A life-long Northwest Indiana resident, Patrick Wilkins has always had an eye on the restaurant business.
After playing football and graduating from DePauw University, Wilkins returned to the area to work at the Sullair Corporation in Michigan City. Soon after, though, he decided to start his own manufacturing company called Boss Industries, located in La Porte.
Despite being a local, he traveled a lot, and began taking notice of the different ways restaurants were run throughout the country and the world.
“I would notice different things about the menu, or different things in the restaurant and I thought, ‘Hey if I did something like that, that might be cool,’” he said.
The idea of maybe running his own restaurant was just that: an idea. That was, he said, until he heard that the old Rodini's restaurant property became available.
“I always wanted to do something like that,” Wilkins said. “I bought the building and thought I would give it a shot.”
Thanks to years of experience of owning several other businesses and managing a staff, Wilkins knew what he needed to do to make the new Patrick’s Grille, a fine-dining casual establishment, a success.
“I guess the best way to describe why I was comfortable with this is that I felt I had an opportunity to secure the right people to come in and help me,” he explained. “So, like Boss and my other businesses I was involved in, I always try to surround myself with really good people and lean on them to get the job done.”
At Patrick’s, Wilkins pegged Julie Gill and Chef Rick Bruggeman as the “super individuals who are highly qualified and highly motivated” to run the restaurant in the best way.
“When we first started I said, 'Look, our mission statement is really simple, but hard to achieve. That is consistency and quality,” Wilkins said to his staff the first week of opening. “I talk about that a lot, all the time: consistency and quality.”
In regards to the food, Wilkins chose what he liked personally: simple and high quality.
“I really enjoy good food. I wanted to make sure that whatever we did, it had good, quality food and that we prepared it properly, the environment was comfortable and relaxing, and to make it a really good experience,” he explained. “As far as the menu is concerned, I was just looking for a relatively simple menu. There is going to be something on that menu that you’re going to like.”
Wilkins stops into the restaurant a few times a week to “touch tables and say hello to people,” but with his staff and the addition of one of his three daughters working under him, there is really no need to do more, he said.
“I really trust Rick and Julie to run the place and the rest of the staff. We have a great staff who work hard and they know what we want to accomplish here,” he said. “Everybody knows to make sure that whoever walks in the door, when they walk in they expect to be treated the same way every time they come in, and the food is to be prepared and taste the same way every time.”
Wilkins spends the rest of his time outside the restaurant with his other businesses, which includes Paw Aviation and FWC Sports.
Thanks to his businesses, his restaurant, and being a life-long region native, Wilkins is constantly in the public, meeting new friends and old. The friendly atmosphere is something he claims to be special about the area.
“You grow up in an area and you get to know things and people; I like that comfort level. I like knowing I can go somewhere and have the opportunity to see people I know,” he said.
As of the last few years, most of the people he sees have been his family: three girls and their families, which include five grandchildren.
“I like to golf, I like to fish, and I like to spend time with the grandchildren,” he said.
When it came to Patrick’s Grille, everything fell into place.
“I jumped on it. There wasn’t a plan, but it all came together somewhat unexpectedly and I’m very happy that it did,” he said.
And, when you talk to diners or read the reviews, you will see his customers are happy it all did too.
Check out Patrick's Grille's Facebook page and website at www.patricksgrille.com for the menu and weekly specials. The restaurant is located at 4125 Franklin St in Michigan City.
