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Embellish with the basics Like his flagship restaurant 131 Main, Cowboy has no freezer on site. Everything in the kitchen is fresh and scratch-made. The menu revolves around six basics — rib eye and filet steaks, beef ribs, beef brisket, rotisserie chicken cooked over a woodfire grill, and chicken tenders. Douglas takes the basics to further expand menu offerings, such as tacos, salads and sandwich entrees. “The menu is about 14 items, but we feel they are the best available on the market,” says Douglas. Three house-made barbecue sauces — the Cowboy House
BBQ, Tangy Texas and Peach Habanero — are on the tables for customers to sauce meats to their liking. Sides include fries, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, Mexican street corn salad, collard greens, coleslaw, Brunswick stew, black bean soup and a Cowboy salad. The usual suspects — chicken tenders and cheese quesadillas — round out the children’s menu. Cowboy also offers party packs for entertaining at home or on the lake. “This is a local business that is designed to accommodate the Lake Norman community,” says Douglas. In addition to fountain drinks, tea and lemonade, Cowboy serves fresh-pressed juices and
hand-spun milkshakes. A minibar features 12 wines, as well as beer from Lake Norman craft breweries: D9, Primal and Ass Clown.
A bakery, too A unique feature of Cowboy is its bakery. Breads (loaf, buns, fresh rolls) and pies are made in-house and available for customers to purchase and take home. Douglas says the breakfast bread, made with fresh fruit, is perfect for taking home and toasting for breakfast the next day. The Bahama Bread, which has a sweet coconut flavor, is inspired from Douglas’ travels to the islands. He loved the bread so much he had it
FedExed from the Bahamas and worked on creating his own signature Bahama Bread. Douglas has big plans for the property he owns at the corner of Bailey and Statesville Roads. “We are planning more development next door that will include some additional and new Captiva Restaurant concepts,” he says. “Captiva is also adding a research and development kitchen to our 131 Main [location] in Cornelius.” Cowboy Restaurant 9615 Bailey Road Cornelius www.cowboyresturant.com Hours- Sun-Thu 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri-Sat, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
LAKE NORMAN CURRENTS
Restaurateur and Commercial Real Estate Developer Joe Douglas enjoys traveling the country (and the world) to find inspiration for Captiva Restaurant Group, LLC.