New local restaurant offers casual pub food with a twist
Knub’s Pub joins its sister restaurant, Pizza West, in a family dining experience
May 17, 2016
The bar area of Knub’s Pub has a glow feature, adding spice during a late night rush. The license plates and upside down lamps bring a unique quality to Knub’s Pub’s style.
Walking into Knub’s Pub, one might think the restaurant’s style and mood is oddly similar to that of Pizza West. In fact, they’d be right. Located near Johnson Drive and K7, Knub’s Pub is an up-and-coming casual family restaurant serving everything from burgers to nachos to sandwiches. Brothers Cory and Dave Knubley opened the restaurant in January and have since been managing the two places together.
Cory said the family had been thinking about opening a second restaurant for a couple years, and, when a lease opened up five doors down from Pizza West, they jumped at the opportunity.
Pinball machines are an important part of the look inside Knub’s Pub, adding a gentle nod to its sister restaurant, Pizza West.
“I do think this area is up and coming,” Cory said. “They’re starting new construction around, and hopefully that will help us gain momentum here.”
Knub’s Pub puts emphasis on customer service, which doesn’t go unnoticed, according to junior Kelsey Poje.
“[The employees] are super approachable,” Poje said. “I carried on a conversation with my waiter for 10 minutes straight. You just feel you can tell them your life story.”
Despite an abundance of pubs in the area, Cory feels the restaurant stands apart because of its quality of food. Every item on the menu is made on site, adding an extra spin to ordinary burgers and nachos.
“[We serve] kind of our own brand of pub food,” Cory said. “It’s not anything that’s too uppity or upscale, but we like to use nice food and try to do it as well as we can. It’s something that’s maybe on line with what people are used to seeing, but with just a little twist or a little [difference], which hopefully sets us apart.”
Poje agrees that Knub’s Pub is distinctly different from other places to eat in the neighborhood.
“I feel like other places are very generic,” Poje said. “Chipotle, McDonald’s and stuff, you can get that anywhere. Knub’s Pub is one of a kind. There’s not a Knub’s Pub anywhere else. Their food’s like that; it’s very unique.”
Located off Johnson Drive, Knub’s Pub is an up-and-coming family restaurant that serves all types of food.
Since it is a new restaurant, Knub’s Pub is very open to suggestions from diners and continues to improve items based on customer requests.
“Come in and give us a chance to make you something good,” Cory said. “But also, be willing to let us know what you think is good … or how you would change something. Many times, we can find something that will work really well for you that might not be the exact thing on the menu.”
Overall, the tight-knit atmosphere of western Shawnee, added with lots of families brings dedicated customers, according to Cory.
“The support we’ve had has been really nice, but also, on our end, we’ve got to make sure we do things right,” Knubley said. “People aren’t real into supporting something they don’t believe in, so trying your best to do things right and taking care of people, [that’s] when people are more apt and willing to support you.”