Today we’d like to introduce you to Geoff Kokoszka.
Geoff, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub was a dream of a small group of investors that was realized in February 2009. They always wanted to open up a neighborhood pub and really felt that keeping it as traditional and authentic as possible was the way to go. We are an Irish Pub that celebrates all of the original Celtic Nations. We have made our success by designing beautiful buildings, hiring great people, carrying a great selection of local, craft and traditional Pub pints and serving scratch made plates of traditional Irish/Celtic fare and Pub favorites.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We have experienced our share of bumps and bruises along the way. Staffing has always been a major obstacle in this industry and it continues to be extremely hard to find the right people to carry out the brand’s mission. Maintaining the high quality of our food while keeping the costs consistent has also been an issue, we have never changed the quality standards of our food since we started event though the costs have continued to rise over the years. We have struggled to limit how much of that cost that we have had to pass along to the guest. Marketing and keeping the brand’s name visible while being smart with the spending has also been an issue for us. We have learned that the money best spent is money back into the community.
Please tell us about Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub.
We are just one of many Irish Pubs around the city of Atlanta but we feel very strongly that we excel in three areas; atmosphere, food and people.
Atmosphere: we have spent a lot of time and money procuring the right antiquities and designs in order to make our Pubs feel like something that you would experience overseas. Nothing is plastic or neon, almost everything has a story to it.
Food; we make everything from scratch and take pride in putting a great plate of food on the table., We steam our own corned beef every day, use fresh cut French fries (never frozen), use CAB beef in all of our beef items. Our proudest moments are when guests from Ireland, England or Scotland tell us that we make them feel like they are at home.
People: We believe in hiring people for their character and not their experience. We want to surround our guest in a welcoming atmosphere with people that genuinely care about their experience.
All of this culminated in our winning an International Irish Pub of the year award in 2015 from the Irish Pubs Global organization which is sponsored by Ireland’s board of tourism and Diageo (makers of Guinness). We were the first Pub from the US to receive the award.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We are extremely happy with what we have accomplished and I don’t think that we would have done anything differently.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.oldeblinddog.com
- Email: gkokoszka@oldeblinddog.com
- Instagram: @oldeblinddog
- Twitter: @oldeblinddog
Image Credit:
Chelsea Eidson
