Bringing the beef to Brook Highland: Franchisee opens his 3rd Beef O’Brady’s in metro Birmingham

George McCluney always knew he wanted to be in the hospitality industry. After spending much of his career working in human resources, he’s been a restaurant owner for the past decade.

“What I really thought I wanted to do — being a music buff — was to have a New York-style jazz bar, but after I went down the road of research, I realized it didn’t make financial sense to do it,” McCluney said.

When he saw a shopping center development was being built near his home in Hoover, he changed his plans to something different.

McCluney knew about Beef O’Brady’s from family in Florida, and after visiting one in Tampa for the first time, he decided that it would be a perfect fit. Initially, the name was misleading to McCluney, as it is to many people. He didn’t know what to expect other than steaks, but to his surprise, the menu had something for everyone.

Before opening his Hoover location, both of his children were playing middle school ball.

“I told my wife that there was really nowhere to go after games, and that shopping center would be a great place to put a restaurant,” he said.

It was 2010 when he opened his first Beef O’Brady’s location in Hoover. Although he wasn’t necessarily looking to expand, nearly five years later, he opened up his second location in Helena.

“When I saw the location with a freestanding deck overlooking Buck Creek, I knew it would be a great spot,” he said.

With roots dating back to 1985, Beef O’Brady’s first location was in Florida. It began as a family-friendly restaurant and also became a neighborhood pub for people to enjoy food and sports in a family-friendly atmosphere.

“It’s my understanding that a local kid got pulled into MLB, and Jim Mellody [the founder of Beef O’Brady’s] went out and bought several TVs to put in the restaurant, and the whole community would come out and watch this young man play,” McCluney said.

After two successful locations, McCluney recently opened his third Beef O’Brady’s in the Brook Highland Plaza shopping center.

“I really wasn’t looking to open a new store anytime soon, but with the incentives from corporate headquarters encouraging current franchisees to open a new store, along with the location of the building [along the U.S. 280 corridor], I thought it made sense,” he said.

After signing the lease on the building, which was formerly The Boot at Brook Highland, McCluney said progress happened relatively fast. In less than a month, the space had new flooring, new paint and new furniture. The restaurant could have opened sooner, but the hiring process was slow, he said.

“It’s taken us this long to get what we feel like a solid core team,” he said. “We really wanted to have a total of 40 employees between servers, hosts, bartenders and kitchen staff. With the employment market the way it is, every business you drive by is hiring.”

McCluney said he believes that many employees left the service industry after the frustration of restaurants being closed by the government but believes the workforce is slowly returning.

He understands some people are still sensitive about the COVID-19 pandemic and being out in public, so the restaurant will have curbside options available for those who don’t want to eat inside.

“We will have dine in, catering and curbside, which I don’t think will ever go away. It has picked up across the country for all our locations and continues to be a larger part of our business than pre-COVID,” he said.

The menu features a variety of options including wings, burgers, wraps and sandwiches. There are also low-carb and gluten-free dishes as well.

“My kids say we have the best fish tacos in town,” he said. “Our wings are by far the biggest seller, the Philly cheesesteak is the most popular sandwich, and every night we have a value priced option like Taco Tuesdays and Fajita Thursdays.”

Beef O’Brady’s opened in Brook Highland on Sept. 13 and will be open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

For more information, visit beefobradys.com/brookhighland.