Cast Iron Trading Co. will be celebrating their third year in October. It’s been a long journey for Eric Lee, owner of Cast Iron, from cooking with friends at home to starting a pop up called Cast Iron Cheese to opening his Downtown Stockton eatery.
Cast Iron is located in Downtown Stockton, where by day you see lawyers and judges in suit and ties, and by night you see college students enjoying live music from local artists.
Eric grew up in a household where his family was a foodie family. He had no culinary school background before starting his pop up. Like any other chef, Eric liked cooking at home and watched Food Network. “(Eric) read a couple inspirational entrepreneurial/cook book stories and just thought that the whole concept of pop up restaurants and stuff was cool,” said Eric.
Two years before opening Cast Iron, Eric and his friends decided to start a pop up with gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and named it Cast Iron Cheese. At first, they did not do many events, but eventually “every event snowballed into another.”
During that time, Eric worked at a farm-to-table restaurant where he gained experience in both front of the house, serving customers and back of the house, cooking for the customers, so he decided to start up his restaurant.
Opening up Cast Iron gave Eric and his crew a set place to showcase his love for food and provide for the community.
The “downtown community…is our strongest community,” said Eric on the Stockton community.
During the weekend, you can enjoy some “California cuisine” while enjoying live music featuring local artists.
But they don’t just have food and live music. Cast Iron also features several local craft beers such as Jackrabbit Brewing Company’s own “Old Mango New England IPA” and Morgan Territory Brewing’s “Blood Lust Mad Badger Pale Ale”.
“Within the craft beer community, I feel like an important player,” said Eric.
Nothing better than pairing a craft beer with one of Cast Iron’s top sellers.
“Overall our burgers and sliders and tacos are our best sellers,” said Eric. Not to mention, very Instagram worthy too.
Cast Iron is also vegan and vegetarian friendly.
“Two years ago we were voted the best vegetarian and vegan options in the city by the Stockton Record readers,” said Eric.
You’d be surprised that their “vegan and vegetarian items move a lot more than people would think.”
So grab a craft beer, order some tacos, sit down and enjoy the show.
Stay up to date with menu specials and future local artist performances by following Cast Iron Trading Co. on their “sexy Instagram” page @cast_iron_trading_co or on Facebook @ Cast Iron Trading Co.
