Ever since that first move off campus, all other moves have been determined by the need for a great place to socialize over great beer and food within walking distance of my home. That’s how I came to meet Scoats, the owner operator of my home away from home, The Grey Lodge Pub.
Scoats and his partner Patrick McGinley have created a space that dazzles the taste buds. They offer choices in an area where it’s mostly the same old stuff from one space to the next. I was curious about how Scoats has not only stayed the course by going against the grain, but innovated and succeeded through the hard times to become the nationally recognized success that he has today. Scoats was gracious enough to sit down for ten quick questions:
1. What do you do for a living? how did you get started in the business? Was that something you always wanted to do?
I own and operate The Grey Lodge Pub, a beer bar and restaurant in Northeast Philadelphia. I have been doing it for 14 years.I worked my way through college in the restaurant and nightclub business. After realizing I wasn’t going to last 20+ years in a cubicle the Fortune 500 world, I decided the restaurant business was a business I could do. While it didn’t start out as a dream, it has evolved into one, which maybe why I am doing it after 14 years.
2. What one word would you use to describe where you are and what you have accomplished?
Established.
3. What would you do with your life if today if you knew you could not fail?
Open a 2nd location in another city. Or I’d become a full time writer and artist.
4. What characteristics or traits do you believe successful people have in common?
Persistence, determination, and imagination.
5. How do you plan to change what you do today to grow your business for the future?
My business might be right-sized as it is. If we do expand, I would need to hire a manager to do a lot of what I do.
6. How did you get others to believe in your dream?
Persistence, and chasing a dream that others were dreaming (for a good beer bar to exist in Northeast Philly).
7. What was the biggest mistake you made along the way?
Choosing the wrong partner initially.
8. What kind of formal/ informal education do you have?
College degree, CPA certification.
9. What advice would you offer to someone starting out?
Be able to happily live cheaply for many years when you are starting out. Expect to work long hours for many years.
10. What is the one accomplishment that gave you the greatest sense of pride in what you are doing?
Being listed as one of the best bars in America by Esquire Magazine. We were also Ranked #25 nationwide by the Beer Advocate
Melissa Centifonti was born and raised in Philadelphia. She has a BA in Liberal Arts and spent her early career in art education. She currently works as a realtor on the Centifonti-Lippman Team in the Keller Williams Realty office, located in Washington Square.
