EIS House Restaurant and Lodge

Restaurant Name: EIS House Restaurant and Lodge

Employees: 19

Owners: Chrissy Mason, Debbie Ferris, 

Jason Allers and Tim Allers (All Siblings)

Location: Mexico, NY

EIS House (pronounced “ICE”) Restaurant and Lodge is an important fixture in the small, rural town of Mexico, New York. It’s a restaurant, bar, and event venue. They even have several small rooms that can be booked making it a lodge as well. EIS House is an upscale, casual, and homey restaurant that is the, “go-to,” place for great food, great drinks and live music. As the only restaurant (that isn’t a dive bar) for miles around the EIS House has become a place of first dates, proposals, weddings, graduations parties and countless memories for generations of locals. This restaurant is more than a restaurant, it’s a gathering place to encourage connection through the timeless method of breaking bread with your neighbor. So, when Jason, (the Aller’s family’s oldest brother,) heard that the EIS House was being sold, and perhaps closed permanently, he convinced the rest of his three siblings to purchase and save their beloved small-town restaurant. Easy enough? Buying a business and running a business are very different!

Jason, sister Chrissy, sister Debbie and brother Tim are far from restaurant experts and each have diverse business backgrounds. Chrissy co-owns a gym and has a, “little” bartending experience to her name. Debbie’s background is in accounting, so she handles the numbers of the restaurant. Jason is an insurance broker, and Tim is a wrestling coach and life coach. What they lack in professional experience they make up for in enthusiasm and elbow grease. But is that enough to run a restaurant and a lodge? Not to mention: is going into business with your siblings a recipe for disaster or success? They’re all big personalities, with differing ideas of how things should be. They admit that they can bounce between butting heads and being best friends on the turn of a dime.

November of 2022, the previous owners transitioned the business to the Aller siblings. Debbie and Chrissy have taken charge on the day to day with Tim and Jason helping where and when they can. Because of Tim and Jason’s previous work obligations they aren’t available to invest as much time and energy into the running the day to day of the business. The previous owners trained the siblings as much as they could but the four siblings still have a long way to go in learning the ropes of an industry that is brand new to them. Today, they find themselves in a precarious predicament. They’re leaning on their staff, who are more experienced than they are, to teach them how to run a restaurant. A sure-fire way to backfire!

The siblings lack of experience and their openness about “we’ve never done this before” starts the siblings down a dangerous and slippery path: If an employee is training their boss on things such as inventory, point of sales, purchase orders, hours, etc., what stops them from unethical practices? The potential for fraud and corruption is staggering. The other glaring issue: what do you do if you’re inexperienced in an industry that you need to also serve in as a leader? It’s been tricky to say the least. Chrissy and Debbie have a hard time commanding respect and authority. As owners, they take a fun, party approach which doesn’t help the staff to respect them or follow the rules. Debbie has an “end of the shift” drink rule, where when the staff is done working, they can have a drink. The staff soon stopped waiting until the END of the shift, and started drinking on the job! It has gotten so out of control, that one of the kitchen staff was stumbling around the restaurant drunk because he stole and drank a bottle of vodka! 

The EIS house is facing many operational issues that the siblings don’t know how to fix. Some of their biggest issues include: long wait times, poor quality food being served, staff behaving badly, and general lack of organization, protocol and practices. Since the EIS House is a big part of the community, people like to come in. Problem is, since the siblings started taking over, it’s taking way too long to get food served. They’re not sure why that’s the case because they’ve hired extra hands both front of house and back of house. Of course, front of house blames it on the back, and back blames it on the front! The head chef, 25-year-old Dan, says that he has his kitchen on lock down, but other employees really question if someone who’s 25 years old, who’s more interested in partying every night, should be allowed carte blanche at EIS house? There’s been issues with meat being cooked and served raw. Once is bad enough to undercook wings, but what happens when it happens two or three times in a row?

Heidi, head bartender, has worked in restaurants and bars since she was young and believes that the Aller sibling’s hearts are in the right place, but they need to get their head out of the clouds, stop socializing so much, and get in the trenches and learn by doing. Otherwise, they’re never going to actually learn. There’s no systems in place and no accountability if someone acts out.

Heidi also thinks that the owners are too nice, and don’t hold bad behavior accountable, creating a free for all. Also, many of the employees only know their very specific duties, and there’s little cross over. The servers really only know how to serve, and can’t help in the back and vice versa. And then there’s the issue with kitchen staff not showing up on time and behaving unprofessionally. All in all, it’s the blind leading the blind!

It’s not that the siblings don’t want to help, they’re simply newbies. Chrissy is clueless when it comes to being on the floor and helping out with the kitchen. Instead of assisting with the food or serving, she just “stands there.” Jason, will help from time to time, but his background is insurance, not cooking. Tim hasn’t had the time to properly devote to the restaurant, so he’s been absentee. And Debbie will try to help, but her experience is in accounting and numbers, so she’s not sure how to pitch in either!  

Either the siblings will find their rhythm and voice as owners or they’ll lead their employees and business into the ground. They each have so much invested, both financially as well as personally into this business, they would be heartbroken, embarrassed and devastated if they were known as the “kids who ruined the EIS House.” They have so much at stake, this restaurant has to work. They clearly need help and don’t know where to turn!