Today we’d like to introduce you to James Thorp.
Hi James, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
A month after my 21st birthday, I was eating lunch at Moose McGillycuddy’s in Pacific Beach with some friends and asked if they were hiring. At 6ft 5in, they told me they could use some bouncers and I started the next week. From there, I worked downtown w/ the Cohn Restaurant Group at their fun little bar Club 66 beneath Dakota’s. There I worked my way to the General Manager spot after two and a half years. As the downtown scene in San Diego continued to grow, I started working for a much larger operation in 2006 at a venue called Stingaree. Which had a great restaurant but was really known for the nightclub component. Starting as more of a security manager, I worked my way up to the Assistant General Manager and overlooked the restaurant and nightlife operations. In 2010 I left Stingaree to work with RMD Group and help open FLUXX Nightclub. As the General Manager at FLUXX, we won several “Best Nightclub Awards” as well as spoke on panels at the Nightclub and Bar Convention in Las Vegas. After five great years at FLUXX, I was looking for another challenge and RMD was looking for a General Manager to help open their two-story restaurant on 5th avenue, Rustic Root. This was a great challenge as it incorporated a great restaurant and continued to learn more about culinary and restaurant operations and private event space but it also had a great nightlife vibe on their rooftop. At that time, one of only a small handful of rooftops in the Gaslamp.
After four great successful years at Rustic Root as their General Manager, I felt it was time to branch off and look for opportunities to open a venue where I would not just be a General Manager but an owner as well. It just so happened there was an empty space that was once a restaurant that had closed down in 2014. I’ve kept my eyes on this space over the years and I thought it was time to make a go at it. I grew up only a mile from this space and recently moved back to the area and was ready to change in the 25min commute to downtown for the 3min drive. After negotiating for months with the current landlord, we were able to come to an agreement and lease the space. The build-out took almost a year but we were extremely happy with the outcome. Being able to create this restaurant from a blank canvass was very rewarding and I couldn’t be happier. We recently just had our three years anniversary party which means 2 of the 3 years open have been through COVID. There were some challenging times over these three years but I am very pleased at where we are at today. We have great customers that I see weekly and I consider my friends. It is great walking to the park with my wife, three years old son Cade and 1yr old daughter Cora and running into guests from the restaurant and the smiles on their faces when they tell me how happy they are we opened up a great local restaurant where they can bring the family to or just come and watch a sports game at the bar and have a beer or cocktail. We’ve made this venue for our neighbors and we hoped we checked off as many boxes off as we could for what they needed.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Opening venues are never smooth. I’ve been involved in opening four venues. It is a long grind and extremely hard and not for someone who doesn’t want to put the rest of their life on hold for a year. After opening FLUXX Nightclub while dating my girlfriend now wife Laurel and I told her that I was leaving FLUXX to open Rustic Root and also Rustic Root to open Knotty Barrel – Rancho Penasquitos her response was the same, “see you in a year”. She was mainly kidding and has been a huge support system for me and is a Rockstar and wouldn’t have been able to open these venues without her being as strong as she is.
At the end of our first year at Knotty Barrel – Rancho Penasquitos we went through some ownership restructuring and where we started with three partners, we whittled down to just me and my current business partner. After that challenge, I thought it would be a smooth road ahead of us and then this mysterious virus names COVID appeared and on March 16th, 2020 the day after our one year anniversary party we got word that we are to shut down our operation until further notice. We quickly worked out a new menu that was easier for “takeout” as that was one of our only options we had to create any sales and we thought it would be nice for the community to still be able to continue to order something out when tired of cooking at home. Those two years, though they were tough and seemed to change constantly based off of COVID protocol and procedures passed down from the State and City, we were able to survive. Not only did we survive but I feel we came out better than what we were.
As I mentioned earlier, I have a one-year-old daughter so that also was quite the obstacle and challenge of having a baby during COVID and managing the changes and that were week to week. Again, a lot of thanks for my wife Laurel as she took on a full load at times with the two little ones while I was stuck at work with a limited staff after laying off approximately 95% of them after the shutdown.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve always been someone who followed this simple but important rule, “Never ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself”. As an owner, I am still on the floor helping, host, serve, bartend, or buss tables. My staff and I are all in this together. I also believe that having staff come to a place of employment without dreading it and maybe even sometimes liking it is key. Especially in hospitality when they are dealing with guests that are out wanting and paying for a great experience. I interview everyone employee here and always make sure I tell them that if they are having a bad day and can’t come through the door with a smile they most likely shouldn’t be here. I feel I do a great job creating that type of fun, hard-working culture and from other places I’ve seen or heard about, I think that really sets us apart from other places and me personally as an operator/owner.
What’s next?
The future is something I’ve really looked at differently now after COVID and how we really have no clue what it could entail. With that being said though I still would like to grow as a business and I have been out to look at several potential venues in the past six months to see if there is another opportunity like the Knotty Barrel in Rancho Penasquitos elsewhere. I feel there are a lot of residential neighbors similar to Rancho Penasquitos that could use a local great restaurant that checks all of their needs and boxes.
Contact Info:
- Email: James@knottybarrelpq.com
- Website: https://knottybarrelpq.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knottybarrelpq/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KnottyBarrelPQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/knotty-barrel-rancho-penasquitos-san-diego?osq=knotty+barrel
