Hear from Chuck Abell, Director of Dining Services:
“After my enlistment in the Air Force, I began a restaurant career in 1997 with Charleston’s restaurants in OKC for 4 years. I then moved on to Chili’s, where I spent 13 years working in most of the metro area. At both Chilis’s and Charleston’s, I spent time managing both the front of house operations as well as the kitchen staff. I spent a period of time with Chili’s as the area culinary manager, launching new menu roll-outs and training each restaurant on preparing new menu items.
In 2014, my oldest son was entering high school, and I felt the need to spend more time with family at home and the rigors of the restaurant industry did not allow for that. I left Chili’s and began a career in real estate, which I continue to this day. It was through a client that I sold a home to in 2015 that I found out about an opportunity to meld my career experience managing restaurants with my passion for sports. I was hired by Levy Restaurants to manage premium clubs at Chesapeake Energy arena where I spent the 2019 OKC Thunder season and what there was of the 2020 season. Levy is the Sports and Entertainment arm of its parent company, Compass Group.
When the pandemic caused the Sports and Entertainment industry to come to a halt, Compass Group offered its employees opportunities to remain under the umbrella. I was able to move to Epworth Villa with Unidine Corporation – the healthcare arm of the Compass Group.
