Creekwood ill
PINPOINTE RESIDENT
An Interview with
PROFILE
ian Sandel Photo by Patricia Hudson
By Patricia Hudson
C
reekwood Grill, located in Cypress at 12710 Telge Road, is a popular site for gatherings of family and friends. What began its life as a grocery in the 1940’s, was probably best known in the 1980’s as P.O.’s. In August 2018, Brian Sandel and Mark McShaffry became partners of Creekwood Grill. I interviewed Brian to learn more about this favorite Cypress restaurant. Brian, your partnership with Mark McShaffry at Creekwood Grill is coming up on three years in August. How did this come about? Mark and I met when I was a Managing Partner for Raising Cane's. We met in 2012, maybe 2013, at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the old Northwest Forest Conference Center, directly across the street from Creekwood, (irony!) His general manager and I ran into each other a lot at various school and marketing functions; we got to know each other through doing business in the Cypress 6 May | June 2021
area in the same industry. The way he built his business at The Backyard Grill is strikingly similar to the way I went about building a brand-new concept to Cypress, Raising Cane's, so we ended up running into each other a lot. What do you see as the reason Creekwood is so popular with the folks in Cypress? I think it's just basic business. We have a great location, away from the freeways and crazy traffic areas. We have a good menu that's easy to understand and we use high quality ingredients; we followed what our customers were telling us that they wanted us to be. We're a fun, laid back, easy to hang out at with friends kind of place, with a killer burger and great beer. Oh, yeah, the BEER! We have 40 rotating taps of great beer with a style and choice for anyone. We work hard to be a place where people can come learn about new beers without feeling like the beer snobs are everywhere. We're constantly Texas BBQ Chicken
