Photo by Erica Techo.
Michael Burch and his wife Michele are partners in The Boot concept with Mike McCowan.
The wall above the drink machine and condiment station at The Boot at Brook Highland has a message: “Serve yourself.”
That message heads up the dining concept at The Boot, a fast-casual restaurant where customers order at the counter and then get drinks, refills, condiments and napkins themselves.
“You don’t have to wait on someone else,” said owner Michael Burch, who is partners in The Boot concept with Mike McCowan. “You don’t have to wait on the check or someone to bring you a new drink.”
McCowan developed the concept behind The Boot, including the rustic décor and emphasis on fresh ingredients, and opened the first location at The Preserve in Hoover. The same concept is maintained at the Brook Highland location. The Boot serves tacos, salads, sandwiches, burgers and Southern plate meals.
“You have the same flavors, the recipes, the same what I would call consistency of product,” McCowan said.
Burch and his wife, Michele, live in The Preserve and first ate at The Boot about five years ago. After dining there, Burch said he approached McCowan with a partnership proposal.
Burch said the concept appealed to him because of the high-quality food and good family atmosphere. Burch and his wife have two children who are now 14 and 11 years old, and he said the restaurant fit well for their family.
“I felt comfortable eating dinner with them or meeting friends for a drink after work,” he said. “It’s just a fun atmosphere.”
After deciding to open a second location, Burch said he and McCowan traveled U.S. 280 for about three weeks before settling on the location in Brook Highland Plaza, near ULTA and Sprouts.
The location appealed to them because of the size of the space, the accessibility to the shopping center — “not having to make a U-turn to get access to it,” Burch said — and the larger parking lot.
“We have near infinite parking,” Burch said. “We will never run out of parking.”
Because the shopping center has so much parking, they were able to block off some of the spots to create a patio, which Burch said is important to the overall concept of The Boot.
The patio includes several tables for outdoor seating and is typically where a band will perform on Friday and Saturday nights.
“It’s one of our most popular places at our other location,” Burch said.
In addition to the patio, the restaurant has a full-service bar that seats 20 and a private room that seats 50. The room can be rented for anything from business luncheons to birthday parties. It offers a “corporate casual” setting, McCowan said, and has a large screen that can show movies or computer presentations.
The Boot opened in May and already has seen success. Burch said most of the customers have heard about the restaurant via word of mouth, and they already have received more business than initially expected. He credits the restaurant’s success with ensuring everything from employees to recipes was correct from the start. He said he is excited to see the business grow in the future and welcoming more customers to The Boot.
“I just look forward to people enjoying what we have to offer,” he said.
The Boot at Brook Highland
Where: 5279 U.S. 280, Suite B
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
