Instead of writing some gratuitous story about how great (we think) we are, we’ve decided to post an article written by unbiased journalists. Enjoy.
LISA & BRAD EVANS- STACKED SANDWICHES
Give this place a visit if you like funky, descriptive sandwiches on the menu, finger snapping music, a good looking, sharp, efficient crew; great ambiance and a beer selection to die for. Everything is fresh at the Stacked Sandwiches eatery, owned by Lisa & Brad Evans,located in the Oak Park Business Center, one block south of Grand Avenue: fresh food, fresh and clean environment, fresh looks and fresh ideas on how to operate a successful food service business.
Lisa and Brad were both born and raised in the valley. They graduated from Tulare Union High School in the early eighties and, although they knew each other in high school, love
and marriage came later. After high school, Lisa wanted to be a physical therapist but with the field overcrowded and encouraged by her mother she attended a start up nursing program at Cal
State Bakersfield, graduating in 1990 with a degree in Nursing. Her first job was in Visalia, Kaweah Delta Hospital, in the physical rehabilitation center. Lisa said, “This was greatexperience for me, I learned how to deal with people, I got to practice hands on nursing and learned where my next immediate future would be, in the Home Health business.” Lisa found employment in the private Home Health Agency business where she started as a field nurse, became a clinical supervisor, and then joined the administrative team. The agency she worked for quickly expanded setting up agencies in other communities in California and Lisa became the point person to start them up in business. She reviewed plans, established procedures, hired and trained staff. The facility was then turned over to the owners and their management company.
She and Brad always liked the central coast. After a short time with an agency in Yuba City, "That was a mistake,” she said, the family moved to the Five Cities Area where she opened up anagency in the old DMV office in Grover Beach. After very hard work for Sierra Vista Hospital as a staff nurse and operating room nurse, she was offered the job as the Director of Operations for the Oak Park Surgery Center in Arroyo Grande. Sean O’Neil, her mentor and the driving force behind expanding surgical centers, encouraged her to continue as a consultant to assist in start ups of new centers in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.
Meanwhile, after high school, Brad attended Long Beach State College where, in 1985, he received his BA degree in Radio, Television and Film. He had a varied career after moving to
the Five Cities area: worked with his brother developing TV commercials, he was a disc jockey at the Graduate in San Luis Obispo, returned to Tulare for his teacher’s certificate and, for four years, taught at both Hanford and Strathmore High Schools.
Brad and Lisa were married in 1987, they have two lovely children, daughter Alex, 18 and son Rece, 14. Brad said, “I knew that Lisa was the major bread winner in our family.
Raising our family properly was very important to us and I had various jobs so that I could be available when Lisa had other business commitments while climbing the corporate ladder.” Hedid manage to become certified as an Ophthalmology Assistant and worked six years for the doctors of Pacific Eye Surgeons here on the Central Coast.
A few years ago, Lisa and Brad helped her brother move to Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. They loved the area, decided they wanted to move and explored an opportunity to go into the food business; a family operated San Francisco sourdough sandwich business. Lisa said, “We had big ideas, we would include the family, big dreams, but it didn’t work. The timing was just not right
for us!” They decided to create their own sandwich shop idea and stay in Grover Beach. They came up with the entire concept, from the menu, customer service orientation, the quality of food, cleanliness of the shop and the creative marketing. (Have you seen a “Show Me Your Stack!” sticker around town? The premium handcrafted sandwiches not only taste good, but also have a great presentation with funny names: Jane Doe, The Oinker, The Mobster, Lisa’s Stack, Fishbreath, The Treehugger, The Hippy Chick, The Moo Cow, The Philly Wonka; names that would attract independent thinkers. Lisa said, “All we ask is to just try our sandwiches!
You won’t be disappointed”
Brad said, “It took us two weeks to plan out this concept, then Lisa quit her job with the surgery center, we signed the lease June, 2006, and opened for business about three months later; and we have continued to grow from 80 sandwiches per day in the first months to over 200 per day.” Lisa said, “We pride ourselves in efficiency, fast and friendly and customer oriented service, extreme cleanliness, fresh ingredients and a varied menu.” Catering of business meetings is another popular feature of their business. “We cater to banks, pharmaceutical representatives, the Chamber and other businesses in the area,” Brad said. Their sandwiches were recently proclaimed by the Coast News as the best sandwich in the area.
Their long term goal is to open three or four more businesses in other locations in SLO and Santa Barbara Counties. “We don’t want to model our expansion as a structured franchise
like other fast food operations. We would like to develop a partnership arrangement where there is plenty of opportunity to be creative. We will provide our partners start up knowledge and
training and help get the business headed on a successful path,” Lisa said.
They are members of the Grover Beach and Pismo Beach Chambers of Commerce. Brad is on the Board of Directors of the Grover Beach Chamber of Commerce and Lisa is the current President of the Grover Beach Rotary Club.
Lisa said, “We love it here in Grover Beach. We have been treated fairly by the City of Grover Beach and are visited by many of the city employees. We have lived in the area for almost 15 years, we have made excellent connections and good friends and we are eager to donate our time and talents back to our community.”
