June 8, 2025 • 15 mins
From scratch-made bagels to a secret speakeasy with family roots dating back to Prohibition, Galvin's Delicatessen and Rivers End Speakeasy represent a culinary adventure unlike anything else in Fredericksburg.
Meet Emma and Paul Stoddard, whose passion for authentic, handcrafted food led them to open this dual-concept establishment at 216 William Street. After nearly 18 years in the restaurant business, including co-ownership of the beloved Sunken Well Tavern, Paul brings seasoned expertise to their new venture. Emma's design sensibilities transform the historic space into something both nostalgic and fresh.
What makes Galvin's truly special? Everything – and we mean everything – is made from scratch. Their New York-style deli serves house-cured corned beef and pastrami, fresh roasted turkey, and bagels baked daily on the premises (they're actually the only establishment in Fredericksburg making fresh bagels in-house). Meanwhile, the upstairs Rivers End Speakeasy pays homage to Emma's great-grandfather who ran a speakeasy during Prohibition in Jersey City. This atmospheric cocktail bar features craft drinks with house-made syrups and thoughtfully prepared entrees in a jazzy, sophisticated setting.
The couple shares candidly about entrepreneurial challenges, the importance of adaptability, and finding balance between business demands and family life. They're expanding beyond their counter service and dining room to offer catering, delivery services for business lunches, and special events including private parties and upcoming ticketed experiences like wine dinners and history nights. Whether you're seeking the perfect pastrami sandwich or an unforgettable evening of cocktails and conversation, discover why locals are raving about Fredericksburg's newest culinary treasure.
Emma and Paul Stoddard
Galvin's Delicatessen and River's End Speakeasy
Galvinsdeli@gmail.com
540-940-6565
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
, the place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to another episode of the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast, where weshare the stories of our
favorite local brands.
Today, I'm excited to introduceyou to Emma and Paul Stoddard.
They are the owners of Galvin'sDelicatessen and River's End
Speakeasy.
Emma and Paul, welcome to thepodcast.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Thank you so much.
Good to be here Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm excited for this, so let's start off by sharing
with the listeners a little bitabout your business.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah, so we have Galvin's Deli at 216 william
street in downtownfredericksburg, um, and then we
have a riversend speakeasy whichis like a cocktail bar and
restaurant upstairs.
Um, Galvin's Deli was, uh is,inspired by like a new york
delicatessen, so we are sort ofjewish inspired, but we kind of,
you know, branch off of that alittle bit as well.
(01:02):
Um, our main focus is like justeverything is from scratch,
made in-house.
Um, you know, corned beef,pastrami sandwiches, um, we do
fresh turkey, we make freshbagels every day, um, and baked
goods and sides and all thatstuff, yeah, amazing, amazing,
so needed in the Fredericksburgarea and very exciting, and you
(01:24):
have a ton of five-star reviews,so congratulations on your
success, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, so tell me how did you get into this, tell me
about the journey and and whatinspired you to open.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I mean, I've been in the Fredericksburg area since I
graduated from Mary Washingtonin 2001.
I basically worked in theFredericksburg area since I
graduated from Mary Washingtonin 2001.
Basically worked in therestaurant business for the last
18 years.
I was one of the co-owners ofthe Sunken Well Tavern.
That's where I met Emma andkind of developed, you know, my
love for restaurants and kind ofbusiness acumen and everything
(02:01):
kind of working through all theissues with owning a restaurant
over the last, you know, 18years or so.
Um, but we uh, it was kind ofthrough like a fortuitous
situation that we found outabout this location downtown.
Um, emma just happened to gointo the hyperion coffee shop
and then she doesn't usually goto, and then she ran into a
(02:21):
friend of ours who let us knowabout the place becoming
available and I found out that Iactually know the owner of the
building and kind of quicklywent from there where we were
like, oh, can we take a look?
And then we were like let's dothis.
It was meant to be yeah, and wekind of always talked about a
deli type situation.
We didn't have like a writtenbusiness plan, but we had talked
(02:43):
a lot about it at some point inthe future or something we
could do that we would reallyenjoy.
And, like I said, theopportunity just kind of came up
and we went for it.
