Stephen Montoya
Natasha Bruton and her husband Michael "Jupiter" Salas are keeping the lights on Grandma's bar next door to the Pantry on Magnolia.
On almost any given day of the week, you can find Pantry on Magnolia owner Natasha Bruton, either in her own kitchen or hanging out with various members of her staff, at Grandma’s bar at 715 W. Magnolia Ave. Suffice it to say, these occasions used to take place well after Pantry’s regular business hours. But as of June, hanging out at Grandma’s bar has become an almost mandatory, daily event for Bruton and her staff.
No, they aren’t day drinking the hours away, instead Bruton and her crew of Pantry staff and friends have been busy pitching in to help revamp the digs in Grandma’s over 1,700 square feet of space. Gone is the stage near the entry way, which would catch many a buzzed customer by surprise near its outer edge. Now, the stage is located in the back of the bar. A new custom red lettered sign hangs behind the bar, with the word Grandma’s written out in lights. On the west brick wall hangs four paintings of the “Golden Girls,” the first four representatives of grandma-hood adorn the newly named “grandma wall.”
And since the Pantry on Magnolia and Grandma’s bar share a wall, two front patios, and back storage area, Pantry owner Natasha Bruton and Husband Michael “Jupiter” Salas said it was a no-brainer to take it over when the opportunity arose over the summer.
“The owners, Chuck [Bouligny] and Matt [Pruitt] came to us in June and offered it to us,” Bruton says. “They knew they wanted out of it, so they came to us because we are always popping at the seams next door. And so, they wanted to give us the opportunity to continue the legacy that they started with.”
Both Boulignay and Pruitt’s names have made the rounds in local business circles given they opened Grandma’s bar one week before the pandemic shut everything down. Since then, they’ve done a pretty good job of staying afloat when other similar venues have shuttered. But that doesn’t mean Grandma’s hasn’t had its fair share of trials either, given rising vendor costs, rent, and so on.
A chance encounter with both Bouligny and Pruitt would prove beneficial for Bruton and Salas one day, after they wandered into this bar for an after-work drink.
Stephen Montoya
“Chuck was like, ‘So what would you think about taking over this place,” Bruton says. “I was like, ‘Yeah, right,’ but then I could see he was serious.”
Since 2022, Bruton and her associates helped create a dumpling craze on Magnolia Ave. The Pantry on Magnolia has even made our Best Of list a couple of times since. Let’s just say besides Teddy Wongs, the Pantry is also a Near Southside culinary must when it comes to the subject of dumplings.
Almost from the get-go, it seems like Bruton and Salas had the foresight that they would indeed expand next door; that and they had very little room to begin with at the Pantry.
“We named our restaurant Pantry as a playoff of their name, Grandma's, since we were next door,” Bruton verifies. “And we also kind of did it as a play on words because in every culture grandma has a pantry. If you show up to grandma's house uninvited, she's going to go into her pantry and cook up some kind of culturally appropriate food to make you feel comfortable.”
After thinking it over, both Bruton and Salas said the pros outweighed the cons when it came to the subject of them buying out the bar next door.
“The opportunity was there, and so we decided to jump on it,” she says. “We were like, ‘let's do it and let's keep the legacy alive and let's create something that merges together beautifully and build a community.’”
This meant keeping the seven employees Grandma’s already had on staff after the takeover. Also, as planned, Grandma’s never closed down for renovations or any major changes. Instead, both Bruton, and Salas, along with several Pantry staff members, pitched in to help make the transition as smooth as possible.
“We had a meeting with the whole team and we're like, ‘okay, give us a list of all the things you want to see changed. Give us a list of the things you love. And I was like, ‘if you want to go, now's the time. We are going to change some things for the better. But the thing is, if we're making money, you're making money, and we want to be able to grow.’ And everybody was very, very keen on staying on board. Everybody was excited to see the changes,” Bruton says.
Some of the changes mentioned include a “grandmas wall” where customers can hang pictures of their grandmothers and take selfies when they come in. The entire west red brick wall has been devoted to this.
Of course, Sunday karaoke is still in effect, a favorite of both Bruton and Salas’. However, the menu is still being refined. For now, Bruton and Salas verified that they are working on several mocktail recipes as well as some other adult beverages. Per the food next door, guests can still order their favorite dumplings to be delivered. And no, Bruton verified, they will not be knocking a hole in the wall to deliver them.
The footprint outside of Grandma’s will change, with the use of an adjoining back storage area as a quaint outdoor patio that rests between both Pantry and Grandma’s. Several tables along with a Leon Bridges inspired mural are planned for this new space.
“We were really scared that if we didn't take it, something was going to happen that we didn't want,” Salas says. “We wanted to keep our little community intact over here. After we get out of work, we come here. A lot of the regulars here at Grandma’s are regulars at our business too. A lot of our customers buy food, come over here and have drinks and eat here.”
The use of Grandma’s walls to display loved ones continues on the east wall near the entrance of the bar. This is where pet parents can show off pics of their grand pups, given Grandma’s is a pet-friendly establishment.
"We have so many dogs that are part of this little neighborhood that, if pet parents see the lights on, a lot of them come here to eat and to drink, and they bring the dogs in,” she says.
Another change Bruton is implementing at Grandma’s will be extending the bar’s hours three days a week. This means Grandma’s will be open at noon on Fridays, Saturday’s, and Sundays.
“We are all about this. Especially on Saturdays and Sundays, since we have a lot of people come in ready to eat and have a drink, the hair of the dog, or it's Saturday, it's time to day drink,” she says. “We feel like we were missing that piece, just communicating with our guests that were coming in.”
Salas says Grandma’s is planning on doing flights in the tradition of the dumpling flights served at the Pantry.
Stephen Montoya
“We're going to implement the breakfast shot for Saturdays and Sundays where you get a piece of the Candi bacon,” Salas says. “We're going to make all that in-house next. And then we are starting to make our own simple syrups instead of purchasing them.”
Although both Bruton and Salas are taking active steps to upgrade and revamp the atmosphere and drink menu at this quaint watering hole, they aren’t making things so pretentious they alienate their customer base. Instead, this culinary duo is upgrading simple things like the bar’s layout, which has plenty of seating for you and your fur babies.
“We're going to try to really play up the grandma's theme. And I mean, like I said, it's your favorite place to go, even as a child. And so we want this place to be the center of where you do feel good and comfortable to come in,” Bruton says. “You don't have to be in a suit and tie to do that here.”
