New owners tame old adult spot down to friendly bar and grill
By Brandy Nance
Thursday, April 12, 2007
STRONG CITY
Strong City’s newest restaurant, Roadhouse Bar & Grill, is allowing residents and travelers alike a place to eat, get a beer while relaxing with friends in a homey atmosphere.
The restaurant was opened on Jan. 12 by co-owners Keth Nelson and James Yoder. They opened the restaurant to give people more variety in dining choices.
“We both thought about it,” Nelson said. “There are two places: Pizza Hut and the truck stop, and there was no place where you can get beer and food together.”
Until now. Roadhouse Bar & Grill serves up everything from your basic hamburger to taco salads.
The restaurant hardly shows its past life as an adult club. It’s been remodeled and turned into a family-style restaurant. There is a no-smoking room in the back and later, the owners said, they hope to knock out a wall and add a beer garden, where people can sit outside, socialize, eat and have a beer.
“A lot of people want to be outside in the summer,” Nelson said. “We try to cater to the public.”
The restaurant has come a long way since Nelson and Yoder opened it. They first started cooking their hamburgers on George Foreman grills.
The restaurant can hold up to 90 people. There is a pool table in one room and arcade games in another.
On the first Sunday of the month, the restaurant becomes home to bikers.
“We had 35 or 40 show up the other day,” Nelson said.
Yoder said he’s been in the restaurant business before, when he worked in Manhattan. Business is going good. Mainly locals come in to dine, but people come from the highway and the owners said they hope even more people will stop in and try the food.
“We’ve been surprised,” Nelson said.
Another peg the restaurant hangs its hat on is the fact that the owners try to use as much locally produced food as possible.
“When the farmer’s market opens up we can start buying fresh produce,” Nelson said.
The owners also pride themselves on being the only place in Chase County to get a milkshake.
What makes the restaurant stand apart from other restaurants, is the down-home cooking, Yoder said.
“We try to do things the old fashioned way,” he said. “We try to be friendly and kids can play (games).
They also said they take pride in the food they cook.
“It’s going to be hot and fresh,” Nelson said. “That’s our main goal.”
Nelson said the pair wanders around and talks to customers.
“We want them to feel at home,” he said. “We’ve both got a pretty good sense of humor and we joke with customers.”