Shulesh and Paavn Patel had already opened one location with The Brass Tap when they began preparing for another in Anaheim Hills, California. They knew from experience that no two restaurant openings unfold the same way.
Their first location with The Brass Tap opened in Corona during the COVID era, but Anaheim Hills presented a different set of challenges. As opening approached, the Patels weren’t even certain exactly when they would be able to begin welcoming customers.
“We had a couple of challenges getting opened at first, and we ended up having a roll-up opening,” Paavn said. “We weren’t sure what date we would have to open, but we ended up having a really great grand opening week and the weeks that followed. It was awesome to see how many people were excited for us to open.”
That enthusiasm translated into an impressive start. At The Brass Tap’s recent conference, the Anaheim Hills restaurant earned the Highest Opening Week Sales for a New Store award.
For Paavn, the recognition is an encouraging milestone in a franchise journey that began with a personal passion for craft beer and has since grown into a multi-unit business.
Long before Paavn became a restaurant owner, craft beer was already an important part of his life. After college, he began home brewing and spent nearly a decade meeting regularly with friends over dinner and beer. Professionally, his career took him through consulting, advising and marketing roles, but the idea of eventually turning his interest in craft beer into a business remained in the back of his mind.
“I came across The Brass Tap, and I thought it was a better idea than a traditional brewery,” he said. “You can get all the best beers in one place along with great food. You don’t have to stop at multiple breweries and then go find something to eat afterward. The Brass Tap franchise was the perfect way for me to merge that passion with an entrepreneurial opportunity.”
The franchise model was particularly valuable because Paavn did not come from a restaurant background.
“I knew that, as a franchisee, you have a system in place to help you succeed better than you would by just jumping into something with no experience,” he said. “Before this, I had no experience in the restaurant industry, so having a franchise system definitely helped me understand all the operations from the get-go.”
The Patels opened their first The Brass Tap location in Corona, California. As Paavn gained experience with the concept, he began looking toward additional development and identified Anaheim Hills as an opportunity to bring the brand’s combination of craft beer, cocktails, food, sports and entertainment to another Southern California community.
“There’s a gap in the Anaheim market for a single location with such a range of drink options and great food,” Paavn said. “Our variety is what drove business at the Corona location, and I’m excited to bring that same variety to Anaheim.”
Even with experience from the Corona restaurant, opening Anaheim Hills reinforced one of Paavn’s biggest lessons about restaurant ownership: Experience helps, but every new location brings different circumstances.
“No two openings are the same,” he said. “Our first one was during COVID, but it’s also different cities and different challenges.”
For Anaheim Hills, one of those challenges was uncertainty around the opening timeline. Instead of a perfectly choreographed runway toward a predetermined grand opening date, the Patels and their team had to stay flexible and be ready to begin operations when the opportunity arrived.
Throughout that process, Paavn said support from The Brass Tap’s corporate team helped the restaurant prepare its employees and navigate the demands of opening.
“The support from The Brass Tap team is great,” he said. “They have their trainers who come out and support you while you are opening. They are there to help guide everyone who has been trained or is going to be a part of our team. If we get very busy, they can jump in and guide where it needs to be.”
Once the doors opened, that preparation was tested almost immediately. Despite the uncertainty leading up to launch, customers arrived in force. “We ended up having a really great grand opening week and the weeks that followed,” Paavn said. “It was awesome to see how many people were excited for us to open.”
For the Patels, however, a strong opening was only the beginning. Paavn has always viewed The Brass Tap as more than a destination specifically for craft beer enthusiasts. One of the characteristics that initially attracted him to the brand was its ability to serve as a gathering place for a much broader audience.
“It’s a unique offering. It’s accessible to a wide range of people,” he said. “The Brass Tap is a welcoming spot for the neighborhood. There is a focus on the community, and I really love that.”
Since opening the Anaheim Hills location, Paavn said the relationship with the community has continued to develop. “So far, there has been good reception from the community, and we’ve had great feedback from people and things they’d like to see,” he said. “As the year has been going on, we’ve been making changes here and there. We are looking forward to being there for a long time.”
Paavn said the Anaheim Hills location has participated in community initiatives such as the first Anaheim Hills Restaurant Week, giving residents another chance to try the concept and strengthening its local presence.
The Anaheim Hills opening also marked another significant transition for Paavn: becoming a multi-unit operator. Going from one restaurant to two required him to rethink how he allocated his time. Rather than spending the day at a single location, Paavn now divides his attention between Corona and Anaheim Hills.
That hands-on approach allows him to stay connected to employees and customers at both restaurants, including the regular guests who have become part of each location’s community.
“It’s great to see the community and keep in touch with all the regulars that we’ve had at both places,” Paavn said.
His experience also illustrates why Paavn has long encouraged prospective franchisees to spend time inside existing The Brass Tap restaurants before deciding whether the opportunity is right for them.
“Go see as many Brass Taps as you can, new and old,” he said. “Definitely talk to different owners to get an idea of what the brand is like from the owners’ perspectives.”
Now, Paavn and Shulesh are focused on turning the initial excitement around the Anaheim Hills opening into the kind of long-term neighborhood connection that originally drew Paavn to The Brass Tap.
“We’ve had great feedback from people,” Paavn said. “We are looking forward to being there for a long time.”
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit: https://1851franchise.com/brasstap.