I mean, the building had aprevious tenant for about 30
some odd years and so it was alittle rough in there.
So it took us a better part ofa year to fix it up and really
make it.
But everyone's beencomplimenting Emma on all of her
(03:05):
design choices and everything.
So you know, like I said, ittook about a year to get it
going, but we opened up ourdoors on April 1st and we're
just kind of still getting intothe swing of things, trying to
get into the flow.
That's kind of what got us here.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Very cool, very cool.
I love, I love the story.
So tell us about River, uh,River's End Speakeasy.
How did, how did that comeabout?
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, so um so I guess, like the, the historical
background is my, um, mygrandmother, I guess, just grew
up in a speakeasy.
So my great grandfather ran aspeakeasy during prohibition in
the twenties in Jersey city andit was named Galvin's and so
when we were deciding to nameyou know, the restaurant, we're
like it's really hard namingbusinesses in general but we're
(03:50):
like you know, hey, this is thefamily name and the building
happened to have that sort ofside secret entrance upstairs
and we just love the idea ofkind of like marrying the
concept of you know the deli andjust this you know kind of
historical reference to ourfamily ties to the business
upstairs.
Plus, you know, with Paul'sexperience of just you know
(04:12):
owning a restaurant and havingyou know that kind of expertise
of doing like entrees and kindof like a finer dining
experience.
We love the idea of creatingthis really just you know kind
of jazzy sort of adultenvironment up there which is
like good cocktails, good foodand just feels very like relaxed
and kind of just like a funsort of nice environment to have
(04:32):
dinner and grab a drink.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Very cool, very cool.
I love that so much.
So do you find that there areany myths or misconceptions
about, about the industry orabout your business?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
I think getting the word out that we do make
everything from scratch.
I think our menu is not overlyextensive.
We try to keep it simple but ofhigh quality.
I think a lot of people theycome into restaurants and they
think it's like a magical placewhere everything is perfect all
the time.
But I think one of the biggestmisconceptions that people have
is that you know the restaurantis a business full of different
(05:11):
types of people.
You know everybody's tryingreally hard and you know
sometimes people make mistakeshere and there, but like,
ultimately it's just like agroup of people that are really
pushing it together and it's noteasy.
It's not easy to kind of holdeverybody together and make sure
that you know you cross allyour T's dot, all your I's, all
that kind of stuff.
So I mean, I think that's onething.
(05:31):
I think sometimes peoplecustomers they take it for
granted how much work goes intoputting up a restaurant.
And that goes across the boardfor all restaurants.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
People need to show a littlegrace sometimes that we're all
human, yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
And we're all doing the best we can.
Yeah, and we're people too thatwe, you know, we always want to
make wrongs, right, you know.
So you know we reallyappreciate it too when we get
the feedback in person, you know, and like, right, when it
happens, and we're like, okay,yeah, let's have.
Like, how do we fix that?
You know, I think inrestaurants too, you know,
people are so quick to jumponline and give you these
negative reviews, like right offthe bat, without ever actually
talking to you as the owner ortalking to you, know, an
(06:14):
employee, to kind of like rightthose wrongs in the moment.
And you know, it's just, it'snice when somebody comes to you
directly hey, you know thishappened and we're like, oh,
okay, I'm so sorry, like this ishow we can fix it, you know.
So, yeah, that's something we'dlike to see more of.
I guess, if we are doingsomething, you know that that
could be fixed.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
We want to fix it yeah, absolutely, and we used to
do that back in the day.
You would address things andwork things out instead of
immediately going online and Iknow.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
I know, yeah, we've got a lot of good reviews, yeah
you do it's not so much thatmuch of an issue we have had a
couple people who called in, youknow, and said, oh, you forgot
this or you didn't do this, anduh, we thank those people
because we were able to addressthose things and especially when
you're a new business.
I think a new business is thehardest because you have this
idea of what you're going to bedoing.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And then and you don't have the reputation yet.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Yeah, but then you get, you get in there and things
change, you know, and you justhave to kind of bob and weave,
at least for the first couple ofmonths, to get comfortable and
get into a routine, and then youcan be more consistent, and
that's kind of how it movesalong.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you've done very wellthrough the beginning stages and
working out the kinks, becauseyou have rave reviews, so
congratulations.
