Twenty-one years ago, Jim Sawyer was a successful Lexington businessman, working as a certified financial planner downtown. But the monotonous nature of his job made him feel that something was missing from his life.
Looking across the street one day, he noticed a newly established local restaurant called Charlie & Barney's and began to reminisce back to his bartending days during college. He missed the people, the exciting unpredictability of the restaurant business, and the eclectic atmosphere he was immersed in each day.
Sawyer missed it so much that he decided to go back, a choice that now characterizes him as one of the few restaurateurs to survive the ups and downs of downtown Lexington's changing economy over the last two decades.
In the midst of the good days and bad, Sawyer has still never regretted his decision, and as a result he is now living out his dream instead of settling for a mediocre substitute.
Located near Broadway on West Main Street, Sawyer's Bar & Grille - formerly Charlie & Barney's - has been altered over the years to cater to the needs of the variety of clientele that have passed through its doors.
Sawyer's efforts to build his business around his customers have been rewarded in the form of owning a constant fixture in a downtown that has seen its time of struggles.
Shortly after Sawyer returned to the restaurant business as a bartender, he was promoted to development manager and was sent to open Charlie & Barney's stores in different areas of the country.
"I came back here two years later with the intent to help sell the (Lexington) restaurant," said Sawyer, who explained how during that time in the early 1990s downtown areas across the United States were in a downward spiral and many centrally located restaurants were struggling to survive.
"People were moving out to suburbia and wanted to go to a generic cookie cutter restaurant so they didn't have to drive very far home," Sawyer said. "I was lucky enough to have a wonderful business partner involved; he recommended that I approach the seller (of the Lexington-based Charlie & Barney's) about owning to finance. He said, 'It's so smart, let's do a buy.'"
For the first two or three years he co-owned Charlie & Barney's, Sawyer kept the restaurant open for lunch only.
"As downtown died and the building went bankrupt in 1993, by then we had almost fell to the very bottom," Sawyer remembered. "Risk takers were willing to build downtown in the hope it would stay prosperous, but all the (Charlie & Barney's) restaurants I had been involved in - downtown Denver, Charlotte, and Atlanta - all of those died. Those were some really tough times. That's when my partner said, 'At this point, you either need to pay me some money or give up.' So, I walked across the street to Bank of Lexington. The banker looked at everything I had, and I bought my partner out."
After Sawyer changed the Charlie & Barney's title to bear his own surname, he began to make some major modifications to the operation.
"I really looked at what was popular here, what worked, and what didn't," he said. "I made a few fine tune changes - from table service to cafeteria-style. It picked up the pace quite a bit, and I was able to almost triple our volume in one month."
While table service is still available in one section of the restaurant for social gatherings and business get-togethers, the cafeteria line is perfect for those wishing for a quick eat-and-run. To further raise the bar and give business a boost, Sawyer came up with a couple of signature offerings that have become what the restaurant is known for - its homestyle chili and burgers.
"I started setting the rules down and making my mother's chili recipe. I made a burger the same way over and over, I got my rhythm started, and I just told myself, 'Stick with it.'"
Sawyer, who knew the city couldn't just board up downtown, persisted in anticipation of better days ahead.
"I can't tell you how many times on those quiet afternoons I would send the servers and bartenders home and it would be just me and the cook. Sometimes it was hard because the staff wouldn't have enough money to make their rent, so I would give them a little more money," he said.
Things began to improve as downtown business slowly picked up in the mid- to late 1990s, and when Sawyer's current landlord bought the building, he settled into more profitable hours: Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
After flipping Charlie & Barney's and making it his own, Sawyer was fearful of the task before him, but proactive in his approach to change the face of the business.
"I listened to what the client base needed and became that," he said.
From time to time, Sawyer still experiences nights when he barely breaks even, but giving up has never been an option. Instead, he has immersed himself in organizations that are proactive toward revitalizing downtown, such as the Downtown Development Authority and the Downtown Lexington Corporation.
Sawyer's chili recipe, which he has perfected over the years, was purposely designed to encompass and serve a broad spectrum of people. Making it mild but flavorful, he provides opportunities for people with spicier taste buds to further season the chili with plenty of Tabasco sauce and hot peppers.
"That way, people can do with it what they wish," he explained.
Sawyer also focused on improving his burgers after the buyout. Using an idea he garnered from the Fuddruckers burger joint he frequented in college, Sawyer decided to offer his customers the option of adding or subtracting whatever toppings they desired to his juicy, generously sized beef patties.
Though his job still sometimes demands long hours - it's not uncommon to work a 15-hour day - Sawyer would never trade his profession for another.
When considering his favorite aspect of his job, Sawyer answered simply, "I love people."
From top-notch business executives, bank presidents and major developers to maintenance workers and legal secretaries, Sawyer encounters individuals from every walk of life during the bustling lunchtime hours.
At night, however, he rarely serves Lexingtonians; his clientele switches to flight crews, traveling businessmen, sports clubs, and other out-of-town groups and individuals.
"It's a convenient setup because it's not very loud, and we're not focused on turning over tables," Sawyer explained. "Here, it doesn't matter, so we get a lot of private events."
With a current staff of 14, Sawyer said one of the most difficult aspects of owning a restaurant is finding reliable, dependable employees, though he has managed to luck out in that area for the most part.
Sawyer is now experiencing the best of both worlds. Immersed in the buzz of the city by day, he resides with his wife in northern Fayette County on an 11-acre lot surrounded by dozens of horse farms, rolling hills, and plenty of the Bluegrass for which the city is known.
Instead of facing the daily grind and loathing what he does for a living, however, he now feels fulfilled - like in some small way, he's making a difference in people's lives. Most of all, he takes pride in the fact he has maintained a successful business in a downtown that witnessed a series of devastating lows, even hitting rock bottom at one point.
Unlike most people who have become bored in their professions, Sawyer had the courage to actually take a stand and make a change in his life, and as a result, he will never have the question of "What if?" lingering in his brain.
And though he still has the memories to prove he went through hard times, Sawyer possesses the qualities many other restaurateurs lack: a spirit for change, an acceptance of the cards he has been dealt, and an eye toward the future of downtown.
And that has made all the difference.