Restaurant is changing hands

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By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)

Originally published 01:13 p.m., June 5, 2008
Updated 01:13 p.m., June 5, 2008

Photo by Adam Vogler

Stephan (left), Tamara and five-month old Jax Cole are pictured Wednesday, June 4. The Cole's are taking over ownership of The Wheat State Grill, 707 Commercial.

The Wheat State Grille, 707 Commercial St., will have a change in ownership and name and some menu modifications within the next few weeks.

“Right now our target date is July,” said Stephen Cole.

He and his wife, Tamara, have purchased the business and will change its name to Cole’s when the paperwork is completed.

In the meantime, the couple is managing the operation.

“I’m the general manager right now down there and my wife is the service manager, and we’re running it for Ryan (owner Ryan Murphy) while we wait for the paperwork to go through.”

They will be joined in a few weeks by Cole’s brother, Brandon, who will come from California to work in the restaurant and help with the start-up of another business, College Mag.

Cole said he already has been a corporate trainer for The Cheesecake Factory and has operated an award-winning restaurant near the California-Oregon border.

He plans to remove steak from the restaurant’s menu and emphasize simple fare — “really good sandwiches,” appetizers and hamburgers.

“Out in California, we won Best Burger,” Cole said of a contest involving about 120 restaurants along a 10-mile stretch of the coast. “We want to focus on having the best burger in town.”

The California restaurant, which he termed a “mom-and-pop hamburger shop,” also included an ice cream shop.

“We’d like to see the same thing going here,” Cole said.

The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner after the purchase has been completed. The couple plans to include several types of salads on its menu, as well as something tasty for vegetarians and meat-eaters, alike.

“We’ve got one of the best house salads you’ve found in town, and do chicken Caesar, too,” he said. “We also have a grilled portobello burger that’s very good.”

Cole, who is safety director for Norfolk Iron and Metal, is no stranger to the area; one of his ancestors is Henry Robert Cole, who lived in rural Lyon County.

“My family’s actually been in the greater Emporia area for 100 years,” Cole said. “I own the family farm just outside of town.”

The new Cole’s may not even be the first restaurant in the family; he said he has been told that one of his extended family members operated the Cole Family Restaurant here years ago.

The new Cole’s will continue as a non-smoking bar, he said, and will cater to larger parties and events, such as weddings and Christmas parties.

“It’s absolutely just one of the most beautiful places in town,” Cole said of the building. “They spent a lot of money making it what it is.”

The business has a capacity of 400 people and can be rented out for special events, such as weddings, Christmas parties and meetings.

The space naturally divides into four different rooms: an upstairs bar to accommodate about 85 people, two other rooms that will hold 75 each, and a main bar area for 150 people.

“Then we have our outdoor patio as well,” he said. “We have so many different segments in there.”

Live music and disc jockeys will be featured, and a comedy night with Joe Tyler from Kansas City is planned in July. The DeWayn Brothers have appeared twice at Wheat State the past two months, and Cole hopes soon to offer food sales to enhance Live in the Lot activities.

Cole’s goal is to draw Emporians to the restaurant and to emphasize customer satisfaction to give the business an edge over the corporate competition.

“Basically, if you come in there and aren’t happy, you’re going to talk to an owner or a family member,” he said. “You can’t succeed without customer satisfaction. Without the support of the community, you can’t survive. ...

“First off, we want to be a restaurant people want to go to. We know the community is looking for a great place to eat. I get tired of corporate fare.”

Cole’s will be open Mondays and Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. On Wednesdays, it will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and re-open at 7 p.m. for Live in the Lot. The special on Wednesday will be $1 margaritas.

Cole will continue working at Norfolk during the day and at the restaurant in the evenings. During the day, Tamara and Brandon Cole will operate the business.

Cole served four years in the Marine Corps.

“I had served with the presidential helicopter squadron, so I got to go lots of places and worked lots of hours,” Cole said, mentioning Africa, Europe, Mexico and “all over the country” as destinations for the squadron.

In the process, he said he met former President George H.W. Bush at Camp David.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Cole said of his experience in the Marines.

He said he also has been a freelance writer for the Fresno Bee.

The Coles are parents of a 5-month-old son, Jax.