Ask Adam Hayes or Kristina Murphy what they're proudest of at Larkin's, and the menu isn't the first thing they'll mention. They'll tell you about their team, and it makes sense, because long before they owned Larkin's, they were the team.

 

That shared history shapes everything about how the restaurant runs today. Larkin's general manager started behind the bar, showing up and working alongside the team long before any title came with it. That kind of dedication set their promotion in motion, and it's not a one-off story. It's the pattern. Several members of the broader Larkin's Restaurant Group leadership came up the same way, and one of the restaurant's current management apprentices started right there at Larkin's too.

 

There can be a formal side to that growth. New managers have the opportunity to move through apprenticeship programs. If you ask Hayes or Murphy about it, they'll tell you the credentials matter less than the willingness. There's a clear promote-from-within path at Larkin's for anyone ready to put their name in the ring.

 

Still, the thing that's hardest to teach is the thing Larkin's cares about most. Hospitality, as they see it, isn't the same as service. Service is steps; anyone can be trained to execute them. Hospitality is something felt, something that either lives in someone's nature or is built over years of practice. It's the instinct some people have for hosting, for standing at the center of a gathering without needing to be the center of attention, and it's what Larkin's looks for first when they're hiring.

 

You can see that instinct in the way Hayes and Murphy still move through the restaurant. Hayes is known for stopping mid-shift to help move a table or step behind the bar to make a drink for a guest. Murphy has a habit of showing up with a treat for a team that's been slammed all day, the kind of gesture that brings delight. It's the same instinct they hope to see in every Manager who came up the same way they did: noticing what needs to be done before anyone has to ask, and caring enough about the people around you to look for it in the first place.

 

That's the culture Hayes has talked about wanting to pass forward. He's said, every chance he gets, that there'll be an opportunity for the people who stick around and work hard alongside him and Murphy. It's less a policy than a philosophy: invest in people, and eventually, hand them something real.

 

Last year the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association recognized that philosophy, naming Hayes and Murphy the Upstate Chapter's Restaurateurs of the Year. It's a fitting nod to two owners who never stopped thinking like the bartenders and chefs they once were and who are still, one shift at a time, building a team they hope will one day get to say the same thing.