So can you describe a hardshipor a life challenge that you
have overcome that you feel likehas made you stronger or better
(07:41):
because of it?
Speaker 4 (07:43):
You know we were talking about that yesterday.
You know we've been veryfortunate not to have too many
crazy life experiences, you know, at least negative in the last
you know 10 years or so sincewe've been together, and I think
that right now, in this moment,is one of those experiences
that we're going through,because we put everything into
this and so maybe in a year wecome back on the podcast we can
(08:06):
tell you all about how weovercame it.
But I feel like right now we'rein it and you know we're doing
everything we can, we're workingreally hard.
I think that's all you can dowhen things get difficult.
You just got to put your headdown, have faith and just keep
working.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah, I think all entrepreneurs know.
You know it's tough when you'relike following your dreams, and
those beginning stages ofmaking that dream happen is
difficult.
So you know, we're again justtrying our best every day and
hoping it all works out.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah.
So you know, kind of kind ofpiggybacking off of that.
Is there some advice that youwould give new entrepreneurs
maybe who are where, were whereyou were a couple years ago and
are thinking about starting thebusiness of their dreams?
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is
obviously you know it's notalways going to be smooth
sailing, so you've got to kindof go into it knowing you're
going to have days where thingsaren't going to go right and you
can't make everything right allthe time.
There's so many moving parts.
You just need to always bemoving forward towards your
eventual goal.
I think that's really important.
(09:12):
And then you've got to be ableto sacrifice.
When you open a business, it'sway different than going into an
office somewhere, getting a newjob, where you sit down, they
tell you what to do, youcomplete your tasks for the day
and then you're successful andyou walk out the door.
When you start a business, itgoes with you everywhere.
You think about it at night,you stress about the slow times
(09:33):
you're excited about, about thebusy times, and you really just
got to be consistent and justconstantly uh, you know attack,
you know at the best of yourability every.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Every day is a new adventure there's always.
There's a list of 40,000 tasksand then the next day there's
another list of 40,000, and youcan't be too rigid, I mean
that's the thing like so weopened up.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
You know we kind of changed our hours a little bit
trying to figure it out.
You know we were opening up alittle bit earlier, hoping
people would come in and get thebagels.
You know, because we, you knowwe did notice that when there
was another bagel shop opened uplast year they'd closed down
but there were lines out thedoor for bagels and they were
getting them delivered.
They weren't even making them.
You know, we're making freshbagels.
And then we opened up a littlebit early.
Nobody came and got the bagels.
(10:14):
They knew you know what I mean.
Like.
So we thought that that wasgoing to be something that we
were really going to focus onright off the bat.
You know we thought that peoplewould be coming in for the
bagels.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Uh, it's starting to pick up now.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I think it's just more letting people know about
it.
I don't think people know thatwe're there.
I think within our circle andour you know our social media,
we have a really good followingand good friends and people in
town.
But there's another layer therethat we don't, that don't even
know we're there, and that'sthat's kind of the challenge
right now is to kind of get ourget our name out there, continue
to do good jobs.
We get good reviews and peopleobviously want to come back, but
(10:48):
those are the kinds of thingsthat you know you got to be able
to change.
You can't be too set in theirways.
You know you got to peoplereally tell you what they want.
You know, and it's all aboutthe customers and the community
and so that's really who you'reyou beholden to.
You know, is the customersultimately.
And so if you know it seemslike they like to come in on
(11:11):
this day or that day, you knowyou got to just be able to
accommodate.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Very good advice.
Got to just be able toaccommodate.
Very good advice listening toyour customers and pivoting when
needed and going with the flow,not being too rigid.
Thank you for that advice.
So you two are obviously verybusy people.
You also have a family, so talkto me about how are you able to
step away from the business andhave a little bit of fun.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, so, as we talked about, we closed on
Sundays, which is really nice.
I do run a real estate businesstoo, so that business never
shuts down.
So I do potentially work allday, like all week, but it's,
you know, balancing the kids,especially like Sunday was such
an important day, like we need aday off from the restaurant
(11:59):
where we can also be with ourchildren, you know, because
they're also off of school orwhatever.
So that really helps, becausethen it's just like, hey, let's
go out as a family and we'll godowntown or, you know, go eat at
a restaurant or, you know, atour house here, you know, we
love to garden and we have apool and so just those little
(12:21):
things, that just taking thosemoments out when we are not at
the restaurant to really likekind of be together and, yeah,
just kind of like have fun, it'sreally nice.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Nice, I'm glad you get that day off so important.
So what is something that youwish the listeners knew about?
Your business?
So what?
Speaker 3 (12:37):
is something that you wish the listeners knew about
your business.
So I mean, I think the bagelsis a big one Like we.
Again, we're making these freshbagels.
It's like we're the onlybusiness right now making fresh
bagels in house in the entireFredericksburg area, as far as I
know.
So I think that's that's a hugeside of it that we'd love to
have more people come in andcome grab.
You know, we do like bagelswith lox, we do bagels with
(12:59):
cream cheese.
Right now we're sort of limitedwith our toppings, but we hope
to kind of grow that if thedemand is there, and then yeah,
and again just from scratch,like there's so much labor and
like love that goes into everyaspect of our menu and that's
for upstairs as well.
At the speakeasy you aspect ofour menu and that's for upstairs
(13:20):
as well.
At the speakeasy, you know,we're trying to use all local
meats when we can find it, whichis really nice.
And just, you know, higher endingredients and all the
cocktails use all house-madesyrups and yeah, we're just
trying to put out a good product, I guess.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah, I mean, and also you know, as far as the
deli is concerned, like we'rewilling to come to you.
You know my goal every day isto sell as many sandwiches as
possible.
So if you call ahead of time wecan get a tray a platter
deliverered, I'll deliver themto somebody you know as long't
(13:57):
leave in the middle of the day,so you know we'll be.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
we've been accommodating deliveries and
stuff for lunch during the week,which everybody seems to really
appreciate because you know youcan't always step out for 30,
45 minutes, so we're happy toaccommodate that as well.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
That's amazing.
I love that, so you shared youraddress.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
That's amazing.
I love that.
So you shared your address.
So if someone wants to learnmore about your catering or just
wants to, maybeailing is great,especially if you want to plan
any like events.
We do special events upstairsat the speakeasy.
We've already had five, six,seven events up there, anything
from like anniversary parties tobirthday parties, to we're
(14:48):
hosting a brunch in a couple ofweeks and then we're starting to
also plan for like special,maybe ticketed events, like wine
dinners and like history nightsand things like that.
So always email us if you havea question or want to book
something farther in advance.
We look at our email 40 times aday, so yeah, we'll get back to
(15:10):
you quickly.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Wonderful, wonderful Well, paul and Emma, thank you
so much for joining me on theFredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
.
I appreciate you sharing yourbusiness with us.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yeah, thanks so much for having us on.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tofxbgneighborspodcast.
com.
That's fxbgneighborspodcast.
com.
That's fxbgneighborspodcast.
com, or call 540-534-4618.
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
, the place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to another episode of the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast, where weshare the stories of our
favorite local brands.
Today, I'm excited to introduceyou to Emma and Paul Stoddard.
They are the owners of Galvin'sDelicatessen and River's End
Speakeasy.
Emma and Paul, welcome to thepodcast.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Thank you so much.
Good to be here Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm excited for this, so let's start off by sharing
with the listeners a little bitabout your business.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah, so we have Galvin's Deli at 216 william
street in downtownfredericksburg, um, and then we
have a riversend speakeasy whichis like a cocktail bar and
restaurant upstairs.
Um, Galvin's Deli was, uh is,inspired by like a new york
delicatessen, so we are sort ofjewish inspired, but we kind of,
you know, branch off of that alittle bit as well.
(01:02):
Um, our main focus is like justeverything is from scratch,
made in-house.
Um, you know, corned beef,pastrami sandwiches, um, we do
fresh turkey, we make freshbagels every day, um, and baked
goods and sides and all thatstuff, yeah, amazing, amazing,
so needed in the Fredericksburgarea and very exciting, and you
(01:24):
have a ton of five-star reviews,so congratulations on your
success, thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, so tell me how did you get into this, tell me
about the journey and and whatinspired you to open.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I mean, I've been in the Fredericksburg area since I
graduated from Mary Washingtonin 2001.
