Chris Cusack, co-founder and CEO of Treadsack Management, is opening three new restaurants this fall, bringing him to a grand total of seven. With everything from a neighborhood bar to regional Thai food, it’s no surprise Cusack knows what he is doing.
After starting in the restaurant business bussing tables when he was 16, working his way up through the ranks, and opening his first restaurant, Cusack has created quite the collection. “I’m tempted to say it’s like jazz. There’s a lot of back and forth. We start with a basic idea, and throw it around,” says Cusack. “Benjy Mason, Treadsack director of operations, and I have an agreement about arguing for the best idea, rather than arguing to win.”
Cusack started bussing tables while attending St. Pius X High School in Houston. He continued working and moving up in the restaurant world throughout high school and college. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in government, and looked around for a job. After moving around for a few jobs, he struck an agreement with a friend to help manage a coffee shop while working to own a share of the company. It was the right choice; he became a 50-percent partner in not one, but two locations. That was the beginning of the itch to open more. Cusack moved back to Houston and opened Down House, and six others followed.
The most difficult part of opening all of these restaurants for Cusack? Building a team that would run the restaurant how he would. But when that team is created, great things happen. “Sometimes I look around and see the people on this team and I feel very moved. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for my team, and I’m humbled by their hard work on a regular basis,” says Cusack.
The three restaurants opening soon— Hunky Dory, Foreign Correspondents, and Bernadine’s—each have their own style. Hunky Dory is a British-American tavern, with a menu filled with European cuisine and a strong focus on single-malt whiskeys. Foreign Correspondents is changing up the Thai tradition in the United States by serving northern and northeastern Thai foods, instead of the typical southern Thai food. Bernadine’s is what Cusack calls his “love letter to the Gulf Coast.” Plenty of fresh seafood and an oyster bar will fill the menu, and classic Southern cocktails will be the focus of the drinks.
With all of this excitement, who knows what Cusack will open next. Houston mouths will water in anticipation.
