New taste in Temple: Treno Pizzeria and Taproom opens downtown
By AMY ROGNLIE | Photos by REBECCA BACHTEL
Treno Pizzeria and Taproom is the new kid on the block when it comes to downtown Temple, but this sister restaurant to Bird Creek Burger Company is quickly making a name for itself since opening in July.
“We serve artisan-style wood-fired pizza, roasted calamari, fresh salads with local greens, burrata bowls, bruschetta, wings and many more fresh options,” says owner Jacob Bates.
“The experience is all basically self-serve,” he says, gesturing to the spacious seating area. The restaurant also offers catering and an in-house coffee shop and roastery called First Street Roasters. “We do a lot of our own syrups, as well as grab-and-go pastries and salads.”
In addition to the coffee shop, Treno also offers 36 self-serve beer and wine taps. “This is a new concept for Temple. You can do tastings, mixes — whatever you want. And where else can you go to have a beer and watch a football game inside while your kids play outside?” Jacob says. “We have two full playgrounds for the kiddos, a full outdoor lawn space with big screen TV and live music stage at the end, and a private meeting room for groups — all smack-dab in the middle of downtown Temple.”
The restaurant business is a family affair for Jacob, who co-owns Treno Pizzeria with his father, Bruce Bates and partner, Bo Harvey. Jacob’s wife, Carleigh, runs the partners’ other restaurant, Bird Creek Burger Co., already well-loved by the Temple community since its opening three years ago.
As a Temple native and chairman of the Temple Main Street Project, Jacob and his co-owners are enthusiastic about providing more than just great food to the Temple area. “I love this community and want to continue to offer unique foods and atmosphere while trying to support our local suppliers. For example, we use microgreens from the Unincluded Club here in Temple.”
Besides supporting other local businesses, Jacob and his partners employ nearly 50 people in downtown Temple.
“It’s happening,” he says. “Three, even two years ago no one was coming down here. Now, we’ve got live music, restaurants…we’re not selfish. We’d like to see six or seven more new restaurants down here.”
The Temple Main Street Program is part of the national Main Street America program, which is dedicated to transforming communities, celebrating historic character, and revitalizing local economies. Bringing new life to downtown Temple includes remembering its past.
“We did our best to preserve the history of the buildings,” Jacob explains. “Most of the brick walls are original. First Street was one of the first paved streets in Temple back in the 1920s, and we were able to salvage 28,000 of those original brick pavers and used them to build our back wall.” And as a nod to Temple’s railroad heritage, the restaurant’s name, Treno is Italian for train.
Echoing the vision statement for the Main Street Program, Jason says, “I have three children currently growing up in this community and I cannot think of a better way to help the growth than by rooting down as far as possible to help create stability for the future of Temple and give my children the best possible place to potentially call home as they grow up.
“And as with anything that we do,” he adds, “we hope to have the most positive impact on the community and on the downtown area as possible. We have such an incredible customer base that we look forward to growing in the years to come.”
