Brothers open new kolache shop in walking distance of campus

Jul 1 2009 - 3:58pm | Brett Thorne

Seth and Chase Katz, owners of the new Dos Gatos Kolache Shop, are sweetening life for Texas State students and San Marcos residents.

Chase, a general studies senior, and Seth, a graduate of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, opened the doors to the bakery on June 16 l and have been attracting hungry customers since.

“Business has been good,” Chase said. “I’m glad we’re right next to campus. I think that helps a lot.”

Work starts for the Katz brothers when most people their age are just getting home from bars. The brothers begin whipping up their delicacies in the wee hours of the morning. Chase insisted in spite of the early hours and close quarters he and his brother share, they never submit to petty, brotherly fighting when there is work to be done.

“We’re pretty good,” Chase said. “We’re up here at 3 a.m. every morning so we spend a lot of time with each other.”
Seth joked about the situation.

“We spend a lot of time together? I’m pretty sure Chase is the only person I know,” he said.

Opening the shop has not been an easy undertaking for the brothers. Seth got his restaurants and hospitality degree from UNLV then moved to Atlanta where he worked for a restaurant company. After four months in Atlanta he decided to move to Nashville where he worked for a year with the same company before finally moving back to his home state, Texas.

“I lived in Austin at one point and I love living in the area,” Seth said. “I always said if I came back to Texas I would want to be in the Austin area.”

Seth said working for the company gave him the passion to open his own store where he would not have to worry about bosses breathing down his neck.

“Working for the restaurant company, they would work me to death,” Seth said. “It made me want to get out and do my own thing.”

Chase said he and his brother put a lot of effort into constructing the space the bakery occupies.

“Building the place was a challenge,” Chase said. “Anything you didn’t have to have a permit for, we did ourselves.”

He said his degree, which focuses on business, mass communication and construction has been helpful in the construction and operation of the store.

Seth said he looks forward to experimenting with the menu to appeal to a wider range of tastes.

“I’ve had three of four people come in and ask for something vegetarian,” Seth said. “Once I get an idea of how to do that, I would like to provide something for them as well.”

Seth said this approach is centered around the fact he and his brother are more interested in their customers than in their own bottom line.

“I want to know what the customers would like to eat, not just what I could come up with,” Seth said. “We care about the people who come in.”

Chase said he hopes to be on a first name basis with most of his customers.

“It’s definitely a niche,” Chase said. “It’s nice when it’s quick and easy but how many times can you go to Wendy’s or a place like that?”

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