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Meet Sam Wynne of Bowls & Tacos and BrainDead Brewing in Deep Ellum

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Wynne.

Sam, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My first job was scooping Ice Cream when I was 15 in Snider Plaza, but I’d say my real start in the industry was barbacking at Flying Saucer San Antonio when I was 18. I catered for a little bit, then went right back to the Saucer when I turned 21. Craft Beer was young in Texas in 2005, each City has a brewery or two, and that was it. I fell in love with how much there was to learn. My earliest mentors Keith Schlabs and Ted Rowell made learning beer seem so cool, and they nurtured my curiosity by giving me a ton of great opportunities as a young kid. Then, the Cicerone Certification program came out (A Cicerone is to beer, what a Sommelier is to wine) and I became the 2nd person to become Certified in Texas, and for a few months, I was even the youngest in the world.

Flying Saucer promoted me to a manager at 23, and then I started traveling with their crew that went to new cities to open new stores. Teaching classes of 25-40 strangers every few months about beer, focusing on their local market I was unfamiliar with kept me constantly learning. After almost ten years with them, I went from Barback to Assistant Beer Director, before leaving to open BrainDead Brewing with Jeff Fryman here in Deep Ellum in 2015. A year and a half later, we opened a poke bowl and street taco spot called Bowls & Tacos on the other end of Deep Ellum. Now, I am here talking to you, haha.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We came out the gate hot at BrainDead. We signed our lease the same week as Pecan Lodge, and for a while after getting open, we were the only big wide open patio in the neighborhood. But Deep Ellum is funny. We have BIG weekends and quiet weekdays. Everyone thinks its always packed and the parking is terrible all the time in Deep Ellum, but that’s only really the case on Weekends. We have managed to build a major expansion for our brewery over the last three and a half years that tripled our capacity from our original production ability. All smack dab in the middle of an entertainment district. It’s tight quarters, and we have had to get creative to maximize our beer making ability. Between the city, the state, and the landlords, someone is always trying to impede our progress, but that’s what being in the business is all about: Rolling with the punches with a smile on your face. Our guests never get to know when we’re having a bad day!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Bowls & Tacos and BrainDead Brewing – what should we know?
BrainDead Brewing is unique in Texas, because while we have a bunch of breweries here, technically we are a brewpub. The state limits the amount of beer I am allowed to produce below that of breweries, but I am also allowed to do other cool things like selling other people’s beer, and even sell beer to go! Also, brewpubs tend to be more flexible and more styles of beer, rather than focusing on the quantity of beer. Our brewer Andrew Huerter hopes to brew over 100 unique beers just in 2018! While we are extremely proud of our brewery, and the beer that we make, we also have an incredible kitchen. We were awarded Best New Restaurant by Dallas Observer the year we opened, and also got Best Burger from D Magazine that same year!

At Bowls & Tacos, we were among the first handful of poke places to open up in Dallas, and are still the only ones in Deep Ellum. But we also sell street tacos there! (and quesadillas, and burritos, and breakfast tacos) It was kind of a crazy idea, but the whole concept really started entirely because this building is so cool! Dallas is quick to demolish old things and start from scratch I felt a calling to preserve this space. So, we changed as little as possible and kept the flow the as much like an old repair shop as we could. Since we had a funky old Gulf Station on our hands, tacos were the first thing we felt like needed to live in this cool hundred-year-old building. With so many diners avoiding gluten these days, we wanted to focus on food that was delicious and already gluten-free. The old timer that used to run this place, and even lives here, used to tell the story of filling up Bonnie and Clyde’s gas tank right here. They told him to “fill it up” gave him and $50 and left him with the change.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My career really took hold while working for a great company that my Dad, Shannon Wynne started. I never really had much opportunity to work with him, but Keith Schlabs, Ted Rowell, and Jake Rainey were all really instrumental in my development. They all taught me a lot, put me in a position to teach myself a few things, and helped push me to work hard while leading by example. It was always so much easier to work that 80th hour this week when you can see your leaders in the trenches with you.

Now, on the flip side of that coin, as an owner, I am motivated and driven by my incredible crew. At both restaurants, I have awesome people that are really passionate about not only what their role is, but also the business as a whole. Andrew Huerter is our chief brewer, and he makes the blood that makes BrainDead what it is. His crew David Muckian, Spencer Withrow, and Jerrod Lisle not only make the beer but keep the place in one piece. Of course, my partner in both businesses Jeff Fryman is my other half. We both have to work all day every day and trust the other is working just as hard as we are. My GM’s Keven White at BrainDead and Sean Conway at Bowls & Tacos are forced to put up with me all the time, and they certainly deserve a pat on the back for that. Neither of these places would be what they are without them. Chef Taylor McReary makes the magic happen in the kitchen, supported by Malikei Hetherington and Tory Whyte. And over at Bowls & Tacos, Jon Lee inspires me every time with his energy and work ethic, and that place wouldn’t exist without him. I have more than a dozen people I still want to name, but I could go on all night.

Pricing:

  • BrainDead Brewing has $2 off all beers and $9 lunch specials between 11am and 4pm all weekdays
  • Bowls & Tacos street tacos are $1.99 all the time.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Sam Wynne

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