Jessie and Greg Harden
Co-Owners of the Garden Table (with a third partner Sara)
Facebook Mass Ave: https://www.facebook.com/thegardentablemassave/
Facebook Broad Ripple: https://www.facebook.com/thegardentablebroadripple/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegardentable/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegardentable
Downtown Location - Mass Ave:
342 Massachusetts Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46204
- Coming up on its First Anniversary.
- Full Bar- breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Broad Ripple Location:
908 E Westfield Blvd
Indianapolis, IN 46220
- Third Anniversary just came up.
- Only Brunch: Quick Service concept.
-Schedule:
Closed Monday
Tuesday-Saturday: 8am-3pm
Sunday: 9am-3pm
Started from traveling to the East Coast and West Coast where juicing was taking off. The idea of spending $8 on a juice wasn’t hitting Indianapolis so they wanted to combine that idea with the farm to table philosophy of providing food with a restaurant.
Greg – started waiting tables and busing tables in High School.
Use to work for the Pizzy Family at Ambrosia.
-After that job he produced wine for 6 years in Napa and New Zealand.
Sara – the "third partner." Childhood friend of Greg’s.
The Butchers Daughter – New York City: https://www.thebutchersdaughter.com/#home
Pulqueria – upscale Latin – Chinatown, NYC.
She is also involved with a few more operations across the country.
What is Garden Table’s ‘secret sauce’?
-Juice is a unique component.
-Juicer allows them to be creative with the Cocktail menu.
How do you handle feedback from friends and customers?
How do you handle YELP reviews and what is your take on Yelp?
Jessie’s favorite Yelp review.
Philosophy on reviews – The Garden Table does not respond because they don’t want to waste 1000 hours of their lives trying to give proof to their product.
Garden Table = Going Healthy & Hard!
Greg: “I love bad reviews… and I love good reviews. They both give us something to learn from.”
“Yelp is the new age ‘Mafia’” - They will take your bad reviews away for a specific dollar amount.
Yelp Scams:
Article 1: https://nypost.com/2014/10/13/restaurant-fights-yelps-alleged-extortion/
Article 2: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/yelp-scandal-red-flag-online-reviews
The Greg and Jessie story. How they met.
“The Orange Jess”
Previous Jobs:
Greg – worked full time with wine sales for a distribution company until he started working with Garden Table full time.
Jessie – business to business sales and consulting. Jessie still works full time for Crafted where they build websites and apps. Director of Client Services.
https://craftedup.com
JUICING
Cold Pressed Juice: https://thegardentable.com/juice/
- Lasts 3 days. It actually lasts for 5 days but they don't sell any older than 3 days.
-Juicer = 60 gallons of juice per hour ($30,000 Juicer!!!). All production of juice is done at the Mass Ave location and then delivered from there.
Cleanse - https://thegardentable.com/cleanse/
- Pricing = https://thegardentable.com/cleanse/cleanse-options/
How Many Employees?
-Broad Ripple: About 18 Employess
-Mass Ave: About 66 Employees
Tasting Time
House Drinks $12
"Ladies Who Brunch"
New Amsterdam vodka, elderflower liqueur, house Lush Love juice, prosecco. By Craig Rogers
"Black Betty"
Starlight blackberry flavored whiskey, lemon, simple. By Raymond Martin