We are part of The Trust Project.
Making the items on the menu more affordable to recycle customers faster and offering everyday dining versus special or high-end dining has allowed Sabir’s Buffalo Grill to have a record year in revenue in 2021, according to Jim Boyd, general manager and partner of the restaurant.
“It was consistently good food and the presentation,” he said.
It’s all from scratch. I think that’s what really makes us stand out.
When Boyd volunteered to be the general manager in 2019, he needed to find out what the customers wanted, so a promotion was held where customers filled out a questionnaire to get a free T-shirt. All the information was put into a strategic plan so the business knew what it needed to do to grow.
“There is a lot of things that we hadn’t done in the past before I got involved,” he said. “We hired a marketing person.”
Boyd said people could not afford to eat there as often as he wanted to see. He also said customers couldn’t afford to eat lunch at the restaurant because it took too long.
ADVERTISEMENT
“So we revamped it. The kitchen said we have to streamline some of these things so we can turn it around in 25 minutes or less,” he said. “Now we have lots of people at lunch time.”
Brandon Dewald, executive chef, said the restaurant tried to get rid of the fine-dining tag so it catered more to everyone.
“People that go to eat at Applebee’s or Hardee’s, they can come here and get a burger for the same price,” he said.
Boyd said he did not have any plans to be the general manager of Sabir’s or even be an owner. He said he was asked by Nam Sabir, owner of Sabir’s in Valley City, to be a silent partner when the business was purchased in February 2015 with another silent partner.
“I really wanted this corner of Main Street to survive,” he said.
The Dakotah House was the first building that was constructed at the site of Sabir’s Buffalo Grill in 1878, which was destroyed by fire. The current building was built in 1884.
When Dewald was younger, he was always helping his mother cook food. He worked under a few different chefs and has also taught himself how to cook.
When the opportunity came to become the executive chef in 2010, Dewald accepted the position.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dewald said Sabir’s Buffalo Grill wants to offer a unique dining experience to customers that they cannot get anywhere else in Jamestown. He said the chefs enjoy running feature dishes and doing different culinary projects.
Boyd said the food is consistently good and the service is great.
Boyd said he wanted Sabir’s Buffalo Grill to be a premier place but not necessarily a high-scale restaurant. He said Jamestown is not a big enough city to have an upper-scale restaurant.
He said it is appealing to have the restaurant on Main Street. He said the road diet slowed traffic down and is great for the businesses on Main Street.
Dewald said he has good chemistry with the two other chefs. He has worked with Arin Kendall for 17 years and Travis Snow for about 10 years.
“We’ve really been able to grow a relationship with each other and we all move,” he said. “It’s an incredible team. I’m really happy that I have them. If I didn’t have them I wouldn’t be here.”
All three chefs train new cooks. Dewald said he trusts Snow and Kendall to train the cooks the right way.
“They say you should train your people to be just as good as you,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dewald said the burgers are unique because kitchen staff grind their own meat and each one is hand pattied. He also said each steak is hand cut and the restaurant carries quality products.
All chefs make homemade sauces and soups. Dewald said the restaurant goes through 15 gallons of one kind of soup per week.
“It’s all from scratch. I think that’s what really makes us stand out,” he said.
Dewald also said the bar has a nice scotch selection and a good cocktail menu. Boyd said the bar was renovated in 2010 and made larger to accommodate more people.
“That was a really fantastic change,” Boyd said. “The bar was too small, way too small.”
Boyd said food can be ordered online and picked up or eaten in the restaurant. The restaurant also has a banquet room that is good for meetings.
Sabir’s Buffalo Grill also caters and can bring an open bar to local events such as wedding parties.
“There is a market I think for more catering where you have the full service where you not only have food but you do alcohol, so now you are doing one-stop shopping,” Boyd said.
Boyd said Sabir’s Buffalo Grill has held chef night and beer and wine tasting events but the pandemic stopped the events from happening.
He said customers include anyone from a 20-mile radius and even people from out of state. He said it’s not unusual for people to drive a decent distance to eat at the restaurant as long as there is a good highway to travel on.
-----------------------------------------------------—————————-
Sabir’s Buffalo Grill
103 1st Ave. S
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday
