Michael and Yoli Amr opened the original Gumbo’s location in May 1994 in a strip mall that, at the time, was in a rural area of North Austin. The couple was raised just outside of Baton Rouge, and the Amrs created most of the recipes that are still featured on today’s menu.
After several years of success, the Amrs decided to move the restaurant to Round Rock, and in May 1999, Fired Up Inc. acquired Gumbo’s—A Louisiana Style Café from St. Gumbeaux, Inc.
Then in April 2005, Shuler and Denise Page purchased the Round Rock location, where they remained for seven years.
“Shuler’s career has always been in the food service industry,” Denise said. “His knowledge and love for the food industry led him to take an offer of purchasing one of the Gumbo’s Louisiana Style Café concepts that were in operation in 2005. We chose the Round Rock location, as that’s where it all began.”
Prior to Gumbo’s, Shuler was a senior vice president at Sysco Food for 28 years and went on to be a vice president at The Texas Restaurant Association. While Denise’s background is in the political arena, she later joined Shuler and learned the ins and outs of the restaurant business.
In April 2012, the Pages decided to not renew their lease in Round Rock and instead wanted to move to a larger location where they would have greater catering capabilities, a private party room, a bar and a larger dining room.
“When we discovered there was an opportunity to be on the Square, we knew the space would really fit the bill,” Denise said. “We had a very strong customer base in Georgetown and wanted to be closer to them.”
The renamed restaurant—Gumbo’s on the Square—has been located inside the Old Masonic Lodge since April 2012.
In December 2021, the Pages became the sole owners of Gumbo’s. Now in 2022, Denise hopes all their hard work continues to yield positive results.
“After surviving a massive re-grouping after the pandemic, and more recently, finally able to staff an amazing leadership team, we are looking forward to giving the core duties over to each of our leaders,” Denise said. “We want to ensure that many of the original core practices and steps of service that have been lost in the past few years are reinstilled.”
With staffing efforts continuing to ramp up, Denise said she hopes her team can take the restaurant to the next level by rolling out catering menus as well as bringing out the business’s food truck, which has been in storage since the pandemic.
In just the last four months, the Pages acquired a larger space on the third floor of the building, where they plan to host many more community events.
“We are very fortunate to have this opportunity and to have the ongoing support from the city,” Denise said.
Gumbo’s on the Square offers a Louisiana-inspired lunch and dinner menu seven days a week as well as brunch on the weekends. There are also happy hour specials and live music throughout the week.
“Surprising to our guests, our beef tenderloin is our No. 1 seller, followed by our salmon and our fish of the day,” Denise said. “Our menu changes quite frequently, always leaving the core recipes and menu the same but as chefs change, they bring their own dishes and favorites.”
Gumbo’s on the Square
701 S. Main St., Georgetown
512-943-4214
www.gumbosnorth.com
Hours: Mon.-Thu., Sun. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
