Hot off the Grill

By Katelyn Smith
Photos by James Culver

Sage Bar & Grill has many sounds. Although a place to eat, there can be laughter, fellowship and music heard within its walls.

Outside, there might even be tables in the parking lot set up for a community party of fun and mingling.

Katie Troncale is the founder and owner of this restaurant, a place that also serves as a hangout spot for the city of Calera. Week after week, the community loves to gather in the bar and grill to enjoy good food and the laid-back atmosphere.

The restaurant is a place for all ages. With live music, karaoke, sports-watching, hula hoops, chalk and pool tables, it offers not only fresh, mouth-watering food, but also fun for the whole family.

“I want this to be a place where anyone can come,” Katie says. “So, that’s why we make sure we keep the environment neat and clean and fun.”

Katie was born and raised in Hoover, where she played softball for most of her life. After suffering a leg injury and fracturing her neck in high school, the rod put in to treat her injury started to cause problems when she played softball in college.

She was forced to return home in 2004 to have the rod removed and resumed working after that.

She had actually begun working in the restaurant world when she was 15 years old at Johnny Rockets. After returning home, she started at Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q.

From there, she began to work her way up in the food and service industry, holding every position and learning the ins and outs of managing a restaurant.

She was initially drawn to the fast pace of the food industry and the people that she got to meet on the job.

“I like helping people,” she says. “It’s just a really easy way of doing it, and you can help people with the smallest amounts, but in the biggest ways, just by spending some time with them and changing their day, or helping them, talking to them or whatever it may be. You see a lot of stuff in the restaurant world, and it’s definitely not like any other job.”

While she was working at Jim ‘N Nick’s, she discovered that she was pregnant, leading her to suddenly start thinking seriously about what she should do with her life.

“That’s when everything kind of changed,” she recalls. “That’s really when I started pushing the boundaries of my professional life.”

Her idea for Sage Bar & Grill came out of nowhere. She previously helped create and build three vape shops as a project manager, and afterwards, she was given the opportunity to open her own business.

What could she do, and what did she know how to do? She conceived the idea of opening her own restaurant, now a staple in Shelby County, offering delicious food that keeps customers coming back for more.

Katie decided to name it after her son, Joseph Sage. The word “sage” means wisdom to her, and she frequently uses it to dispel any negativity surrounding her life.

On July 27, 2021, she officially opened Sage Bar & Grill in Calera, and it began to grow. However, she and her staff encountered a major setback the following September, just two months after opening.

After suffering from a significant health issue, Katie was stuck in the ICU in the hospital for a few months, causing the business to fall into the red zone. She had to undergo seven surgeries in total, leaving her out of the restaurant.

Luckily, even though Sage was in crisis mode, the amazing staff helped keep it afloat.

“We got hit pretty bad, and when I got back, I just needed to start over,” Katie explains. “So, January of 2022 is when I got back, and it was basically a start-over period.”

She began to hire new employees and start out on a smaller scale than originally planned. Other than being the restaurant operator, she also stepped in for any role, such as cooking, bartending, serving and anything else that needed to be done.

Katie’s fiancé also quit his job and began to work the bar for her, which, to her, was a massive contribution to the restaurant’s success. She also hired two kitchen managers, Jorge and David, who are brothers and oversee all kitchen operations.

With a lot of hard work and team commitment, the team slowly crawled out of the red, and the restaurant began to grow.

“It’s been a huge life lesson,” Katie says.

Today, the restaurant is more popular than ever, and its menu is only one of the things that keep people coming back.

Some of the menu’s stand-out items are the burgers, each made with high-quality meat and grilled to perfection. With a variety of cheeses and fresh toppings to dress them with, they are a classic option.

One of Katie’s favorites is the shrimp and grits, inspired by the grits her grandfather made with her every morning when she was younger. With creamy cheese grits topped with grilled shrimp, Conecuh sausage, crumbled bacon, tomatoes and feta cheese, this dish is by far a crowd-pleaser.

Another popular meal is the smoked meatloaf, whose meat is locally sourced from Vision Farms and is glazed with homemade barbecue sauce for a delicious flavor. Any of the menu’s dishes would be well-paired with the collard greens, which undergo a six-hour cooking process that everyone appreciates.

All of Sage’s meat, from the steaks to the chicken, is hand-cut and made completely fresh for customers. Sage also has three crawfish boils a year, taco nights and many other special features.

“I try to hone in on the whole experience when people come in,” Katie says. “It’s going to taste good, but it’s going to feel good, too.”

Sage Bar & Grill has been built from the ground up and only continues to grow with each new customer. The friendly staff invites anyone to pull up a chair, mingle and stay a while.

Their motto? Enter as a customer, leave as family.

Sage Bar & Grill is located at 4979 Highway 31 in Calera. For more information and to contact the restaurant, visit sagebarandgrill.net.