The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – Construction of the Whiskey Creek Sports Bar & Grill on Waitsburg's east side is moving ahead right on track, and owners expect to open the doors in late March or early April. The recent hire of the Grill's first employee, General Manager Gary Bales, will help to speed that process along.

Whiskey Creek, located on the former site of the White Stallion Restaurant at 701 Preston Avenue, is a joint effort of investors Dan Cole, Ken Cole, Jr., Guy McCaw and Byron Seney, along with wives Trina, Elizabeth, Lynn and Kim. wThey hope the restaurant will fill the void for casual family dining in the community.

From the beginning, the investors intended to be largely hands-off, turning the restaurant operations over to a general manager. "Our intent is to have an excellent manager who is very experienced with this type of business," said Ken Cole last March. Gary Bales was hired to fill that position effective with the new year.

Bales, originally from Crescent City, Calif., lives with his wife, three sons and a daughter in Clarkston, Wash. And while he calls Clarkston home, the bulk of his time has been spent in Alaska, recently, where he worked four weeks on, two weeks off, for a catering company that did remote site work for the oil industry. Bales left that job in October and applied for the position at Whiskey Creek when he learned of it through Sysco foods. He hopes to be able to move to Waitsburg with his family this summer.

Bales says he has spent over twenty years in the restaurant business, working his way from the bottom up and learning through "the School of Hard Knocks." His achievements include running a four-star, Wine Spectator Award-winning restaurant in Sun Valley and a gig as executive sous chef at the prestigious Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the Oregon coast.

"My goal for Whiskey Creek is to provide the best food and best service in town, with a fun environment where people can go and have drinks and great food and enjoy themselves," said Bales.

He's already put together a sample limited menu that includes breakfast items, sandwiches, salads, burgers and steaks. He is working to develop made-from-scratch, in-house recipes that he believes will help keep costs reasonable. Bales plans to offer both daily and weekend specials and is working on some signature bar drinks as well.

Dena Wood

New Whiskey Creek Sports Bar & Grill general manager Gary Bales (l) stopped for a quick photo with restaurant investor Ken Cole, Jr. before heading to the work site to check on construction progress.

Bales estimates that Whiskey Creek will employ roughly 10-12 people between the restaurant, bar and kitchen, especially in the beginning when they are likely to be the busiest. He said that quality and consistency will be top priority and that a fellow chef has agreed to come in and help him train his cooks to ensure that dishes taste and looks the same no matter who's doing the cooking.

Cole said that most of the big construction hurdles on the building are out of the way. The electrical and plumbing are roughed in and HVAC should be finished this week. The interior work has been turned over to Bales who will oversee the completion of the kitchen, bar and restaurant. Cole anticipates drywall and insulation will start going up in about two weeks and the progression should escalate quickly from there.

With opening day of baseball season slated for April 6, it's possible local fans may be able to watch the first Mariner game of the year on one of the restaurant's six flat screen TVs while enjoying a burger and a brew.

Online: Visit Whiskey Creek Sports Bar & Grill on Facebook for updates and to see photos of the inside of the restaurant as progress continues.