From dilapidated building to sports bar in six weeks. Stewart “Froggie” Fraser described this process to the Pattaya City Expats Club at their meeting on Sunday, May 10. Fraser’s Restaurant and Sports Bar opened one year ago on Thappraya Road in the Chateau Dale complex. Stewart said that he would never have been able to do it that quickly in his home country of Australia.
Stewart has been in the hospitality industry nearly all his life, in Australia and in Thailand. He grew up in a small Victorian country town called Berwick. His upbringing was based around playing sport & socializing so he is a self confessed sports junkie who enjoys a drink. He says his career in the hospitality business started with the local pub in Berwick as a kid and then moving into the city as an assistant manager of a busy suburban pub. He moved on to Brisbane where with a group of partners they built and opened up Grand Orbit; an entertainment complex with an art gallery, library, nightclub, cafe & restaurant. He later built and opened a restaurant called Blu Poles. After moving to Thailand, he managed various hospitality venues in Bangkok and Pattaya including the last five years at Shenanigans in Pattaya before opening Frasers after deciding it was time to do his own thing. Fraser’s was born; built in memory of his mother and father.
Stewart “Froggie” Fraser describes to his PCEC audience how he renovated a dilapidated looking building into his Fraser’s Sports Bar and Restaurant in only six weeks.
He described how he had been on the lookout for a suitable location when he noted a rather dilapidated structure on the corner of Château Dale Complex on Thappraya Road. He decided this was the place and proceeded to acquire and renovate it into his idea of a good sports bar. Unlike Australia, he did not have to go to several government agencies to get approval of his building plans or licenses for operating the business. In Pattaya, it was basically one stop to get the licenses he needed to operate.
As its name makes obvious, Stewart says Fraser’s Restaurant and Sports Bar is a place for sports junkies. Further, Fraser’s subscribes to several satellite TV services in order to bring sporting events to its customers. There are nine television monitors spread throughout the indoor part of the restaurant and bar (and a few more outside on the terrace). Stewart said that his restaurant is packed for every major sporting event. While most of the telecasts are from Europe and Australia, Fraser’s occasionally opens early to accommodate people interested in the major sporting events from the U.S. (Fraser’s normally opens at 8 a.m.)
But Fraser’s also targets families. Stewart created a separate area in the bar for kids to play. And he hired a full time staffer to look after the kids. Stewart said that the promotion of his restaurant and bar is done almost exclusively through his Facebook page and website, both of which are updated daily.
Fraser’s has introduced several measures to keep the customers coming, including a happy hour with specials; weekly promotions such as “all you can eat pizza” on Thursdays and barbeques on Sundays; and making U.K. and Australian papers available.
Fraser’s Sports Bar and Restaurant before renovation.
Stewart’s described how his father used to offer his friends a free beer every Saturday at precisely 4:27 p.m., and that he has kept up this tradition in Fraser’s. If you are there at 4:27 p.m. on Saturday, you will get a free beer. Fraser’s also gives away “ribbits” as prizes. The ribbits, which look like poker chips, can be exchanged for a free drink. Fraser’s also provides free delivery to the Jomtien area, which Stewart described as an important part of his business mix.
Running a restaurant and bar in Pattaya is not without its challenges, Stewart explained. Good staff are hard to get. Some of the people who worked for him at Shenanigan’s came with him to Fraser’s. Stewart said that he tried to hire new staff, but he ended up going back to people he knew and paying them a little extra.
Fraser’s Sports Bar and Restaurant after six weeks of renovation work.
He also explained how the hardest part was getting good kitchen staff. This is because farang food is cooked by Thai chefs who have been trained by other Thai chefs who did not really know how to prepare farang food properly and who passed their bad habits on to the next generation. Stewart addresses this problem by keeping the dishes simple and by emphasizing the importance of consistency in the quality of the dishes. For more information about Fraser’s, visit their website at www.fraserspattaya.com or their Face Book page at: https://www.facebook.com/fraserssportsbar?fref=ts.
After the presentation, MC Richard Silverberg brought everyone up to date on upcoming events and called on Roy Albiston to conduct the Open Forum, where questions are asked and answered about Expat living in Thailand, especially Pattaya.
For more information on the PCEC’s many activities, visit their website at www.pcecclub.org.
Stewart is joined by his family as Roy Albiston presents him with the PCEC’s Certificate of Appreciation for his interesting presentation to the Club.
PCEC member Ren Lexander interviews Stewart about his presentation to the PCEC. Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBmwe1Ej0Ns to see a video of the interview.
