O’Donnell back in eatery business

Even as a successful businessman, it wasn’t easy for Shawn O’Donnell to create his new American Grill &Irish Pub in south Everett, only a couple of years after closing his popular restaurant near downtown.

Scratching his itch to return to the restaurant business, he decided to build his own this time instead of leasing space. Also, he would create his own menu, theme and décor. But he soon realized his past successes didn’t matter that much to lenders, even though both of the buyers of his prior businesses had shut their doors within five months, transforming his successes into failures.

“This is a typical small-business story,” O’Donnell said. “Even after owning two successful businesses in Everett, a deli for five years and then Sean O’Donnell’s 41st Street Grill for 17 years, I couldn’t get a conventional loan for this one. Banks know that 85 percent of all new restaurants fail. It’s a tough business.” Finally, he turned to the U.S. Small Business Administration for help.

“That wasn’t easy, either. I had to send them a 700-page application and business plan, including my tax returns for the past few years, demographics from the Census Bureau, traffic counts and so much more,” he said. “Personally, I felt I knew how much our sales would grow and when they would begin doubling, but the SBA doesn’t let you pick those numbers out of the sky. They wanted to know how I’d do it, even down to what would be on the menu and how much I’d be paying the staff of 60 full- and part-timers.”Armed with a detailed business plan, years of experience and his keen business sense, O’Donnell has plunged into a new venture that he believes in, and it’s paying off. The first six months have been so busy he’s just now able to catch his breath and begin operating it as a successful business rather than a startup enterprise. But the public sees only the success.

“I think many people look at this new restaurant, our full parking lot and our busy intersection on 128th Street SE at the I-5 intersection and think I’m wealthy, probably running it with an on-site manager,” he said. “The facts are that I’ve got a $4 million SBA-guaranteed loan from Sterling Bank in Texas, and I practically live here at the business. But that part’s not hard, it’s fun.

“I live the business. It’s a lifestyle. I’ve never found a way to dabble at it and be successful. It’s funny that people are surprised there is a real Shawn O’Donnell and that he’s sitting just across the room from them or working at the bar,” O’Donnell said.

To be better than chain restaurants, O’Donnell knows he has to have the right location, food, beer, atmosphere, friendliness and, yes, presence. People love having the owner come out to talk to them, he has learned, just as they did on 41st Street when he also visited tables to entertain diners with his magic skills.

At his new grill and pub he still mixes and mingles and even shares his magic — along with bringing in other local magicians during the week — although he doesn’t promote it as much as he did before when giant posters of famous magicians adorned his walls.

“We really like people to think of us as a great place to eat, a grill and bar with an Irish theme,” said O’Donnell, who was head chef on 41st Street for many years and knows the food side of the business, too. “What I’m doing really comes down to good food and good service, but the challenge is how to do that day in and day out.”

While he does have Irish heritage, the family culture he grew up in, he doesn’t try to pass his restaurant off as the kind of authentic Irish pub found in Ireland, where he has seen a lot of them on visits.

“You can’t be something you’re not, but we certainly have an Irish theme here. We’re particularly known for our food and our beer, including a variety of Irish brews, many more than just Guinness. We’ve got some great Western European beers on tap, too,” he said.

Dining tables are arranged around the perimeter, with a horseshoe-shaped bar in the middle and television sets suspended overhead. On the lower floor, there’s a meeting and conference room big enough to seat up to 86 people. O’Donnell said that the gathering space has been highly popular, attracting family gatherings for birthdays and anniversaries as well as company parties and meetings of Rotary clubs, the Snohomish County Apartment Operators Association and Lynnwood Magic, the local magicians’ group.