Brad and Kelley McLawhorn, owners of Two Brothers Catering, grew up in a family that believed in hard work and entrepreneurship. Their father encouraged them early on, and as kids, they ran their own lawn care business.

“Kelley and I– we grew up as entrepreneurs. Our father really pushed us to be entrepreneurs when we were young kids. We had our own lawn care business, and we had always had that entrepreneurial mindset of we’d rather work for ourselves than work for somebody else,” shared Brad.

As adults, they both ended up in managerial roles for different locations of the same pizza franchise. Their parents emboldened them to take the skills they’d learned and go into business together, and they did.

In 2001, they opened Two Brothers Pizza on Reilly Road in Fayetteville, a pizza and Italian buffet restaurant. The brothers worked to grow the business by expanding their menu beyond pizza to include wings and pastas, starting delivery and building relationships with Fort Bragg chaplains, local hospitals, doctors’ offices and schools.

“We both enjoyed cooking as we were growing up, and we never imagined us really owning a restaurant. Once we opened up the pizza restaurant, it’s amazing when times get hard, you learn to think outside the box and be creative. So Brad and myself are both self-taught chefs,” shared Kelley.

In 2006, Brad and Kelley began offering catering services. They started out working pharmaceutical and corporate lunches, then expanded into weddings and military functions. By 2010, they’d become well connected within the community.

“Even though it was a partnership between Kelley and myself, we collectively made decisions as a family [about] what would be the best direction to help grow our business, and we’ve always been passionate about what we do, whether it was in the pizza and Italian restaurant or our catering business, and I think that’s what really sets us apart from a lot of our competitors, especially in the catering business, is our passion and our attention to detail,” added Brad.

As catering demand grew, it eventually took precedence over the restaurant. In 2013, they closed the pizza restaurant to focus solely on catering.

In 2017, the brothers purchased a former bingo hall off of Owen Drive and transformed it into The Vine Event Venue. Over the next two years, they built out a full commercial kitchen and, in 2019, moved all catering operations there, making The Vine their home base.

“In the beginning, it took a lot of growing and getting to know each other again because Brad’s four and a half years older than I am. But I’d say after the first five years of having to really buckle up and work real hard...me and Brad, we became best friends and we just really gave it everything that we have, and we’re still best friends today,” shared Kelley.

Today, Two Brothers Catering is a full-service, upscale catering company known for its attention to detail and fine-dining experience, whether they’re serving weddings, military balls, corporate galas or community events.

In addition to The Vine Event Venue, they also manage the event space at Gates Four Golf & Country Club, handling bookings and events ranging from weddings and military functions to birthdays and quinceañeras.

“At Gates Four, we’ve actually got multiple event spaces. So we’ve got the indoor, main ballroom. We’ve got a smaller room that’s indoors called the Riddle Room. The ballroom can seat up to 250 people. The Riddle Room’s max capacity for seating is about 50 people. And then we also have the outdoor pavilion, which we can seat up to about 300 people,” explained Brad.

Two Brothers Catering distinguishes itself through a generous tasting experience, inviting clients to sample complete plates and often sending them home with multiple to-go boxes, all prepared with the care of a family meal. The team also guarantees that an owner will be present for weddings, a hands-on touch that not every business offers. Beyond weddings, the company excels in large-scale plated service, successfully executing elegant dinners for up to 800 guests, supported by professional-grade equipment and a highly organized team.

“Not only do we think we have great food, but we try to give a wonderful experience. We try to give our clients the feeling of being in a fine dining restaurant wherever we go,” shared Kelley.

Their creativity shines in custom themed menus, from French and Cuban spreads to 1920s Great Gatsby–inspired dishes, and now in a new “Taste of Thailand” menu concept. Coupled with multi-year recognition in local awards and strong partnerships with community institutions, Two Brothers Catering has become a trusted name for both unforgettable flavor and flawless execution.

Through every phase of their business, Brad and Kelley have stayed grounded in the same principles: faith, family, resilience and service. The greatest blessing of the business, they say, isn’t just its growth, but that it allowed them to remain close to home, grow stronger as brothers and spend extra time with their parents.

With venues in Fayetteville, Two Brothers Catering offers catering and bartending services within an approximately one-hour radius of their home base.

For more information, check out their website: www.twobrotherscateringnc.com.