Today we’d like to introduce you to Corey & Rebecca Kernan.
Hi Corey & Rebecca, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Rebecca and I graduated from Flagler College in the Spring of 2014. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Psychology, along with a minor in Criminology. I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management and a minor in Business. After graduation, Rebecca enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University to further her education by obtaining a Master’s Degree in Social Work in 2016. During this time, I continued to live in Florida to start a career in the sports industry.
One of the most difficult parts of working in the sports industry requires moving to different cities to advance your career with teams and organizations. My wife (Rebecca Felico) and I loved Saint Augustine and we wanted to spend the rest of our lives here, therefore, the sports industry was not the greatest option. I worked for the local sports organizations, such as The Jacksonville Suns and TPC Sawgrass trying to find a way to use my degree, but again, unless I was planning on moving to another city, these jobs were not what I was looking for.
Around that same time, my in-laws (John & Diane Felico) moved to Saint Augustine to retire from the restaurant industry. They enjoyed the beach, but became bored and missed their faster-paced business lifestyle. They soon asked me if I was interested in opening a sports theme restaurant in downtown Saint Augustine. I thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime and as it turns out, I was right.
In the beginning, we worked side by side, day and night. They took me under their wing and taught me everything I needed to know to be successful in the restaurant industry. What more could I ask for? I’m combining my love of sports with my newfound love for the restaurant industry. Fast forward three years later: I’m an owner in our family business, doing what I love, surrounded by the people I love, in the city I love, and working side by side with the woman I love.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Anyone and everyone that has had or started a business over the last couple of years knows what we have been through because they too went through obstacles that they could not even imagine.
Those problems we had faced at the beginning have made us a much better business than we could ever dream of! My father-in-law recently said to me “The success we are having in this restaurant is not normal”. We were lucky enough to put the right concept, in the right location, at the right time, and combined that with good, solid, well-thought-out improvements over the last three years has helped our business grow to what it has become.
We are extremely grateful to be able to open our doors every day and serve our community on a daily basis.
We’ve been impressed with Auggie’s Draft Room, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
For starters, we are a self-serve tap house. You might be asking yourself, what is a self-serve tap house? Well, it’s quite simple, we have a wall with 24 Taps that consist of a variety of beer, wine, ciders, and hard seltzers. Once a customer decides to have a drink, they get set up with a card that will keep a running tab of whatever they drink. We charge you by the ounce, but for a full 16oz Domestic Beer it comes out to around $5, or for Craft Beer, it is $6 per cup.
The beauty of this system is that you are the bartender, so you can pour as much or as little as you want. With the downtown area of Saint Augustine being so busy at times, we felt a business where people do not have to wait to get a drink would do very well. Combine that idea with 10 big-screen TVs for almost any sporting event you could imagine, we thought it would be a winning concept. When we were coming up with the concept of our place, food was an afterthought, but like every good business, you adjust to what the customers want.
For instance, we had a demand for burgers, we thought about how to craft the Best Burger in Saint Augustine and we did just that! We decided on putting together a menu geared towards burgers, along with adding other items such as quesadillas, pretzels, and even my Father-In-Law’s Family Recipe, an Italian Sausage Sandwich with Peppers and Onions. This menu has been well received, that the week between Christmas and New Year’s we sold over 10,000 burgers for the week! Our goal was to make our food Fresh, Hot and Fast.
What were you like growing up?
Originally, I was born in San Diego, California then when I was in kindergarten, my parents brought us back to New Jersey where the rest of my extended family was. Growing up I would consider myself a little more fortunate than other kids because my father had one of the coolest behind-the-scenes jobs you could have as a baseball columnist for the NY POST.
Throughout my childhood, I was always around the game of baseball, whether it myself playing whichever team I was on at a certain time, or going to practice or game with my father. Baseball is my passion and luckily my passion brought me to Flagler College, where I played for two years. But more importantly, baseball got me to Flagler, where I would one day meet my wife Rebecca. Growing up, Rebecca was always outgoing. Rebecca always had a passion to help others, which eventually lead her to a career in mental health counseling, when she is not working at Auggie’s Draft Room.
Rebecca started helping with the family business at a young age and has grown up in the restaurant industry, so growing up and opening a family business in the restaurant industry just made sense. Rebecca has always loved traveling, spending time with family and friends, and most of all going to the beach.
Contact Info:
- Email: auggiesdraftroom@gmail.com
- Instagram: @auggiesdraftroom
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/auggiesdraftroom/
Image Credits
Rob Futrell
