Out of the Weeds / Three Birds Tavern
After raising our children in Ohio, my husband Jack and I retired from our prior careers and moved to Florida in 2009, when we started Three Birds Tavern. The restaurant is located in a 130 plus year-old farm house, one of the oldest buildings in St. Petersburg, that has been operating as a restaurant for 30 years. As of February, we became the longest tenured owners of the property to operate it as a restaurant. During that time, I have increased overall sales by more than 70%, and food sales by over 400%. We are open 7 days a week for lunch, dinner and late night kitchen, with over 35 employees, some who have been with us since the first year.
After the first five years of highs and lows at Three Birds, I was ready to start a new venture and thought it made the most sense to leverage our existing, successful business. The sauces and dresses made in our scratch kitchen had become popular, with our guests often asking for extra servings in to-go containers to take home, so I began exploring manufacturing in 2014. Out of the Weeds is a play on the hospitality industry phrase, “in the weeds”, used when one is overwhelmed and often falls behind. So as I came “out of the weeds”, I officially launched my food manufacturing company, Out of the Weeds, in October of 2014, and my products are offered at Three Birds Tavern, local gourmet shops, and at 170 Winn-Dixie stores throughout Florida, including the new flagship store in Baymeadows, Jacksonville. I am in continued talks with Southeastern Grocers, parent company and home of BI-LO, Harveys and Winn-Dixie grocery stores, the fifth-largest conventional supermarket chain in the U.S. and the second-largest conventional supermarket in the southeast, about product line expansion, as well as other major retailers.
Out of the Weeds product line currently consists of all-natural salad dressings: Carrot Ginger, Roasted Beet Vinaigrette and Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette. The dressings are not only delicious as salad toppers, but are versatile, and equally delicious as marinades, roasting and grilling basters, and dips. Stay tuned for new products.
Follow Robin: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and herĀ website,