Life & Work with Andrew Verburg of Downtown/ Hotel district

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Verburg

Hi Andrew, 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?
I started working at The Chop House in 2012 as a dishwasher with aspirations of becoming a Chef. I quickly moved up to a line cook position and then to the Sous Chef position in 2014. In 2014 we received an award for being one of the top 100 restaurants in the country on Opentable, that gave me a great sense of pride being that it was my first full year as the Sous Chef here. I was promoted to the Head Chef position of our sister restaurant Palio in 2018 and oversaw the culinary development of that restaurant until 2020. In 2020 I took over as the Head Chef here at The Chop House and received the opportunity to oversee the kitchen at a time when the restaurant needed leadership the most. The pandemic years and the great resignation were times of great pressure. We persevered through and made the restaurant an even greater success! In 2023 I was given the opportunity to become the General Manager here at The Chop House, an opportunity I didn’t even see coming! It has been wonderful to oversee the development of this restaurant and watch it grow. This year I was moved up to District Manager with Mainstreet Ventures and now have the opportunity to oversee Palio, Real Seafood Company, and The Chop House. I truly am blessed to be part of such a great company and very happy to be the leader of our Grand Rapids restaurants!

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?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. There’s certainly been ups and downs along the way. Some of the struggles I’ve seen are car fires, restaurant fires, employee overdoses, employee seizures, credit card fraud schemes, theft, labor shortages, food shortages, cost of goods challenges, and sales challenges. I will often say running a great restaurant is physical, we work long days and nights, weekends, and holidays the biggest challenge at the end of the day is how much can you really take? But the more you take on the easier it gets, things that used to bother me or scare me in the past don’t really affect me too much anymore. My mother had a quote that brick walls are put your path to see who will climb over them. I embrace challenges at this point, they make me feel alive. I enjoy overcoming the struggles and seeing how many I can overcome along the way. They live inside me like little badges of honor I reflect back on.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I oversee 3 great restaurants in the Grand Rapids area. We specialize in exceeding our guests’ expectations by providing a memorable experience in creative and distinctive restaurants. We’re known for our service details, from scratch kitchens, and for making our guests feel special and well taken care of. We only use the best ingredients available. I’m most pride of the teams we’ve built at our restaurants and our guest’s loyalty to our locations. What sets us apart from others is that we care a lot about our guest’s and employees. We make sure were sourcing the best products and hiring the best staff members for our restaurants and I think that really shines through when you dine at one of our locations.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The biggest shift I see coming is to the tip system for our front of house staff members. We will be phasing out the tipped credit which experts say will result in higher prices for menu items and lower tips for service staff. I think we will see AI on more phone systems and email threads. Food and beverage trends will always be evolving which is part of the fun of this industry! The thing that will always stay consistent is having the best food and service around, that’s what keeps guests coming back.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thechophouserestaurant.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thechophousegrandrapids/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChopHouseGR/