John Haggai: Burtons Grill & Bar

When the people who run Massachuttes-based Burtons Grill &
Bar asked John Haggai to be the company's new CEO, he pulled what
can only be described as a baller move. 


"[I said] I'm not moving to Boston, as beautiful as it is, plus I
have kids, I'm not moving, there's no way. So I thought that was
a deal breaker," but it wasn't Haggai said. So he added another
stipulation. "And I said I'm building a restaurant in Richmond.
Richmond is awesome but it's not quite big enough of a city
typically that we're in. We're in Charlotte. We're going to
Atlanta. We're in some bigger markets. And I'm like, I think one
could do really well here. That was the really ballsy move was to
build a restaurant, right when I took over in my town."


Haggai moved to Virginia 20 years ago to manage Outback
restaurants.


He stayed in Richmond and eventually left Outback to be part of
the team that founded both Cafe Caturra and Tazza Kitchen.


"I had brunch at Tazza two days ago," he said. "It's like my
second favorite restaurant now."


So what can you expect at his favorite restaurant? Allen Brothers
steaks for one.


"They're the best cutting house in the United States," he said of
his steak supplier. "We use single source, North Dakota ranch,
Black Angus cattle. It is the best, no doubt. If you eat a steak
at Burtons and you cut into it, it's phenomenal. And you'll pay
$20 less than you will wherever."


Haggai said Burtons was also proud of its ability to be
accessible to anyone.


"People who have accessibility [issues], people with special
needs, and the big one is really the dietary restrictions and
allergy friendly because that's a tough one to pull off in our
business."


Burtons Grill & Bar is located at 3520 West Cary Street in
the new Carytown Exchange shopping center.


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