Matt Locke is serious about the restaurant business—so serious, in fact, that he and his wife, Jennifer, own three restaurants and bars in Flower Mound, Dallas and McKinney.
The Locke family most recently purchased Flower Mound’s The Table in May after facing a quandary—whether to build a new business from the ground up, expand their current offerings or buy into a business that already existed.
When he found The Table, Matt said he knew he had struck gold. Describing his investment as “upscale casual,” Matt said a few aspects of the pre-existing restaurant drew him to the business.
“We liked that it’s a chef-driven restaurant; it always has been,” he said. “That’s something we want to see continue forward. We are very food-focused, as you would expect.”
Despite its ongoing success, further progress is on the horizon for The Table. Matt intends to expand the restaurant’s menu to include “seasonally appropriate” dishes along with classic favorites.
“We’ve made some minor modifications to the brunch and lunch menu,” he said. “But it’s really just an interim change to bring in some additional entrees. We will make a little bit more of a wholesale change over lunch and brunch in the future.”
The Lockes have also incorporated a biweekly happy hour event, often geared toward crafty moms. It also offers $7 martinis on Thursdays.
“Every other Wednesday The Table hosts events including cooking classes, tequila tasting and flower arranging,” Matt said.
The Lockes, who also own The Pub McKinney and Eastwood’s in Dallas, said The Table is the first venture into full restaurant ownership.
With the two other establishments specializing in drink service, Matt said it is important to put food at the forefront of what he does at The Table.
“The biggest difference, honestly, is the focus on the menu; the focus on the food,” he said. “That is your driver, and that’s what’s bringing people into your door. From a kitchen perspective, everything is [made from] scratch, and we deal with a lot of local vendors, too. We try to bring in as much local product as we can.”
