Wil Andruschak

How big is your shack on Macleod Trail?

It’s 100 square feet, eight by 12 feet. It’s a fully operational restaurant with a toilet and a sink. It’s an airplane washroom. It looks like it’s right out of a DC-9.

What is your beef shack?

I serve AAA beef from High River. There are four core sandwiches. There’s a drive-thru and a takeout window with seven picnic tables. The beef is roasted and I slice it just before I open and put it on 10-inch baguettes.

What made you think of starting this?

I was in the wine industry for 15 years. I did a lot of wine and food pairing with chefs. People know good food from bad, but time is more important to them. Of all the years that I have spent driving around looking for good fast food, it just wasn’t available. Hence, the consequence of opening up a good fast food restaurant.

What do most people order?

On any given day, it’s hard to say. You remember last summer when we had those really wicked heat waves? On those days the No. 1 was the beef deep with the hot gravy. I didn’t see that one coming. Beef dip and cheese steak are probably the two most prominent.

Did you get this idea from the Stampede grounds?

Part of it came from that. Everybody always talked about the beef on a bun at the Stampede. But nobody sold it after those 10 days, so that is what started the spark at the beginning. It seemed logical.

Hence, why one of your mottos is: The sandwich that made Calgary famous?

Yeah, that’s a little spin on words. The beef on a bun has been synonymous with Calgary and the Stampede for years. You couldn’t get it anywhere else.

Are you busy more in winter or summer?

More so in summer because of the use of the picnic tables. We opened last July.

Are you thinking of opening elsewhere in the city?

Absolutely. I’ve got the second location underway. It seats 890 people. It’s going to be called Stockyard Saloon, owned by Trevor Tomanik of Boston Pizza and Metropolitan Grill, a high-end country music club. They are looking at opening in April on Macleod Trail, just south of Glenmore Trail.

Are you going to have a shack in there?

I’m taking over the kitchen. It’s a fully operational kitchen. So, I’ll be putting a chef in there. Even though there’s Ranchman’s, people might want something a little newer, cleaner, fresh and exciting.

I hear there’s quite a lineup on some days.

Yeah, a fair bit. A lot of the guys who work construction or outdoors stand at the takeout window and there’s a lot of people at the drive-thru. And I do a lot of catering for company parties.

What’s the biggest order you’ve had?

Barbecue beef for 300 people.

Do you have any quirky customers?

I’ve got a lot of regulars who come every day. I’ve got one gal who is a CFO of a company and she’s there four out of five days a week. I never expected to get as many ladies as I’m getting. It’s upwards of about 30 per cent. I’m getting affluent white-collar guys and blue-collar. You’ve got every walk of life.

Is it you in the shack?

Absolutely. You’ve got to have a passion to take it forward, to where you believe it needs to be. I had a chef in the beginning but he wasn’t taking it to the level that I wanted it to go to. It’s all glass all around. People eat with their eyes before they do with their mouths.