Chris Rader recently opened the River Grill under the Irvine bridge. The restaurant feaures a back patio, banquet room and an extensive menu of seafood, sandwiches, salad bar, appetizers and pastas.
Last weekend, a temporary “Opening Soon” sign on Hwy. 52 came down to reveal a more permanent one that points the way to Rader’s River Grill.
That, and word-of mouth advertising, is all it took to persuade many folks to drive down under the bridge and check out the newly remodeled restaurant.
New owner Chris Rader said they’ve been swamped at times over the weekend, but he’s not complaining.
Thursday afternoon they served the Chamber of Commerce at their regular monthly meeting, which had been scheduled beforehand in anticipation of the restaurant opening. A few other customers wandered in, and they were fed too.
Friday morning the doors officially opened to the public, and it’s been hectic keeping pace with the customers since.
Rader, also an employee of Kroger, says he has no previous experience with restaurant work, but he’s always ‘liked the atmosphere,” of the place, situated right on the banks of the Kentucky River above the dock where houseboats and pontoons are parked.
Although the dimensions of the re-modeled restaurant remain about the same as before, Rader estimates that 75 percent of the structure is new, right down to the flooring.
One thing they made sure to keep though, was the foam blocks attached beneath the floor that allow the restaurant to float when the river floods.
Rader says if flood waters threaten, they can have gas and sewer lines unhooked and be ready to go in about 15 minutes.
Barbara Chaney, manager of the restaurant and a cousin of Rader’s, recalls that her dad, Burl Walling, helped build the original floating River Restaurant in1971 that was owned by Buddy and Shirley Hicks for many years.
Former owner Shirley Hicks has lots of stories to share about those days. She says there had been a restaurant in the same location before that, but it had to be cleaned out every time the river flooded.
“Back then, they’d move their equipment out and open the doors and windows so the river could run through it. We didn’t want to do that.”
She says her husband came up with the idea to put the restaurant on concrete piers, cover them with sleeves and put foam under the floor which would allow the building to move up as the water rose.
She recalls that the flood of 1979 pushed the restaurant so high that the air-conditioning unit on top of it was even with the Irvine Bridge and could be seen by those driving across.
“As far as we know, it’s the only restaurant in Kentucky that floats,” she says.
She remembers an “ice tide” that happened one time when the river froze over, then rains came and the water rose, which caused chunks of ice “as big as houseboats” to break apart.
“They sounded like a woman screaming when they rubbed against each other,” Shirley says.
She also remembers that the restaurant served a lot of fried turtle, much of it caught locally by Raymond Barnes.
“We had people drive down here from Cincinnati to eat turtle.”
Barbara Chaney’s mother, Helen Walling, the first employee of the restaurant when the Hicks ran it, says they also served catfish caught right out of the river the same day.
“I’ve got a good crew,” Rader says. That crew includes several family members. Barbara’s sister, Sandy Arvin, is assistant manager, and Chris’s brothers and sisters have been pitching in as needed.
“A couple of them came in to eat and ended up working half the day instead,” he says. “People were lined up out the door after church.
“I think we made almost everybody happy, except for a person or two who got aggravated because they had to wait.
“If you go to Red Lobster or O’Charley’s at certain times of the day, people expect to have to wait an hour and a half, even an hour, just to be seated. There are certain times when you might have to wait a little while here, but we’ll do the best we can.”
Right now the restaurant has a very large menu, including a long list of appetizers including hot wings, “River Baskets,” which include the choice of several different sandwiches with fries and slaw, seafood platters, a kid’s menu, a few pasta dishes and daily specials.
“We’ll be tweaking the menu as we see what people like,” he says.
Rader’s River Grill also serves breakfast until 11 a.m. each morning.
“We seat 125 customers here and in the banquet room,” says Chaney. “Our deck seats another 20 or so.”
Rader encourages everybody to come by and check out their daily specials in their scenic location by the river. Look for the large sign right across from Shell Mart.
Restaurant hours are Monday through Thursday, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday, 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sun. 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. For daily specials and deliveries, call 723-6439.