Have you ever shown up to work and noticed you were wearing clothes strikingly similar to someone else at work? At Kerbey Lane Café, CEO Mason Ayer encourages his staff to stop and snap a picture. It’s not just about having a fun moment with co-workers, it’s about stopping to notice each other.

On Wednesday, July 25th at our Speaker Series luncheon, Austin Young Chamber members learned some inside secrets about how Kerbey Lane Café became a local icon, and how they are able to stay true to their core values of loving food and people through expansions, change, and growth.

The original Kerbey Lane Café opened in May of 1980 in a 1930’s bungalow, and has since grown to seven (soon to be eight) locations in the Central Texas Region. Ayer shared that Kerbey Lane Café’s most important objective is to deliver happiness to each of the 50,000 guests who visit their restaurant each week.

The easiest way to make people happy? Order the queso! Kerbey Lane’s own research shows that guests who order the Kerbey Queso are almost twice as likely to return!

While we’re not sure about the origin of the Kerbey Queso, we did learn that Kerbey Lane Café began as, and still is, a family business. Ayer shared memories from his childhood, growing up and helping out at the original Kerbey Lane Café started by his parents. And the original vision still holds true today…to create a restaurant that provides an affordable, full meal service using quality ingredients where team members are treated well and part of the family.

Members present were able to taste the quality first hand thanks to catering by Kerbey Lane’s own Executive Chef Joe Anguiano.

While we cannot always promise such a spectacular spread, we have more great speakers lined up for you in our Speaker Series. Join us at our next Speaker Series on Wednesday, August 22nd with AU40’s Austinite of the Year Sujata Ajmera!