March 6, 2017

Meet Brian and Diane Slaught of Story Tavern in Burbank

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian and Diane Slaught.

Brian and Diane, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Story Tavern started out as an amalgamation of two concepts, the Irish/English Pub & the American Craft Beer Bar. It was a concept that had not been executed before in Los Angeles to the degree that we felt it should be, so we set out on doing this. We achieved this blend of concepts by partnering with the Burbank Historical Society, all of the photos and relics that adorn the walls of Story Tavern are from their archives. Regarding the beer, we utilized Brian’s knowledge of both American and European craft beers to create what is Story Tavern.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
With any business there are bumps and hurdles. Our biggest struggle was on Halloween of 2014 when the main portion of Story Tavern was flooded and ended up shutting down half of our restaurant for three weeks. It was a tough loss to come back from because many people thought we had closed down, it took a full year to get back to the level of business we were at before the flood.

Please tell us about Story Tavern.
Story Tavern is a family owned and operated company, started by the Slaught family (a 5th generation Angeleno family). We provide a very unique environment/experience to our patrons. We are a living and breathing museum of Burbank’s unique history, but more importantly, we are a home away from home for our patrons (we are continually reminded that our place is reminiscent of Cheers). We are known for not only our wide selection of Craft Beers and Cocktails, but also our selection of Ciders and our Gluten Free Food (one of the owners has celiac disease and is continually checking to ensure that there is no cross contamination of gluten in our food.)

We are proud of the fact that we are not only preserving Burbank’s history, but have become a cornerstone of the Burbank community. It is one thing to operate a business, however it is another to become such an integral part of the community that people turn to Story Tavern in moments of joy as well as sorrow. We are not viewed as simply another pub, but the place where Burbank meets and creates new stories.

Lastly, we offer a 40 seat dog friendly patio as well as a one of a kind Pub Game Room (6 dart boards, 2 ping pong tables, a foosball and a shuffle board)

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
It is not our favorite memory but the one we probably remember best is when Brian (accidentally) hit Diane in the face with a swing.

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