WHAT: Riverbank Café’s Fifth Anniversary Celebration
WHERE: 102 Main St., Hamilton
WHEN: Sept. 7 to Sept. 14
MORE INFO: (513) 896-1666
Sept. 13: late-night talk show guest Greg Irwin of HandHealth.com entertains
Sept: 14: Weekly attraction “Trivia Night with Professor Know-It-All” holds a trivia game show with finalists from a recent months-long competition.
Riverbank Cafe kicks off its weeklong fifth anniversary celebration Friday, a milestone that thrills owners Dennis and Robin Kurlas.
“Three out of five of new restaurants close within the first three years,” Dennis Kurlas said. “For us to make it to five years is a good feeling. I’m ecstatic.”
It helps, of course, that Kurlas grew up in the restaurant business and his family has owned and operated a Cleves restaurant since 1950.
Besides the Hamilton hot spot, the couple own and operate Red Squirrel restaurants in Fairfield, Tri-County and Sharonville, and Skyline Chili restaurants in Hamilton’s West Side and Fairfield.
“We’ve opened numerous restaurants … and they all have good guests, but I’ll tell you, by far the people in Hamilton are supporters of small businesses and local businesses,” Dennis Kurlas said. “They stay right with you and they support you and they promote you.
“It’s just been so much fun to be up here working because of that.”
The local eatery allowed the couple to create a more upscale menu than their other businesses and to offer a wider array of specials in a place with a better ambience, longer hours, full bar service and live entertainment on the weekend.
Although the timing of the business’ opening coincided with the official start of the recession, it’s mananged to weather those tough economic times thanks to the city of Hamilton and the community’s unswerving support, Dennis Kurlas said.
“We were able to receive a loan from (the city), economic development, and that really, really helped us do this project,” he said. “But after we got going, it’s the local people and our employees that made the business a success.”
The restaurateurs built a loyal clientele with a mix of mass-market favorites such as pizza and burgers and an array of eclectic dishes such as New Orleans Stew, Strawberry Chicken Summer Salad, BLT Soup, and Kentucky Hot Brown, which is served on toast with ham, turkey, a béchamel sauce, tomato slices and shredded Jack and cheddar cheeses.
“Then we put it in the broiler so it comes out bubbling hot,” Dennis Kurlas said.
Kurlas can be found at the front of the house at Riverbank Cafe, greeting and mingling with guests, while his wife keeps the business running behind the scenes by handling payroll, the budget, workman’s comp and other issues.
“She’s the organizer,” Dennis Kurlas said. “She keeps everything together.”
The most fulfilling aspect of owning the business has been the way it’s been received in Hamilton, Robin Kurlas said.
“The way the customers and the community and the city have just been so encouraging and supportive of us,” she said. “We’re able to do things like fundraisers in the community and help organizations reach their goals.”
Throughout the weeklong celebration, Riverbank Café will be handing out wooden nickels that will enable celebrants to return to the restaurant to get $5 off any food purchase after the anniversary week ends.
Mike Dingeldein, of Hamilton, said he’s been eating at the Riverbank Cafe since the day it opened because “it’s a true neighborhood establishment” that always is unique and reliable in every way, including the high quality of food and service.
“You don’t have a variation or any ups or downs,” he said. “When you go in there, you know what you’re going to get.”
Dingeldein also appreciates how active the owners are in the business.
“They’re there all the time, they greet you, they talk to you,” he said. “You look forward to going and seeing Robin and Dennis when you go because they’re great people to be around.”
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