Simmer Down, located off Williams Drive, opened in spring 2017 and serves comfort food, including crowd favorites such as chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, and chicken-fried steak slathered with Marino’s specialty gravy.
“Nothing is out of the box, just like grandma used to cook,” Marino said. “No powder mixes, no cans [or] frozen. Everything is handmade from scratch.”
Simmer Down serves breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as Sunday brunch with an omelet station, mimosas and an all-you-can-eat buffet. Breakfast is also served all day because “breakfast for dinner is the best,” Marino said.
The space is decorated with antique dishware, an interior design done by his mother-in-law, Marino said.
Church pews replace most chairs, and all of the tables are handmade by Marino and his family.
“I wanted to make it feel cozy and kind of like you were going to grandma’s house to eat,” Marino said.
Marino said it was a dream of his since childhood to own his own restaurant. And while it is a lot of work, his employees are treated like family.
Marino said he has been known to go above and beyond for his employees, including picking them up and dropping them off, waking them up for work and helping them out any way he can. He said he does it because he knows how hard it can be when all you have is your job, adding that when you have someone there supporting you it can help make your life a little better.
Simmer Down strives to be a place that is a little bit different from the ordinary, Marino said, adding that he wants his patrons to feel at home while dining.
“I just wanted to be different from everybody else and get back to the roots of cooking,” Marino said.
Simmer Down is located at 4701-1 Williams Drive, Georgetown. 512-763-1672. https://simmerdowngeorgetown.weebly.com
