The Two Georges of Tybee Island
July/August 2007
By Dora Burke
Georgia’s barrier islands have been described as sleepy, secluded and hidden. These attributes might normally be avoided when looking for a place to establish a restaurant and yet, for restaurant owners George Spriggs and George Jackson, Tybee Island is now the home of their two thriving restaurants: North Beach Grill and Georges’ of Tybee.
The “two Georges” met in 1987 while working in Hilton Head Island. Attracted to Tybee Island by the opportunity to open the North Beach Grill, Spriggs recalls, “We were both working in Hilton Head and wanted a change. Someone told us about a beach shack the city owned and rented out. We were both immediately interested.” Their vision became reality and soon the North Beach Grill was formed. They initially negotiated a one-year lease, providing them the time to finalize their plans and detail their proposal for a longer-term lease. The beginning of a 14-year partnership was born.
However, the first few years were difficult. Initially, the North Beach Grill was seasonal. Demand eventually grew and they opened year-round. It is now a place diners expect to be open. “Tybee Island (at the time) was just a bunch of fried fish and hushpuppy places,” jokes Jackson, “George and I both worked in the kitchen (of the Grill) crafting the menu.” Over time the 150-seat restaurant, mostly outside with no heat or air conditioning, became a Tybee Island landmark.
Five years later Spriggs and Jackson changed the way they were doing business and opened an upscale, yet casual, full-service restaurant. Although they built a local reputation through the North Beach Grill, their new concept was met with resistance. Their new venture was not only a test of their will but also a test of their partnership and vision. “Georges’ of Tybee was the first fine dining restaurant in this area,” says Jackson. They always planned to open a fine dining restaurant but initially thought it would be in Savannah.
Over the years Spriggs and Jackson have learned a few things. It took them three years to establish a fine dining restaurant in a community where everyone expected to find casual dining and late night places. “Georges’ is not a formal place; we did not want that. It is a non-formal, warm restaurant where we can get creative with the culinary cuisine and serve good wine in an affordable fashion,” says Jackson. Their constant battle was do they stick to their guns and stay the course or succumb to the pressure? Fortunately, they stayed the course and people eventually accepted the idea. “It was certainly a benefit to have a successful, established restaurant like North Beach Grill while we were growing Georges’,” says Spriggs.
Despite their long history of success, they are constantly thinking of innovative ways to attract and retain diners from just 15 minutes away in Savannah. Over time the island has become a living, growing, thriving community. “The 1996 Olympics put us on the map,” says Spriggs. “After the sailing event, people knew about our island.” Tybee Island is no longer the “Redneck Rivera of the South.” As the community grew and real estate prices escalated, so did the success of Spriggs and Jackson.
Their success has not come easily, however. “We had a lot of challenges through the years starting with sourcing talented employees,” recalls Jackson. “There was not a lot of talent around here for the front or back of the house. We finally determined I would utilize my high-end dining background to manage Georges’ while hiring individuals that were passionate for the business and trainable in our philosophy.” For the past nine years Spriggs and Jackson have taken a different approach with Georges’. Although they make everything from scratch at North Beach Grill, the customer experience at Georges’ is quite different. “We just did not serve this kind of food at North Beach Grill. We were not concerned about organic produce or the source of the product as the menu is more consistent. At Georges’ the biggest challenge is once you decide what you want to serve you need to go looking for it,” states Spriggs. “We have been building non-traditional relationships all across the state to source our products. This has been a learning experience for both of us, but it has finally paid off.”
To meet their needs, Spriggs and Jackson have met partners at food shows, local farmers markets, through the Georgia Restaurant Association (GRA) and basic networking. “We have taken forming non-traditional relationships in the area with farmers and vendors [who] we might not normally know to source the best product. At Georges’ nothing is prepackaged so the starting ingredients must be of a quality that will produce the end result we want at an affordable price,” says Spriggs. They now source products from a variety of local vendors including Walker Farms, Thomasville Sweet Dairy and Vince Baker Farms. They also use Café Campesino coffee roasters and utilize local Georgia wild shrimp. “Some of these individuals I had to seek out and some came to us,” says Spriggs. Their vendors changed the way each menu dish is prepared as they can now rely on more seasonal products. “We could just not do that the first few years of operation. These relationships have made a huge difference in the way we present our dishes because now they are fresh and local,” boasts Jackson.
Spriggs and Jackson have relied on their partnership, networking and relationship building for survival. They are constantly fine-tuning their goals and revisiting their original vision. About a month ago they installed their first point of sale (POS) system in both restaurants. They were always aware of the plusses and minuses of technology but knew it was finally time to embrace it. Because of their low turnover (average over four years), employees were initially resistant to the change. Once they realized the technology was not going away they learned to utilize it to their advantage. For Spriggs, the system catches a lot of mistakes that his wait staff could have glossed over previously. Now, they have to fix the mistake before moving forward within the computer system. That translates to real dollars. “Georges’ is small enough where hand written checks were not a problem,” says Jackson, ” but the benefit of having reports at our fingertips on what is selling is unmatched. It was overwhelming to compute this data without the technology.”
Other relationships they fostered translated into real dollars for Spriggs and Jackson, too. Through the GRA they have changed their credit card processor and now have access to a payroll processing provider and workman’s compensation insurance at a much lower cost then they could have negotiated otherwise. “For a smaller operator like us, this is a big benefit. Technology and belonging to the right organization can get you what you need,” says Spriggs.
Above all, their constant dedication to their partnership and a commitment to their unified vision is what has kept the “two George’s” successful. “You have to be flexible in a partnership,” advises Jackson. “It is a lot of give and take, but you also have someone to strengthen your ideas and challenge you.” In discussing what makes a successful partnership, Jackson recommends finding a partner with the same vision. That is critical. You should also have a clear, detailed strategy to achieve that vision. “These points will keep you from getting frustrated or straying as time goes on,” states Jackson. “We both divide our time now between the two restaurants. I handle mostly Georges’ and Spriggs takes care of the Grill. It sounds cliché but for us, two heads are definitely better than one.”