• September 6th, 2016
• Comments Off on People of Southport: McKenzie

McKenzie has been at Southport for 4 years but has a lifetime of experience under her belt, having grown up right next door to her family’s restaurant. As our Retail Manager, her job is to make sure that everything from the kitchen forward gets done, that is: managing our servers, the grocery, catering and delivery schedules.

Door County, Wisconsin is home for this born and bred Midwesterner. Her family have owned and run the popular Birmingham’s Bar & Restaurant for decades, starting out as a simple convenience store in 1927 and evolving over the years. McKenzie started helping out as a teenager and quickly learned the ropes of running a successful business. Our owner Lisa, also from Wisconsin, happens to love Birmingham’s restaurant, so when she saw McKenzie’s application to be a host, she hired her on the spot. Fast forward 4 years later and now McKenzie is our Retail Manager. “Lisa’s been a great mentor to me, especially as a woman running her own business. I’ve learned a lot here, and kind of grown up here in a way.”

McKenzie loves Southport Grocery since it’s become the center of her life here in Chicago, where she’s met many of her closest friends. She loves our food, especially the Southern Omlet since it really highlights what Southport is all about, making every ingredient from scratch.  Her sweet tooth makes her a big fan of our bread pudding pancakes, biscotti & rice crispy blocks.

In college she studied Musical Theater with a minor in Performing Arts Management, combining her love of all things creative with a managerial twist. She has appeared as an extra in a handful of TV shows like Chicago PD and Chicago Fire, but writing is what she’s really passionate about since she can do it in her own time. When she’s not writing and dreaming up future scripts, she loves to watch TV to relax after work, some favorites being Parks & Recreation, Moone Boy and Jane the Virgin. She loves to travel, hang out with her boyfriend and golden doodle, check out new restaurants, go to White Sox games and dabble with baking, even taking a class in pie and tart making. Right now she’s making an effort to read more and try new things – pottery classes anyone?

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