We recently connected with Jamie Wade and have shared our conversation below.

Jamie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

Restaurants, of course, notoriously have very narrow profit margins. Since Covid, the biggest challenge to profitability is the unpredictable spikes in costs of goods. There have been times when certain items needed to be tracked down from all different types of suppliers. There were times when inventory items were just not available, or they were triple the cost they were pre covid. While availability of items seems to have leveled out some, the costs of a lot of things still fluctuates. We want Sand Hill Kitchen, which is very much a neighborhood restaurant, to be financially assessable to our neighbors. We want to retain the quality of products we are known for. So the idea of raising prices too much in order to cover our costs effectively is a bit daunting. And since the prices of goods are still rather unpredictable, it is a challenge to find that balance.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started cooking professionally when I was studying photography at the University of Arizona. I have since held a variety of positions in various locations around the US including Tucson, New Orleans, The Outer Banks. Baltimore. When I moved to Asheville, NC in 2012, I felt like it was time to try something on my own. For quite some time, I had my eye on a little spot with a drive thru window, a small kitchen and a dining room inside a BP gas station on a very busy corner in my neighborhood. I eventually was able to purchase the restaurant business that was there, and I opened Sand Hill Kitchen in January 2017. We serve scratch made, familiar American food. Fried Chicken Sandwiches are what we are best known for, but we also have killer Reubens, Chicken Salad, Beet Sandwiches, Burgers and so forth. We get creative with our daily lunch specials as well as homemade soups and desserts. We also serve a super popular breakfast four days a week which includes classics like Biscuits and Gravy and Chicken Biscuits. Breakfast burritos are wildly popular as well. I think folks enjoy Sand Hill Kitchen because our food is consistently good and fresh. It is all quite recognizable, but made with a special SHK flair that sets to apart from some other quick service types of places. We take a lot of pride in the food we serve, and I feel like it shows. I think we have really been lucky to be where we are, because we have been able to get to know our customers who live in the area. We do serve as a meeting place for folks and I feel very honored when friends chose to join together at SHK. It was a core value of the company since the beginning to become an active part of our community here on the edge of West Asheville/ Enka Candler and so I am quite proud to think that we have accomplished that goal. We are also so happy when people come from out of town or across town because they have heard about us from someone they know. It’s a tiny little place, with a constantly growing following, and we are equally proud of that.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

To fund the purchase of the business, I went to Mountain Bizworks, which is a great place here in Asheville. They provide education and support for all different types of entrepreneurs. I had taken some classes from them in the past, and when it was time to look for funding, I went back to look for assistance. I had a mentor there who helped me through the process of writing an acceptable business plan, and went through the process of attaining the capital needed. This, in conjunction with the “Bank of Mom and Dad and Sister,” was how I got the loan I needed. I refinanced once to buy better equipment, and paid the loan off last year.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

We have pretty low turnover at Sand Hill Kitchen. Having worked in restaurants for so many years, I was very familiar with the hard work met with low pay from often ungrateful employers, so I was determined to not carry that culture over to my own restaurant. I am super honored that my employees want to work for me, and take the responsibility of providing their livelihood seriously. I think that working alongside my staff every day has helped to create a trust between us that keeps loyalty and morale high. I don’t know if it is advice or not, but I know that showing my gratitude for my staff TO my staff, is something that they recognize and appreciate.

Contact Info:

• Website: sandhillkitchen.com
• Instagram: @sandhillkitchen.asheville