was also pseudo-related, which is just a testament to like how how small, how small Santa Cruz is, and it ties my businesses together, you know. I called an agent who had a I I live on 26th Avenue and I had a listing on, or there was a sorry, there was a listing on the other side of the street, and an agent from San Jose had it listed. I called her to, you know, kind of get a temperature check on how things were selling in the neighborhood. I called her and I was like, hey, you know, do you want to see how many offers you guys received? I saw it went pending after a few days. I imagine imagined you got you know more than a couple and it probably went over asking. And we're chatting, and I'm walking into Suda, and all of a sudden the phone starts kind of echoing a little bit, and I'm like, She's next to me. The rest of the phone. I see her at the bar and I'm like, hey, it's me, the guy you're talking to on the phone. And she's like, Oh my gosh, what do you think you're saying? I work here, one of our partners, and it was just Hannach, just so so small. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:23

Well, I like it where somebody was like, You were like, I headed to work and they wouldn't give you the answer.

SPEAKER_06 41:28

Yeah.

Host Closings And Contact Info

SPEAKER_02 41:28

Yeah, anyway. And you're like, and I own this restaurant. She's like, oh, by the way, this is how many offers there were. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, we're gonna wrap this up. I wanna thank you guys so much for being here. Where is a good place for them to look at your menu? What are your hours?

SPEAKER_06 41:42

We recently started doing brunch every single day. We're closed on Mondays, but we previously did brunch Friday, Saturday, Sunday. People love it so much. We now do it Tuesday through Sunday. We open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 11:30, Friday, Saturday, Sunday at 10, kitchen closes at 9 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. You can see us on Instagram. We're posting content very regularly. Always something new and exciting on there. It's Suda SC. If you're interested in downtown nightlife, mode of SC and ulterior. But come on by. We just launched a new happy hour on Thursdays. Yes. Girl Dinner Thursdays. I remember this was Mel Mel's genius idea.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

It was Kiana's, actually, a different employee. No, it was Kiana's. I just built on it. Agency in the building on it.

SPEAKER_02 42:27

Yeah. So tell me again, because she was telling us on the court.

SPEAKER_01 42:30

Small kale Caesar, fries if you're choosing. You get a truffle, sweet potato, regular, and a martini. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

I'll be there.

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:37

All right. Thank you, everyone. This is Brandon Jones with KW Thrive. You can find me at 831-588-5145.

SPEAKER_03 42:44

Ryan Buckwolt, Cross Country Mortgage, 831-818-2339. Get the burger at Suda. And I kind of want you to close me out. I want to hear it. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_02 42:53

Okay, this is Jerry Seagraves, and it's spelled S-E-A-G-R-E-A-V-E-S. And I have a Porsche, 900 motorcycles, 10,000 trucks.

SPEAKER_05 43:04

Easy.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

I'll take over from here. And I'll show up when I want to show up.

SPEAKER_05 43:08

Jeez. All right. Goodbye, everybody.

SPEAKER_03 43:10

Don't forget the raptor.

SPEAKER_05 43:13

Well.