Restaurants/Hospitality Two Podners enterprise By BrenDA mAtAmoros thrives in DFW, new facilities to include banquet room Delivering food with a healthy serving of satisfaction will always be the goal of James Runnels and Fred Conwright as the two enterprising entrepreneurs continue to expand the corpo -ration and diversity of its services. Two Podners is aptly named for the two gentlemen because they are exactly that — two friends, two associates and two business partners. They are ever-expanding their restaurant and catering services and have established themselves once again in South Dallas for their latest venture, Grow South. The new establishment is a 10,760-square-foot building that will accommodate their growing business, including a banquet hall for receptions and meetings. “We had the opportunity, with the new construction, to de -sign it like we wanted, and to come up with a design that we could franchise in the future,” Conwright said. “We didn’t have enough space before, and now with the new construction that includes a two-story building, the second floor will house a banquet facility that will probably seat up to about 50 people, and we can have meeting spaces every day.” Other Two Podners successes include catering for the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce at the Dallas Convention Center and DFW Airport events, including the grand opening of Ter -minal D. They also have three locations inside the DFW airport. For more than a decade, the two have been working together to achieve the same goal and dream that Runnels and Conwright began materializing in 1981, with the opening of the first Two Podners (formerly Ponderosa Barbecue) on Pennsylvania Avenue. They invested everything in the project with both men work -ing two jobs to help make the business grow. Hard work and perseverance were paying off when a pit fire in 1982 resulted in the total devastation of the facility. “We lost our shirt in that deal,” acknowledged Conwright. But they bounced back in late 1982; they opened another store on Loop 12, shortly before reopening the Pennsylvania Avenue store in 1983. Service, food and a dedicated staff helped build the organizations momentum and, in 1984, another store opened on Bonnie View Road. This restaurant differed from the others because fried fish was the main course. It seemed only natural, for the next step was to combine the best of two worlds. So in 1988, Two Pod -ners opened on Grand Avenue, and you had your choice of barbecue or seafood. With four stores in various locations, in 1989, Runnels and Conwright decided to close the Pennsyl -vania store, which was in such close proximity to the Grand Avenue location. It was strictly a business decision because the two partners were already looking ahead. Their eyes were set on the recently closed Burger King facility on Robert B. Cullum Boulevard, and in April 1991 moved to the much larger and more accessible fa -cility. During the peak season for Two Podners, the corporation 38 MBN TEXAS Vol. 1, 2015 employs nearly 200 people. The employees are divided between the restaurants, the State Fair of Texas and Two Podners’ thriving catering business. Among their clientele, you’ll find corporate catering provided for DFW Airport, Balfour Beatty Construc -tion Co. and Austin Commercial Construction Co., to name a few. Other catering services are provided to Dallas Independent School District, John Eagle Honda dealership, and businesses such as the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce. “There’s a need for meeting facilities, so it will help us pro -vide a meeting facility for the community. For all of the Dal -las Black Chamber of Commerce, and all of the people we do business with, and different sorority or fraternity groups, dif -ferent organizations in the community, and even with the City of Dallas,” Conwright said. “Everyone needs to hold meetings in the area. That will help us to be able to provide that kind of meeting space and be able to cater those events. It’s going to be a win-win situation for our business and the community.” www.mbntexas.biz
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