Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill Bresnan.
Jill, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Josephine’s began from a desire to fill a hole in our local landscape. We wanted to provide somewhere that offered a fresh, seasonal menu with a focus on approachable comfort food balanced with a nicer atmosphere. It’s somewhere you can have a nice family brunch on Sunday or a romantic evening, but also a quick and friendly lunch on a weekday.
Wylie is a rapidly growing city and we kept seeing our neighbors having to leave town to find somewhere to eat. We opened our doors at the very end of May 2019 and the community came out to show their support, something we are grateful for every day. Eighteen months later and the community is still showing their support. During the initial phases of the COVID-19 shutdown, we saw people make an effort to place orders for take-out or ordering on different delivery platforms.
Now that restaurants are able to re-open dining rooms, we’re making every effort to keep customers and staff safe. By taking temperatures of staff and guests, providing hand sanitizer, disposable menus and social distance seating, we’re making adjustments to deal with the new normal!
Great, 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?
Like any new business, we had our bumpy moments in the beginning, but the community really came out in support of the new dining option we were providing the town. We did learn that sometimes friends and family of former employees like to leave untrue reviews in an effort to damage our reputation, and it’s unfair. But overall, everyone has been super supportive and seem to be excited to have us around.
Please tell us about Josephine’s Neighborhood Bistro.
We focus on providing a seasonal menu where everything is made from scratch, having friendly service and a full bar with specialty cocktails and craft beer. The food is familiar and comfortable but uses seasonal and fresh ingredients. We are proud of being able to offer this as an option to our community. It’s important to us to keep residents in town as much as possible so that the money stays in our community and helps the local economy.
The thing that sets us most apart from other restaurants in our town is that we are small and independently owned, so if something isn’t working or we want to offer something new to our customers, it’s a much easier process! It also means we’re able to change the menu regularly to make sure that the items we’re offering are of the highest quality. We also love getting involved with our community by working with the school district! We made it our mission to feed every teacher in Wylie ISD by donating lunch to each campus in the district over the course of the school year and offering a 15% discount for any school district employee any time they dine in.
What are you most proud of as a business?
It was so satisfying to watch a building that had sat empty for a few years as a former fast-food restaurant come together into what it is now. From picking out tables to bar tops to the kitchen equipment, it was a process that had very direct and visible results.
Another part that we are really proud of is watching the staff grow and develop their skills and confidence – not just in regards to work, but in their day to day lives. Due to the demographics of the town, most of our staff are high school students and for most of them, Josephine’s is their first job. They’ve all learned a lot about having a job, working in a restaurant and confidence in themselves. We’re happy to play a part in helping them grow.
We’re also really proud of the way we were able to work with our community during the COVID-19 shutdowns. Since we were able to order most household staple items from our suppliers, we were able to provide those items to the community. Toilet paper, bleach, soap, fresh produce, meats, dairy and the ever-elusive YEAST! (There was one week in which we sold 50 pounds of yeast and about 450 pounds of flour). Since the building we’re in used to be a fast-food restaurant, we have a drive-thru window that made picking up these grocery items a little easier for those who weren’t able to shop in the normal stores. We were also able to offer free delivery on these items for those that were self-isolating.
Contact Info:
- Address: 960 W FM 544, Wylie TX
- Website: josephinesnb.com
- Phone: 972-442-0116
- Email: manager@josephinesnb.com
- Instagram: @josephines_nb
- Facebook: Josephine’s Neighborhood BIstro
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