I basically worked in theFredericksburg area since I
graduated from Mary Washingtonin 2001.
Basically worked in therestaurant business for the last
18 years.
I was one of the co-owners ofthe Sunken Well Tavern.
That's where I met Emma andkind of developed, you know, my
love for restaurants and kind ofbusiness acumen and everything
(02:01):
kind of working through all theissues with owning a restaurant
over the last, you know, 18years or so.
Um, but we uh, it was kind ofthrough like a fortuitous
situation that we found outabout this location downtown.
Um, emma just happened to gointo the hyperion coffee shop
and then she doesn't usually goto, and then she ran into a
(02:21):
friend of ours who let us knowabout the place becoming
available and I found out that Iactually know the owner of the
building and kind of quicklywent from there where we were
like, oh, can we take a look?
And then we were like let's dothis.
It was meant to be yeah, and wekind of always talked about a
deli type situation.
We didn't have like a writtenbusiness plan, but we had talked
(02:43):
a lot about it at some point inthe future or something we
could do that we would reallyenjoy.
And, like I said, theopportunity just kind of came up
and we went for it.
I mean, the building had aprevious tenant for about 30
some odd years and so it was alittle rough in there.
So it took us a better part ofa year to fix it up and really
make it.
But everyone's beencomplimenting Emma on all of her
(03:05):
design choices and everything.
So you know, like I said, ittook about a year to get it
going, but we opened up ourdoors on April 1st and we're
just kind of still getting intothe swing of things, trying to
get into the flow.
That's kind of what got us here.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Very cool, very cool.
I love, I love the story.
So tell us about River, uh,River's End Speakeasy.
How did, how did that comeabout?
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, so um so I guess, like the, the historical
background is my, um, mygrandmother, I guess, just grew
up in a speakeasy.
So my great grandfather ran aspeakeasy during prohibition in
the twenties in Jersey city andit was named Galvin's and so
when we were deciding to nameyou know, the restaurant, we're
like it's really hard namingbusinesses in general but we're
(03:50):
like you know, hey, this is thefamily name and the building
happened to have that sort ofside secret entrance upstairs
and we just love the idea ofkind of like marrying the
concept of you know the deli andjust this you know kind of
historical reference to ourfamily ties to the business
upstairs.
Plus, you know, with Paul'sexperience of just you know
(04:12):
owning a restaurant and havingyou know that kind of expertise
of doing like entrees and kindof like a finer dining
experience.
We love the idea of creatingthis really just you know kind
of jazzy sort of adultenvironment up there which is
like good cocktails, good foodand just feels very like relaxed
and kind of just like a funsort of nice environment to have
(04:32):
dinner and grab a drink.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Very cool, very cool.
I love that so much.
So do you find that there areany myths or misconceptions
about, about the industry orabout your business?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
I think getting the word out that we do make
everything from scratch.
I think our menu is not overlyextensive.
We try to keep it simple but ofhigh quality.
I think a lot of people theycome into restaurants and they
think it's like a magical placewhere everything is perfect all
the time.
But I think one of the biggestmisconceptions that people have
is that you know the restaurantis a business full of different
(05:11):
types of people.
You know everybody's tryingreally hard and you know
sometimes people make mistakeshere and there, but like,
ultimately it's just like agroup of people that are really
pushing it together and it's noteasy.
It's not easy to kind of holdeverybody together and make sure
that you know you cross allyour T's dot, all your I's, all
that kind of stuff.
So I mean, I think that's onething.
(05:31):
I think sometimes peoplecustomers they take it for
granted how much work goes intoputting up a restaurant.
And that goes across the boardfor all restaurants.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
People need to show a littlegrace sometimes that we're all
human, yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
And we're all doing the best we can.
Yeah, and we're people too thatwe, you know, we always want to
make wrongs, right, you know.
So you know we reallyappreciate it too when we get
the feedback in person, you know, and like, right, when it
happens, and we're like, okay,yeah, let's have.
Like, how do we fix that?
You know, I think inrestaurants too, you know,
people are so quick to jumponline and give you these
negative reviews, like right offthe bat, without ever actually
talking to you as the owner ortalking to you, know, an
(06:14):
employee, to kind of like rightthose wrongs in the moment.
