Chris Dushinski climbs down from a ladder from where he is painting the awnings of the outside patio to prepare for tonight's grand opening of Grilled Expedition on Mill Avenue.
Along with other members of the management, Dushinski is taking his one day off this week to come into the restaurant to make sure everything is ready. Although spending a Sunday painting may not be the most interesting task, it is an essential one.
"We are not a chain restaurant," Grilled Expedition co-owner Dushinski says. "We work our asses off. Whenever [manager Rob Robinson and I] are here, you are always going to have great service."
Luckily for Grilled Expedition's customers, Dushinski and Robinson are nearly always at the restaurant to make sure things go smoothly. But not only does Dushinski guarantee that the service will be superior, he also says the food will beat expectation levels as well.
"Every recipe is original and is tried and tested in our home kitchen," Dushinski says. "We cook everything on a mesquite wood fire grill, and everything on the menu touches the grill at some point."
Grilled Expedition is one of the new businesses opening on Mill Avenue that is helping revive the local flavor of Tempe. However, Dushinski already is accustomed to the downtown Tempe area; he was the manager of Sushi on Mill when it changed to Saki's Pacific Rim. After managing Saki's for a brief period, Dushinski moved on to help run a Kona Grill restaurant before deciding to venture out on his own into the restaurant industry.
With another co-owner Jim Nagy, the first Grilled Expedition restaurant opened at Desert Ridge shopping center about a year and a half ago. When the opportunity came to purchase the space that Saki's used to occupy, Dushinski made an offer and landed the space.
"We came down here [to Mill] with confidence at a time when a lot of other businesses are closing down on Mill," Dushinski says.
Dushinski should be beaming with confidence; the renovated restaurant looks spectacular with its stylish feel and inviting decor. The menu is mouth-watering, ranging from a wide variety of salads to various sandwiches and burgers, as well as several house specialties including Cajun jambalaya and Jamaican jerk chicken. Two interesting specialties include the Kobe beef burger and the 1200 Series New York Strip steak.
The Kobe beef burger is made from American Kobe beef, a special type of cattle that is a cross breed of Wagyu Japanese bulls and Premium Black Angus cattle. Raised in small herds, allowing for plenty of healthy living space and a premium diet of fine vegetarian items, the final result is a tender and flavorful meat of high quality.
The 1200 Series New York Strip steak was created by chance during a camping trip and is one of the more peculiar items on the menu. A New York Strip steak is rubbed with kosher salt and then buried in the Mesquite coals. After cooked, the steak is rubbed clean and a light butter sauce is added.
"You won't find anything like it anywhere else," Dushinski says. "It is not for the queasy-stomach steak-eaters because it is the ugliest-looking steak you will see, but it is the best you'll ever have."
With a price of $22.99, it was unsure how well that steak would sell. However, in the first couple weeks of the restaurant's opening, the 1200 Series New York Strip steak has been the No. 1-selling item on the menu.
Other prices on the menu dip below $10, and Grilled Expedition also offers lunch specials for $5.99 for ASU faculty and staff on Tuesdays.
The restaurant also features an extensive bar selection, with the main restaurant being on the second floor and the main bar on the ground floor. Special drink nights will be beginning soon, including a martini night to introduce the new concoctions that have been invented by the bar staff. Happy hours run from 3-7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.-midnight, with normal business hours being 11 a.m.-1 a.m. daily.
Although tonight's grand opening is by invitation only, with a portion of its profits going to support charity, Dushinski wants to keep a close sense of community between the Mill Avenue businesses and the Tempe residents by offering high-quality food with great service.
"ASU is a fantastic school, and they can appreciate a good burger and a great steak at a fair price," Dushinski says.
Reach the reporter at steven.ganczaruk@asu.edu.
