Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt DeBusschere.
Hi Matt, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I got my first restaurant job about 15 years ago; bussing tables at this brunch spot in Kirkwood called Sun In My Belly. At the time I was pursuing a career in music and needed a flexible job to pay the bills. Rock and roll was fun (too much fun); but I never made it out of the Atlanta dive bar scene (EARL, Star Bar, 529); so at some point in my mid 20’s, I began to take my restaurant job a little more seriously. After shifting my focus from music to hospitality, I quickly became a manager and explored my passion for service & ambiance. The owners of Sun In My Belly were really cool and gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted. I put to together all sorts of special events like summer cocktail parties with dozens of inflatable dolphins hanging from the ceiling and 80’s dinner parties with vhs footage projected onto the walls. It wasn’t long before I knew that I wanted to open a spot of my own. During covid, my family left ATL and bought a home in Marietta (my hometown), and I began working on a new concept that would eventually become ‘Marietta Melt Yard’. With the help of my business partners, Melt Yard opened in December 2022.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
LOL, no! Remember Covid? That was an insane couple of years. I had to lead the team at Sun In My Belly through a dizzying series of pivots in operation. Those days were nerve-wracking and uncertain. I’d have to remind myself often that my both staff and customers were going though a ton of sh*t, and many of them were nervous to be in a public place. During those years, my role shifted dramatically, and I spent a ton of time working on tax credits, payroll grants, health and safety research, etc. We were fortunate though… the community really rallied behind us. For nearly a year, we stopped serving food inside and instead turned the whole restaurant into a general store, selling hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, toilet paper, and fresh produce on our front patio.
As you know, we’re big fans of Marietta Melt Yard. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Marietta Melt Yard is a restaurant in Marietta, roughly a mile from the historic Marietta Square.
We’re sort of like the most kid-friendly bar ever, haha. The space is huge (7,000 square ft), and the interior is really stimulating and engaging… we’ve got pinball machines, huge metal walls repurposed from the set of AMC’s The Walking Dead (literally the wall that protected the humans from the zombies), a bunch of garage doors that can be lifted up on nice days, chalkboard walls for kids, neon signs, and the star of the show: a refurbished 1968 Chevy Handivan that we had turned into a back bar. This thing lights up in all sorts of colors and you have to see it in person to really understand.
Our food is very comforting and accessible: Melts (obviously, we’re Melt Yard), burgers, tacos, and fried stuff. Initially, the menu theme was somewhat “food truck” (that’s where the idea for the automotive back bar came in). We want to provide an experience that’s easy for the whole family. That’s my stage of life right now, I’ve got four little kids… so Melt Yard is a spot where parents can have a few drinks, kids can run around and play pinball, and there’s enough square footage for everyone to move around without bothering the folks next to them.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Everyone who knows me knows that I’m pretty much an open book, so this one is tough… Maybe not the answer you’re looking for, but in the mornings when I’m making my kids breakfast I have this 1950s playlist that I listen to and pretend I’m living in some other time. It’s really weird. I have a soft obsession with the past; I guess that’s not uncommon. Specifically, I’m into early to mid-20th century domestic stuff… like I got my hands on an old Culver catalogue. Culver made some incredible glassware, specifically cocktail glassware, during that era. I also love re-reading Emily Post’s book “Etiquette”, with all of its descriptions of early 20th-century society. I lived with my grandmother until I was 10, so I’m sure all of this comes from her influence.
Contact Info:
- Website: meltyard.com
- Instagram: @mariettameltyard
- Facebook: @mariettameltyard