And you know, it's just, it'snice when somebody comes to you
directly hey, you know thishappened and we're like, oh,
okay, I'm so sorry, like this ishow we can fix it, you know.
So, yeah, that's something we'dlike to see more of.
I guess, if we are doingsomething, you know that that
could be fixed.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
We want to fix it yeah, absolutely, and we used to
do that back in the day.
You would address things andwork things out instead of
immediately going online and Iknow.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
I know, yeah, we've got a lot of good reviews, yeah
you do it's not so much thatmuch of an issue we have had a
couple people who called in, youknow, and said, oh, you forgot
this or you didn't do this, anduh, we thank those people
because we were able to addressthose things and especially when
you're a new business.
I think a new business is thehardest because you have this
idea of what you're going to bedoing.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
And then and you don't have the reputation yet.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Yeah, but then you get, you get in there and things
change, you know, and you justhave to kind of bob and weave,
at least for the first couple ofmonths, to get comfortable and
get into a routine, and then youcan be more consistent, and
that's kind of how it movesalong.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, you've done very wellthrough the beginning stages and
working out the kinks, becauseyou have rave reviews, so
congratulations.
So can you describe a hardshipor a life challenge that you
have overcome that you feel likehas made you stronger or better
(07:41):
because of it?
Speaker 4 (07:43):
You know we were talking about that yesterday.
You know we've been veryfortunate not to have too many
crazy life experiences, you know, at least negative in the last
you know 10 years or so sincewe've been together, and I think
that right now, in this moment,is one of those experiences
that we're going through,because we put everything into
this and so maybe in a year wecome back on the podcast we can
(08:06):
tell you all about how weovercame it.
But I feel like right now we'rein it and you know we're doing
everything we can, we're workingreally hard.
I think that's all you can dowhen things get difficult.
You just got to put your headdown, have faith and just keep
working.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah, I think all entrepreneurs know.
You know it's tough when you'relike following your dreams, and
those beginning stages ofmaking that dream happen is
difficult.
So you know, we're again justtrying our best every day and
hoping it all works out.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah.
So you know, kind of kind ofpiggybacking off of that.
Is there some advice that youwould give new entrepreneurs
maybe who are where, were whereyou were a couple years ago and
are thinking about starting thebusiness of their dreams?
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is
obviously you know it's notalways going to be smooth
sailing, so you've got to kindof go into it knowing you're
going to have days where thingsaren't going to go right and you
can't make everything right allthe time.
There's so many moving parts.
You just need to always bemoving forward towards your
eventual goal.
I think that's really important.
(09:12):
And then you've got to be ableto sacrifice.
When you open a business, it'sway different than going into an
office somewhere, getting a newjob, where you sit down, they
tell you what to do, youcomplete your tasks for the day
and then you're successful andyou walk out the door.
When you start a business, itgoes with you everywhere.
You think about it at night,you stress about the slow times
(09:33):
you're excited about, about thebusy times, and you really just
got to be consistent and justconstantly uh, you know attack,
you know at the best of yourability every.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Every day is a new adventure there's always.
There's a list of 40,000 tasksand then the next day there's
another list of 40,000, and youcan't be too rigid, I mean
that's the thing like so weopened up.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
You know we kind of changed our hours a little bit
trying to figure it out.
You know we were opening up alittle bit earlier, hoping
people would come in and get thebagels.
You know, because we, you knowwe did notice that when there
was another bagel shop opened uplast year they'd closed down
but there were lines out thedoor for bagels and they were
getting them delivered.
They weren't even making them.
You know, we're making freshbagels.
And then we opened up a littlebit early.
Nobody came and got the bagels.
(10:14):
They knew you know what I mean.
Like.
So we thought that that wasgoing to be something that we
were really going to focus onright off the bat.
You know we thought that peoplewould be coming in for the
bagels.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Uh, it's starting to pick up now.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
I think it's just more letting people know about
it.
I don't think people know thatwe're there.
I think within our circle andour you know our social media,
we have a really good followingand good friends and people in
town.
