FUN Traveling, Dining & Entertainment
The Untold Story of a Bar Rescue: Pushing Through Adversity by John Stapleton, Contributing Editor
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t looked like a good idea even though it “wasn’t in the plans.” It also came with a “the great price.” At the bargain price of $50K, it had the size and the atmosphere to become a steak house where people could watch their favorite team, hang out after hours. At least that’s what Ralph Skrzypczak thought as the new owner of O’Shays. In May 2015, on a $150,000 loan, Skrzypczak with his partners took over O’Shays as kind of an “interesting idea.” He wasn’t looking to get into the restaurant business. With rent for the facility only $10,000, he thought he would have much of the loan available to carry the restaurant/bar for the first year during rebranding. However, within the walls to be remodeled, mold had taken over, and Skrzypczak had a $75,000 problem on his hands. “I got this place with no inspection,” Skrzypczak says. “I never questioned as to why it was such a great price, and I admit it was the first stupid thing I did.” 92
G OL D E N COR R I DO R LIVIN G
By the time Skrzypczak could start recuperating any costs, he was left with only 30 days to keep the doors open. A faithful late night crowd made it happen. After 60 days, Skrzypczak and the crew survived and officially O’Shays became True Grit.
“Looking down the barrel of the bankruptcy gun” Skrzypczak turned True Grit into a mini-grocery store with a delivery service. Where grocery stores were running out of items from their suppliers, the restaurant suppliers had everything in stock.
Where’s the Captain?
After the first intense year, though, Skrzypczak says he was burnt out as personal issues and other business ventures came into play. The restaurant had sidetracked his goal of opening a dispensary in Colorado. He wanted to get back to that. He hired managers and staff he believed could run the operations. However, “I didn’t know the business well enough to know what to look for,” he says. For the next year, Skrzypczak’s naivety and absence took the business off-course, financially and reputationwise. He needed to navigate True Grit out of troubled waters. “I jumped into the game,” he says. “I hit it hard, but still, it probably wasn’t hard enough.” By the end of 2019, True Grit had become an events-driven venue and had gone from a four-item menu to a place where one could sit down with a menu offering a little something of everything, including a popular fish-fry. W I NT E R 2022
