The Workman’s Friend is an authentic Irish American pub located in the heart of Plaza Midwood. Workman’s offers a welcoming atmosphere and friendly service with a full bar and scratch-made, garden fare menu. You can dine inside their cozy indoor dining room, outfitted with a working fireplace, or enjoy the open-air patio overlooking Central Avenue.
The Workman’s Friend is part of a larger restaurant group, owned by Tommy Timmins, Kevin Devin, and Maynard Goble, which includes Tyber Creek in Southend and Dandelion Market, Prohibition, Connolly’s On Fifth, and The Daily Tavern in Uptown.
We sat down with Tanner Childs, General Manager of Workman’s, to talk more about their commitment to sustainability and his goal to make all of their restaurants certified Ocean Friendly.
Tell us about The Workman’s Friend and its mission.
Workman’s started in 2015. It’s an Irish pub and restaurant named after a poem called “The Workman’s Friend” by Flann O'Brien. It’s about a blue collar man hard on his luck and his only friend is a pint of plain, which is a pint of Guinness. Workman’s has that blue collar feel where you can come and be social.
When I took over as General Manager in 2020, I came from Uptown where you have your community but you also have a lot of strangers. Here in Plaza, you’re part of the neighborhood. I wanted to add my personality to the place and become part of the neighborhood—benefit the neighborhood, have the neighborhood appreciate what we do for it, create that community feel, and leave it better.
How did you get involved with Surfrider’s Ocean Friendly Restaurants program?
I am really big into native plants and try to improve my footprint everywhere that I can. So, I was slowly taking steps towards sustainability, and Carson (co-founder and CEO of The Giddy Goat) turned me onto Surfrider, which gave me a bigger goal and more education on the process.
Carson and I have been working together a lot. He provides all of our coffee products, and he’s got a lot going on and knows a lot of people. In a small conversation, it became clear that we had very similar interests. He introduced me to the Surfrider Foundation and also Crown Town Compost. It made it super easy to put me on the fast track to get behind all of the good things to be waste-free.
What motivates your push for sustainability?
I don’t know if it’s an epiphany or what but I feel I can’t really have an opinion unless I’m doing the steps that I’m doing. Whether it’s at my small little half acre yard or the power that I have in this restaurant to do something, and we’re not going to change the world alone, but if I’m doing my part then I can passionately debate, argue, or educate because I’m doing every step that I can. And that adds a lot of passion to it because I’m doing the most that I can and can spread that message.
What advice do you have for other restaurants that want to be ocean friendly?
The practices are fairly easy in my opinion. I’m fortunate that we are well-established so costs were not too much of a concern. The costs in the long run are going to be better if you’re cutting out single-use products and only offering certain things when requested.
Workman’s really focuses on presentation and glassware. For to-go, I pretty much ordered the same products that Carson was using at Giddy Goat and compost with Crown Town Compost. So, I didn’t really see any obstacles other than just finding the products. It’s easy when you have a passion for it. That’s probably going to be the hardest part of convincing other restaurants.
What are your goals for the future?
I would like to get my entire company on board by providing the products that we order, the steps we have taken, and some of the training that we went through with staff. And then my big picture goal is to turn Plaza Midwood into a completely Ocean Friendly Restaurants neighborhood. I think the biggest argument to be made is I think it will add business. We are seeing a lot of excitement from customers and I feel like as a neighborhood it will be beneficial to bring everyone to Plaza. It just adds to what makes the neighborhood better.
Is your local Charlotte restaurant Ocean Friendly? If not, encourage them to sign up and join the movement to end single-use plastics!