But there's another layer therethat we don't, that don't even
know we're there, and that'sthat's kind of the challenge
right now is to kind of get ourget our name out there, continue
to do good jobs.
We get good reviews and peopleobviously want to come back, but
(10:48):
those are the kinds of thingsthat you know you got to be able
to change.
You can't be too set in theirways.
You know you got to peoplereally tell you what they want.
You know, and it's all aboutthe customers and the community
and so that's really who you'reyou beholden to.
You know, is the customersultimately.
And so if you know it seemslike they like to come in on
(11:11):
this day or that day, you knowyou got to just be able to
accommodate.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Very good advice.
Got to just be able toaccommodate.
Very good advice listening toyour customers and pivoting when
needed and going with the flow,not being too rigid.
Thank you for that advice.
So you two are obviously verybusy people.
You also have a family, so talkto me about how are you able to
step away from the business andhave a little bit of fun.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Yeah, so, as we talked about, we closed on
Sundays, which is really nice.
I do run a real estate businesstoo, so that business never
shuts down.
So I do potentially work allday, like all week, but it's,
you know, balancing the kids,especially like Sunday was such
an important day, like we need aday off from the restaurant
(11:59):
where we can also be with ourchildren, you know, because
they're also off of school orwhatever.
So that really helps, becausethen it's just like, hey, let's
go out as a family and we'll godowntown or, you know, go eat at
a restaurant or, you know, atour house here, you know, we
love to garden and we have apool and so just those little
(12:21):
things, that just taking thosemoments out when we are not at
the restaurant to really likekind of be together and, yeah,
just kind of like have fun, it'sreally nice.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Nice, I'm glad you get that day off so important.
So what is something that youwish the listeners knew about?
Your business?
So what?
Speaker 3 (12:37):
is something that you wish the listeners knew about
your business.
So I mean, I think the bagelsis a big one Like we.
Again, we're making these freshbagels.
It's like we're the onlybusiness right now making fresh
bagels in house in the entireFredericksburg area, as far as I
know.
So I think that's that's a hugeside of it that we'd love to
have more people come in andcome grab.
You know, we do like bagelswith lox, we do bagels with
(12:59):
cream cheese.
Right now we're sort of limitedwith our toppings, but we hope
to kind of grow that if thedemand is there, and then yeah,
and again just from scratch,like there's so much labor and
like love that goes into everyaspect of our menu and that's
for upstairs as well.
At the speakeasy you aspect ofour menu and that's for upstairs
(13:20):
as well.
At the speakeasy, you know,we're trying to use all local
meats when we can find it, whichis really nice.
And just, you know, higher endingredients and all the
cocktails use all house-madesyrups and yeah, we're just
trying to put out a good product, I guess.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah, I mean, and also you know, as far as the
deli is concerned, like we'rewilling to come to you.
You know my goal every day isto sell as many sandwiches as
possible.
So if you call ahead of time wecan get a tray a platter
deliverered, I'll deliver themto somebody you know as long't
(13:57):
leave in the middle of the day,so you know we'll be.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
we've been accommodating deliveries and
stuff for lunch during the week,which everybody seems to really
appreciate because you know youcan't always step out for 30,
45 minutes, so we're happy toaccommodate that as well.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
That's amazing.
I love that, so you shared youraddress.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
That's amazing.
I love that.
So you shared your address.
So if someone wants to learnmore about your catering or just
wants to, maybeailing is great,especially if you want to plan
any like events.
We do special events upstairsat the speakeasy.
We've already had five, six,seven events up there, anything
from like anniversary parties tobirthday parties, to we're
(14:48):
hosting a brunch in a couple ofweeks and then we're starting to
also plan for like special,maybe ticketed events, like wine
dinners and like history nightsand things like that.
So always email us if you havea question or want to book
something farther in advance.
We look at our email 40 times aday, so yeah, we'll get back to
(15:10):
you quickly.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Wonderful, wonderful Well, paul and Emma, thank you
so much for joining me on theFredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
.
I appreciate you sharing yourbusiness with us.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yeah, thanks so much for having us on.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg
Neighbors Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tofxbgneighborspodcast.
com.
That's fxbgneighborspodcast.
com.
That's fxbgneighborspodcast.
com, or call 540-534-4618.
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