Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Overholt.
Hi Nicole, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started in the restaurant industry in 1994 as a hostess for the Black Eyed Pea at the age of 17 and I have been in it ever since. I cut my teeth at a restaurant called McGuffey’s. They were doing from scratch food and brunch long before it was popular. I worked there for 5 years and it’s where I learned what true customer service should look like. I worked both front and back of the house. I learned how to make all the mother sauces from scratch along with strong industry basics. The lessons I learned there have carried me through the last 30 years in the industry, and much of what I learned there about quality food, and service, I continue to use and teach to this day. In 2016 I decided I was tired of working for someone else and I started a food truck business. I didn’t have any funding, so after much research I settled on a hot dog cart and built it in my mother’s garage. I launched in April of 2017, going out, hat in hand with no clue of what to expect. I went to businesses and breweries with a basic menu and said I have a hot dog stand if you would like me to come set up. From there the business and menu continued to grow until in 2020 I found a location where I could open my own restaurant. It took my brother and I a year and a half to gut and renovate the space that we have now. Unfortunately because I am not a contractor I didn’t realize there are procedures you’re supposed to follow prior to doing all the work that we did. Greenville County held me up for another year and a half and I was weeks away from declaring bankruptcy. The landlord at my restaurant stepped in the 11th hour. Call it fate or the hot dog gods, but either way, on Valentine’s Day of 2024 we had our soft opening.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We struggled from the beginning because I had exhausted all my working capital in the delay. So I went to the bank and refinanced a loan I had previously taken out, in order to get enough money to buy inventory. We got the doors open, but business was slow to build. What I thought was a highly visible location on Wade Hampton Blvd turned out not to be so noticeable to people driving by as I thought it would be. This combined with the fact that we had been in the space for close to 3 years, people were no longer paying attention to us when they were in our parking lot for other businesses. I made it tough to get the word out. We initially tried to do music bingo and live music but were hounded by the record labels for lack of licensing for music covers. So we had to stop because I didn’t have the money to buy the licensing from all the record labels. We added a trivia night and that has been very successful. We have since added signage and lights to help make us more visible. Football season hurt us tremendously because Greenville completely changes their habits during those four months or so. So business dropped significantly during football season. Add to that the Hurricane wiping out power and all our inventory with no help from FEMA, and a national election season which had everyone’s tensions up made for a rough end of the year. People have been financially strapped. The food and beverage industry relies heavily on peoples discretionary spending, and people were definitely using their discretion. It was a rough year for everyone in the area. But we’re a tough lot, and we had 2 very successful clothing and supply drives for WNC hurricane relief and a hugely successful canned food drive for the Greer Community Ministry. It was all powered by our regulars. And I can tell you that I have the best regulars in town.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Groovy Dawg Restaurant & Taproom. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We serve big all beef hot dogs and beer cooked pork bratwurst. We have 12 rotating craft beer taps plus craft and domestic cans. We have a very good wine list, because if we are going to have good beer we should also have good wine. Besides, I love good wine. We are doing the hot dog restaurant differently than the other places around town. First and foremost is the craft beer and wine. We are a full service sit down restaurant. We do what many would say are gourmet dogs. I call them comfort food, not gourmet, but in Greenville if you offer anything besides chili mustard and onions, people equate it with gourmet. We run specials every week. I get bored with the menu, because I have been serving it for the last 8 years. So I create something special every week that is more upscale than the rest of the menu. We name all our dogs after song titles, it’s part of why we are the Groovy Dawg. As an example of one of our specials I was issued a challenge to come up with a weekly special called Fat Bottom Girls. I usually create then name, so this was a fun challenge. We wound up doing a steamed cinnamon roll topped with a smoked beef kielbasa, a Granny Smith apple, red onion, and blue cheese coleslaw, maple and chili candied bacon and a reduction sauce made from a Kentucky bourbon barrel aged pumpkin ale. It was a huge hit. We make our chili, coleslaw, potato salad, pesto pasta salad and banana pudding in house. It’s an experience to have a dog with us!
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Keep the faith, because owning your own business is hard. There will be days when you will question your own sanity, and be physically and emotionally worn out. But it’s worth it. Every bit of it. If you offer a good product at a good price, and you treat your customers and your employees equally well, the business will grow itself. It’s what I have been doing for the last 8 years and it was a lesson I learned all those years ago when I was 18 working at McGuffey’s.
As for wishing I knew more when I started, I’ll be honest, I’m glad I didn’t know most of it, or how hard it would be. I likely never would have done it if I had.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thegroovydawg.com
- Instagram: thegroovydawg
- Facebook: thegroovydawg
- Twitter: thegroovydawg
