- December 3, 2024
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Carrie and Jason Leitzman are the proud proprietors of Truman’s Tap & Grill in Lakewood Ranch. Their three adult children are also co-owners.
Truman’s is considered a sports bar — but that’s like saying the Missouri Tigers is a college football team. Both statements are true but fall short of the whole truth.
For the Leitzmans, Truman’s is an extension of their home, a bridge to their community, and an expression of family values passed down across the generations. Those values mean a lot to their whole family. Carrie’s father was a small-town newspaper publisher; her grandfather was Red Wade, the All-American collegiate football player and legendary football coach at Northeastern Missouri Teacher’s College (now renamed Truman State University). Both stressed the importance of teamwork and giving.
Carrie was happy to share how much these values mean to her — and how she puts them into action at Truman’s every day.
It’s a place where you can go and always feel welcome.
No. The original owners named it after “Truman the Tiger,” the University of Missouri football team’s mascot. When our family bought the pub, we knew we had to keep the name. Truman State University is such an important part of our family’s history.
I’d say Truman stands for the power of teamwork, community and family. Those shared values hold us all together. They’re what our tiger means to us.
They’re a great team of people who work together to give guests an enjoyable experience. We’re in a service industry after all. Their job is literally making other people happy. We don’t take their devotion for granted — and we support their family life outside of Truman’s. For example, our staff used to work through the weekends. They’re all on the young side. And in the summer, that cut into their family time because their kids were out of school. Once we realized that, we closed Truman’s on Sundays in the summer.
It’s the way Gary and I were raised. In my own family, my father ran the local newspaper. It was a very demanding responsibility, but it never stopped him from giving back. He was a volunteer firefighter for 53 years and rode a Harley for the annual Salvation Army Toy Drive. He was also a Rotary member to the core and deeply committed to their good works. My dad drilled a philosophy of giving into our heads. I don’t know any other way to be.
No, they’re not. I don’t know how they could be.
They’re the words that our family lives by. One day, we all got together and wrote down a list of what’s important to us. It goes back to our shared values — and shared history.
The bourbon chicken stir-fry is absolutely my personal favorite. You can have it grilled; you can have it fried; and if you’re feeling a little bit self-indulgent, we can serve it with shrimp.
… everyone who walks in the door!
… probably needlepointing and spending time with my family. Either that, or I’m on the phone catching up with one of my friends. The restaurant business is very busy, but I make time. I value those connections.
We value our guests. Truman’s is not a chain; we’re a family business. Everything we do is highly personal. And every person we’re privileged to serve is important to us.
