It was opening night, and there were customers — lots of them. Some were already seated with their families, eager to sink their teeth into a plate of brisket tacos, bone-in pork chops, or an old-fashioned hamburger. Others hung out in droves by the fire pit on the patio, listening to live music and soaking in a one-of-a-kind atmosphere with drinks in hand while their kids ate s’mores and played cornhole.
Marty Bryan was officially onto something big with his Marty B’s restaurant. Now … if he could only get the computer system to work.
“Any restaurant owner would dream of opening the doors on their first night and having that many customers. It was amazing — except our computer system crashed,” Bryan, 52, said of that November night in 2017. “I went home later, hit my knees, and prayed and cried.
“It was hard. I couldn’t just walk away, either — I’d invested my whole life into this.”
That last statement wasn’t an exaggeration. In the year leading up to opening night, he mortgaged a property he owned in Central Texas, all his vehicles, and anything else of value he could find. When he couldn’t get more loans, he turned to zero-percent credit cards — lots of them. And when his social security number finally wore out its welcome, his wife, Roxanne, used hers.
His personal guarantee didn’t carry much weight. But Bryan had a vision of creating a place where people could escape the everyday grind, connect with friends and family, and celebrate life in a fun, family-friendly environment unlike anything Denton County had seen.
Marty B’s was more than a restaurant, and Bryan didn’t want to just put it on the map — he wanted it to be the map.
“In some ways, it still wasn’t enough money,” Bryan said. “But my faith was strong, and I had a lot of people pulling for me.”
Seven years and millions of happy patrons later, it’s safe to say everything worked out.
Marty B’s, the restaurant, is thriving. It’s common for them to serve 10,000 customers a week, some even showing up on horseback. It is Bartonville, after all.
Meanwhile, Marty B’s Ventures, the brand, has taken on a life of its own. A literal stone’s throw from the restaurant in Bartonville Town Center is Marty B’s Coffee Co., Marty B’s Ice Cream, and Marty B’s To-Go, which has a full kitchen and services to-go orders for Marty B’s and the ice cream shop. Coming soon is a wedding venue called The Reserve at Marty B’s — because why not?
Not to be outdone, Bryan also owns the wildly popular 1845 Taste Texas and Rustico Wood Fired Grill and Wine Bar in Flower Mound with his business partner Brian Gasperson. Under construction are Cactus Canyon and Branded Bowls. Both will open this year in Argyle and are under his separate Circle Star Brands parent company with 1845 and Rustico.
That’s six businesses in six years. By the end of next year, there will be five more — four are under construction right now.
“It’s become migratory in a lot of ways. People will eat at Marty B’s, walk over to grab some ice cream, and then hang out on the porch at the coffee shop,” said Bryan, adding that they’ve served countless people between those three places in a single weekend. “The town I grew up in had 900 people — I’ve served 20 times that here in Bartonville. It’s exactly what my overall vision was for this area.”
He added, “I said from the beginning that I wanted to open everything within 20 minutes of my house, and that’s what I’ve done. That means I’ve only had to invent myself one time. People tell me all the time that they only dine with us. And that’s a great feeling.”
As a result, some might insist everything Marty Bryan touches turns to gold — going so far as to call him unstoppable. But it wasn’t always that way. Besides having to scrounge up financing practically from thin air, Bryan is the quintessential small-town boy who has had to work for everything in life — and overcome more personal tragedies and hardships than he’d care to admit.
Bryan moved around a lot growing up but spent most of his time in Lexington, Texas, a small town 50 miles northeast of Austin. In those days, money was hard to come by, so much so that his family routinely relied on food stamps to buy groceries. He’s said many times in interviews that he felt like his dignity was stripped away each time he had to use his free lunch card at school. To make matters more challenging, his stepmother suffered from alcoholism and would often lock 10-year-old Marty and his brother out of the house all day during the summer months. His father also had his vices and often kept his boys at the local bar with him late on school nights.
In 1984, his dad was in a horrible car accident and was paralyzed from the waist down. Although challenges existed, God has redeemed his family relationships for good. Marty considers his dad his hero for his positive outlook on life and for enduring all his many challenges.
Bryan kept his eyes on a bright future and used those hardships as life lessons. He graduated from high school in 1990 and attended Blinn Junior College for one year before entering the restaurant business.
He started with Outback Steakhouse, working his way up from a cook to a managing partner in 12 years. In that time, he helped open 20 new locations — all the while paying attention to how good Outback was at food and creating culture. In 2003, Bryan’s budding career took him to Cotton Patch Cafe, where he learned more about managing money and doing more with less. In 12 years with Cotton Patch, he helped grow the brand from 13 stores to 45 before it was sold in 2015.
That’s when Bryan decided it was time to go out independently and create something no one had seen before.
“I’ve been in this industry for 34 years, and in that time, I’ve been learning, refining, establishing processes and systems, and bringing in people who complement my strengths and make everything I do easy to duplicate,” Bryan said. “It’s taken a lot of hard work, and what makes Marty B’s and the brand so special is the people, the accountability we’ve created, and the intentionality behind how I engage with our customers and team. God gifted me with a talent for hospitality and building relationships, and I’ve been very intentional with how I’ve gone about it. I’m here. I’m in the weeds every day, and I understand the DNA of what I’ve created. That and taking care of people makes a difference. People don’t always remember what you say, but they’ll always remember how you made them feel.”
So what’s next for Marty Bryan? He can’t share all his plans quite yet. However, his mission is still the same: Open more restaurants, create opportunities for the more than 600 employees on his staff, provide even more for his wife and three kids (McKaley, Madison, and Brooks), and continue fostering an environment of faith and family.
In fact, Bryan has dubbed June as Faith and Family Month at Marty B’s. For the entire month, the plan is to host worship nights and kid movie nights each week. There will be a family-friendly dueling piano night on June 20 and a special Western Day to celebrate dads on Father’s Day. The Grove Church will also continue to hold its services every Sunday, as has been the case for the past five years.
“I’ve got way more ideas than that … I just can’t tell you yet,” Bryan said with a smile. “The expectations people have when going into any of my businesses is high — that’s a tremendous responsibility, and it motivates me to do better every day.
“I just want people to have a great experience whenever they are here. I thank God every day for allowing me to do this.”
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