Pizza, Pasta, & The Little Pig
It’s a typical Friday evening at Napa Flats Wood-Fired Kitchen in College Station, and the restaurant is packed. The two owners, Tom Kenney and Tony Abdalla, work alongside the staff, helping out the servers by bussing tables and checking on guests. Tom eyeballs a plate of spaghetti and meatballs on a four-top that’s missing the Parmesan cheese on top. He quickly stops Tony, who’s flying by, and points out the plate. “Can you get back and help the kitchen? That plate is missing cheese,” he says, recognizing that the kitchen is likely slammed from all the food orders. Tony rushes back behind the line where the staff is busy preparing the meals and calls out the orders as servers grab the plates and run meals to the guests.
Tom and Tony opened the College Station Napa Flats 10 years ago. It was the second location; the first was in Austin and has since closed. The third, which opened in 2014, still operates in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Previously, Tom worked in business communication and operations, and after moving around the country for various managerial jobs, he settled in Texas. “I decided I wanted to open my own business and thought that restaurants were really the way to go,” Tom recalls. “I went to Outback Steakhouse, which was like the darling of the industry back in the late ‘80s,” he says. Tom became a joint venture partner of the company and ran 19 restaurants throughout Texas.
Working for Outback Steakhouse gave Tom the skills to open his own Grub Burger Bar in College Station in 2012. “I thought an upscale burger bar was something we didn’t have here,” Tom says. “They have a really nice design element, and when we brought that here, it was very successful. But then I realized I don’t enjoy fast food, and I don’t eat that many burgers! I’ve always been more enamored with full service and chef-driven menu concepts.”
Tony was working as a cook at Outback Steakhouse in College Station when he met Tom. Tony eventually managed several different Texas restaurants before joining Tom as Napa Flats’ first managing partner. The combination of the two men’s experience had prepared them well to run their own restaurant .
A lot of people don’t have a degree in restaurant work, so the prior experience Tony received by working in the kitchen and the front of the house proved to be important. “We say opening Napa [Flats] was like our doctorate program because we had to do everything ourselves from the ground up,” he says.
They designed a menu that combined Californian, Italian and Mediterranean flavors in order to bring something new to the area. Specials are often rotated, and ideas for new entrees are always in the works. Their casual dining restaurant also has a full service bar and an outdoor patio where customers can bring their well-behaved dogs. Guests can order off the to-go menu from the sliding window on the side of the building or purchase gelato that’s made in-house. The owners also knew they wanted to offer catering with portable pizza ovens and other select entree options for weddings, Texas A&M University events, and other occasions for that wood-fired grill flavor.
“I think we’ve really become the local favorite,” Tom says with pride. “When people come down to visit, they want something different, not a chain restaurant they can get in other cities. I feel that’s where we’ve offered a point of differentiation in our variety and ability to switch up the menu.”
Being in a college town provides Napa Flats with many part-time employees who work and attend school throughout the year. Since its opening, the majority of the restaurant’s employees have been students. “We are really fortunate to have great kids that work for us,” Tom says. “Tony and I joke that they’re all smarter than us, and they always bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to work. The only thing that’s really rude of them is they always go and graduate on me!”
The impact of the global pandemic was deeply felt by restaurants, but Napa Flats quickly bounced back, after 2021 became one of their highest sales years yet.
“I think we’re staying relevant,” Tony says. "Ten years is a great run for a local restaurant. We always continue trying to get better and stay up-to-date. We’ve had huge support from the community and we truly believe in giving back to the schools and other local places. We almost never say no to those opportunities.”
Moving Forward
After nearly a decade of running Napa Flats, Tom and Tony are embarking on their next venture: Le Petit Cochon, which means The Little Pig in French. The new, upscale restaurant will serve French cuisine and their goal is to open the South College Station location in August. “We’ve been working on our menu with Chef Johnny Poche from 1860 Italia,” Tom says. “I’ve always been curious about French food,” Tom says. “We want to create an approachable menu and atmosphere that can appeal to everyone.”
This fine dining restaurant is still in the construction phase, although food and drink menus are already in the works. “We want a small restaurant, with only a dinner menu. There will be seafood items, pasta dishes, souffles, and some brunch options on the weekends. We’ll also have a small bar with some more elevated cocktails.”
Le Petit Cochon will provide an additional dining option for family meals, date nights and more. “We’ve gone all in to design a different kind of dining experience,” Tom says. “We think it’ll be a great addition to the College Station restaurant community.”
By Haley Noble
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