March 14, 2017

Meet Mike McClure of Eggs Up Grill in Northwest Atlanta

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike McClure.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Mike. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started in the restaurant business at the age of 14 washing dishes. A few years later I got a server position that evolved to a bartender’s position. After college I got back into the business as a server which lead to another bartending position which then lead to management. After getting married and leaving the business for 5 years, I got another bartending job which I kept for 3 years, then I was approached by a man that wanted me to apply for a position with IHOP. This is when I started learning the real ins and outs of the restaurant business. I interviewed and was offered the position with IHOP Corp. as a project coordinator covering the southeast United States. After 2 years with IHOP Corp. I was approached by an IHOP franchisee about working for him, who at the time just acquired his 3rd restaurant. My position with him was Director of Operations. Over the next 10 years we built or purchased 3 more restaurant of which I was in charge of the daily operations of each. Two years later my franchisee sold our 6 restaurants to a group in North Carolina who owned 72 IHOP’s at the time. They bought all 6 of ours and one other, so my responsibilities grew to 7 restaurants. Worked for them for 1 year until I discovered Eggs Up Grill. All the time deep in my heart I wanted my own restaurant. So I did the research, contacted the Director of Franchising and the SBA and a year later we opened the first Eggs Up Grill outside the state of South Carolina. Two years after that we opened our second location in Roswell Georgia.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has been relatively smooth, but with all industries, labor is a continuous challenge.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Eggs Up Grill – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My Eggs Up Grill is a breakfast and lunch only concept. We specialize in traditional breakfast food with homemade items, not processed. I would say our specialty is the corn beef hash as well as the home fry potatoes. What I am most proud of and what sets us apart from others are the same thing; my people. In addition to the many compliments I receive daily about our food, I get just as many compliments on the friendliness and hospitality my people display on a daily basis. While we are in the restaurant business, we are more in the hospitality business. That’s what sets us apart from the others.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I like best about our city is the people. Atlanta has diversity of all kinds and every person has a different story of how they got to Atlanta. Most people that live in Atlanta weren’t born in Atlanta. So we’ll serve people from all over North America. I guess what I like least about our city is the grueling heat in the summer time.

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