Melissa Bussard and her brother, Gary, may seem young to be entrepreneurs but to hear them talk, they have years of experience in the restaurant business.
Melissa, 24, and Gary, 23, own and manage The Clubhouse Grill, which opened two weeks ago under Sterling’s Clock Tower on Route 7. The eatery, which also features a bar, is next door to the Clock Tower Thrift Shop, across from the Burlington Coat Factory, and catty-corner from the Chick-fil- A.
The Bussards are among the investors who bought the bistro.
Melissa Bussard said she has a message for any naysayer who thinks she and her brother are too young to make the cafe a success. “Not so far,” she said. “We’ve done the hard part. We are actually open, and we’ve got this running, and we’re doing wonderfully.
“Risky? Without question, but what’s life without risk?”
GREG BRAMHAM, a member of the ownership group, described Melissa Bussard as the general manager and Gary Bussard as the chef and kitchen manager. Gary Bussard, however, took exception to being called a chef. “I’m the cook,” he said. “I don’t want to blow my balloon up too big. I have an eye for taste and presentation.”
The Clubhouse Grill seats 99 customers inside and 30 outside. Five metal, gray tables and chairs are set up on the patio in front of the restaurant. A chest-level partition separates the dark green tables and chairs from the bar. A big-screen television and two smaller ones occupy the bar, and five television sets rest on shelves in the dining room. “Wherever you are sitting in the bar or the dining room, you can see TV,” Bramham said.
The Clubhouse Gill features the golf video game, Golden Tee, retro games such Ms. Pac Man, and other video games.
“The jukebox is pretty phenomenal. If you think of a song, and the jukebox cannot find it, it will go out on the Internet and find it,” he said. It costs $1 for two songs or the same amount for one song that was plucked off the Internet.
Gary Bussard said his sister handles “the business side of things, the flow of the restaurant.” They have been immersed in the restaurant trade since they were old enough to work. “My uncle ran the Rivershore,” he said. “I kind of grew up there.”
HIS UNCLE, Steve Hicks, managed Rivershore in Occoquan. It now operates under the name Tim’s Rivershore.
Gary Bussard said he started out busing tables and worked his way up. He washed dishes, waited on tables and bartended. “We’re young, but we’ve got a lot of experience."
Melissa Bussard agreed. “We’ve been learning the ins and outs from the very bottom up.”
She helped start up two restaurants, served as their accountant, and became general manager of one. “I did that for five years, 80 hours a week,” she said.
Gary Bussard also was involved with the startups.
Then Melissa Bussard had an opportunity to work for an accounting firm. She said the accountant, who maintains anonymity, had eaten in the restaurants and watched her in action. He decided he would be an investor if the Bussards wanted to start up a new bistro.
Melissa and Gary Bussard began to look for a space north of Springfield, and they decided Sterling was the ideal location. They solicited a few other backers and opened the first week of August.
“It started out slow,” Gary Bussard said, referring to the number of people who tried out the new fare. “But a lot of people are noticing we’re here. We’re getting a lot of nine and 10 tops.”
That’s restaurant jargon for nine to 10 people who sit together at one table.
THE CLUBHOUSE GRILL, located at 46950 Community Plaza, offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and happy hour. It is open from 7 a.m. to midnight each day, except for Fridays and Saturdays, when it closes at 2 a.m.
Bramham said the restaurant serves breakfast, day or night. It offers an array of appetizers, including seven bean dip, crab cakes, shrimp cocktail, quesadillas, buffalo wings and vegetable plates. The salsa is made from a secret family recipe.
The entrees include, but are not limited to, chicken or shrimp dishes, pasta, salmon and steak. The New York Strip is the most popular meal, Bramham said. “It’s only $14 and includes soup, salad and two sides.”
Bramham said customers also love the jumbo lump crab meat soup.
In addition to burgers, The Clubhouse Grill features steak and cheese or pork barbecue sandwiches. “On the simple side, we have chili dogs and fries,” he said.
The children’s menu has peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken fingers, pizza, spaghetti, hot dogs and hamburgers.
“Most of the food is straightforward, but some of the dishes have a twist,” he said.
Gary Bussard said he was not aware that Loudoun was the fastest growing county in the nation until after they opened their restaurant. “We got lucky with that one,” he said.
Melissa Bussard said she and her brother are building a client base with good service and a friendly staff. “People want a place they can connect with,” she said. “If people feel more and more welcome, it makes them feel like it’s their place.”