By Tess Ficcaglia
Special to the PARADE
Jill Zavaleta, one of the five owners of the Hopper Haus Bar and Grill, located at 418 E. Queen Isabella Blvd, at the foot of the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway, is about as vivacious as an owner can be. She is constantly running around like the Energizer Bunny, making sure her guests are taken care of and happy. She has a smile that lights up the room and makes you feel extraordinarily welcome at the Hopper Haus Bar and Grill. She laughs as she tells me how her husband, Ernie Zavaleta, sister and brother-in-law, Debbie and Bart Bickerton, and nephew Bayler Bickerton, fell into purchasing what was once the Causeway Café.
All of them are from the corporate world without any food and beverage experience whatsoever, except Bayler Bickerton, who was a bartender at the aforementioned Causeway Café. They made the leap and have worked hard to use their corporate knowledge to make Hopper Haus Bar and Grill as successful as it is today.
Originally from Minnesota, they agreed a Bavarian style pub like those found in most neighborhoods of their home-state might work.
The food and beer were top priority. Distributors were located that could supply the bratwurst, sauerkraut, angus beef and pork for the schnitzel. Jill Zavaleta is happy that they can purchase most of their ingredients from local farms, bakeries and protein suppliers.
Let’s talk about beer! The extensive draft beer selection, which changes almost daily, is almost exclusively brewed in our fine state of Texas, which Jill Zavaleta takes pride in.
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