Riverside bids farewell to Murphy’s Bar and Grill

By Molly Roberts
Posted 7/27/21

After over 25 years in business, Murphy’s Bar and Grill in Riverside served its last customers on Saturday, July 24.

Murphy’s opened on Dec. 18, 1995 and has been serving a large menu …

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Riverside bids farewell to Murphy’s Bar and Grill

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After over 25 years in business, Murphy’s Bar and Grill in Riverside served its last customers on Saturday, July 24.

Murphy’s opened on Dec. 18, 1995 and has been serving a large menu of hometown favorites ever since. Owner Jerry Murphy worked for a grocery store before opening the business, thinking the restaurant would be short-lived before he wanted to move on and do something else.

“It’s sort of funny because I thought I’d work here for 10 years,” Murphy said. “I told myself 10 years because it’s a burnout business before it’s time to move on. But then 10 years came, and it just kept going.”

“I jumped in without a clue. I had bartended before, and I had cooked at home, but that was it. I came in with pretty much zero experience. You learn from your mistakes, and you move on. As time went on, we got better and better. I think today that we put out some very good food, very consistent and good quality.”

Murphy has handled most of the cooking himself, with the help of part-time kitchen staff.

“It’s a small business, so I think people enjoy knowing that the same guy is back there in the kitchen, that they know who is cooking their food,” Murphy said. “A small place like this, people like to know where everything is coming from.”

He said he also owes a lot of the restaurant’s success over the past quarter decade to having great staff who have helped him all along the way.

“I think the biggest part of the restaurant business is learning from your mistakes and having a great staff — you do those two things and everything will work out,” Murphy said. “I’ve had staff who have been here for a long, long time. Most people who work here have full-time jobs and they use this as their extra cash. I’ve been fortunate to have good people working here.”

Murphy’s has sourced its meat from Bud’s Custom Meats in Riverside, which gives their offerings like hamburgers and steaks an extra sense of quality.

“We probably get hamburger three or four times a week, so you know it’s fresh ground. It’s not frozen,” Murphy said. “We patty the burgers ourselves. It’s the quality of the meat, if you cook it right, that makes a really good burger.”

And seeing that customer satisfaction has been Murphy’s favorite part of owning a restaurant for the past 25 years.

“I love making the customer happy with the food, when they come in and want something that you make,” Murphy said. “When they’re happy with their food and they’re satisfied, that feels good. When someone keeps coming in again and again, you know you’re doing something right for them.”

Despite all the success he found with the restaurant, Murphy said running the business was not always easy.

“Everybody says, ‘Oh, Jerry, you work so hard, you’re such a hard worker,’ well, the other half, my wife, is often home without me,” he said. “My wife has taken a lot of the brunt of me not being home. I so thankful to Tracy for allowing me to be here for 25 years. She’s scarified a lot.”

Murphy isn’t sure yet when his next plans are, but he’s excited about whatever will come next. He plans to spend time with his wife and his children, Conner, 24, and Quinn, 22, including doing some work on Connor’s home, as well as his own.

“I just want to give a huge thank you to the people of Riverside and the surrounding areas for supporting us for 25 years,” Murphy said. “I’ve enjoyed my time with this town and I hope I’ve made a good impact on all the customers who have come here over the years. I’m happy to leave and sad to leave in the same breath — it’s the people I’m going to miss, that’s for sure.”