The Brass Tap
SPONSORED
Despite an unpredictable opening, franchisees Paavn and Shulesh Patel won The Brass Tap’s Highest Opening Week Sales award thanks to strong support from Anaheim Hills.
Shulesh and Paavn Patel had already opened one location with The Brass Tap when they began preparing for another in Anaheim Hills, California. They knew from experience that no two restaurant openings unfold the same way.
Their first location with The Brass Tap opened in Corona during the COVID era, but Anaheim Hills presented a different set of challenges. As opening approached, the Patels weren’t even certain exactly when they would be able to begin welcoming customers.
“We had a couple of challenges getting opened at first, and we ended up having a roll-up opening,” Paavn said. “We weren’t sure what date we would have to open, but we ended up having a really great grand opening week and the weeks that followed. It was awesome to see how many people were excited for us to open.”
That enthusiasm translated into an impressive start. At The Brass Tap’s recent conference, the Anaheim Hills restaurant earned the Highest Opening Week Sales for a New Store award.
For Paavn, the recognition is an encouraging milestone in a franchise journey that began with a personal passion for craft beer and has since grown into a multi-unit business.
Long before Paavn became a restaurant owner, craft beer was already an important part of his life. After college, he began home brewing and spent nearly a decade meeting regularly with friends over dinner and beer. Professionally, his career took him through consulting, advising and marketing roles, but the idea of eventually turning his interest in craft beer into a business remained in the back of his mind.
“I came across The Brass Tap, and I thought it was a better idea than a traditional brewery,” he said. “You can get all the best beers in one place along with great food. You don’t have to stop at multiple breweries and then go find something to eat afterward. The Brass Tap franchise was the perfect way for me to merge that passion with an entrepreneurial opportunity.”
The franchise model was particularly valuable because Paavn did not come from a restaurant background.
“I knew that, as a franchisee, you have a system in place to help you succeed better than you would by just jumping into something with no experience,” he said. “Before this, I had no experience in the restaurant industry, so having a franchise system definitely helped me understand all the operations from the get-go.”
The Patels opened their first The Brass Tap location in Corona, California. As Paavn gained experience with the concept, he began looking toward additional development and identified Anaheim Hills as an opportunity to bring the brand’s combination of craft beer, cocktails, food, sports and entertainment to another Southern California community.
“There’s a gap in the Anaheim market for a single location with such a range of drink options and great food,” Paavn said. “Our variety is what drove business at the Corona location, and I’m excited to bring that same variety to Anaheim.”
Even with experience from the Corona restaurant, opening Anaheim Hills reinforced one of Paavn’s biggest lessons about restaurant ownership: Experience helps, but every new location brings different circumstances.
“No two openings are the same,” he said. “Our first one was during COVID, but it’s also different cities and different challenges.”
For Anaheim Hills, one of those challenges was uncertainty around the opening timeline. Instead of a perfectly choreographed runway toward a predetermined grand opening date, the Patels and their team had to stay flexible and be ready to begin operations when the opportunity arrived.
Throughout that process, Paavn said support from The Brass Tap’s corporate team helped the restaurant prepare its employees and navigate the demands of opening.
“The support from The Brass Tap team is great,” he said. “They have their trainers who come out and support you while you are opening. They are there to help guide everyone who has been trained or is going to be a part of our team. If we get very busy, they can jump in and guide where it needs to be.”
Once the doors opened, that preparation was tested almost immediately. Despite the uncertainty leading up to launch, customers arrived in force. “We ended up having a really great grand opening week and the weeks that followed,” Paavn said. “It was awesome to see how many people were excited for us to open.”
For the Patels, however, a strong opening was only the beginning. Paavn has always viewed The Brass Tap as more than a destination specifically for craft beer enthusiasts. One of the characteristics that initially attracted him to the brand was its ability to serve as a gathering place for a much broader audience.
“It’s a unique offering. It’s accessible to a wide range of people,” he said. “The Brass Tap is a welcoming spot for the neighborhood. There is a focus on the community, and I really love that.”
Since opening the Anaheim Hills location, Paavn said the relationship with the community has continued to develop. “So far, there has been good reception from the community, and we’ve had great feedback from people and things they’d like to see,” he said. “As the year has been going on, we’ve been making changes here and there. We are looking forward to being there for a long time.”
Paavn said the Anaheim Hills location has participated in community initiatives such as the first Anaheim Hills Restaurant Week, giving residents another chance to try the concept and strengthening its local presence.
The Anaheim Hills opening also marked another significant transition for Paavn: becoming a multi-unit operator. Going from one restaurant to two required him to rethink how he allocated his time. Rather than spending the day at a single location, Paavn now divides his attention between Corona and Anaheim Hills.
That hands-on approach allows him to stay connected to employees and customers at both restaurants, including the regular guests who have become part of each location’s community.
“It’s great to see the community and keep in touch with all the regulars that we’ve had at both places,” Paavn said.
His experience also illustrates why Paavn has long encouraged prospective franchisees to spend time inside existing The Brass Tap restaurants before deciding whether the opportunity is right for them.
“Go see as many Brass Taps as you can, new and old,” he said. “Definitely talk to different owners to get an idea of what the brand is like from the owners’ perspectives.”
Now, Paavn and Shulesh are focused on turning the initial excitement around the Anaheim Hills opening into the kind of long-term neighborhood connection that originally drew Paavn to The Brass Tap.
“We’ve had great feedback from people,” Paavn said. “We are looking forward to being there for a long time.”
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit: https://1851franchise.com/brasstap.
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