River Cities Business Journal: Business Profile

Juicy's coming to Needles; Restaurant to be cornerstone of commercial development

River Cities Business Journal

NEEDLES, Calif. - Needles is about to take a big step in the direction of urban revitalization.

Mike Bradley, owner of Juicy's River Cafe in Lake Havasu City, has partnered with hotel owners Dr. Bill Shepard and Sebastian D'Amico to open the first phase of a new commercial development - Juicy's Famous River Cafe.

The former California Pantry building will house Juicy's Famous River Cafe once Bradley and his partners finish remodeling.

“We're going to make it really, really different,” Bradley said. “We look at this investment as something that is really going to make its mark on the community.”

Juicy's has long been known as an outstanding restaurant in Lake Havasu City and Bradley plans to bring the same extensive menu to Needles that is offered in Havasu.

And, it won't be just a restaurant.

“It will include a bar. We'll have a closed dining room for private functions. We'll have banquet facilities,” Bradley said. “We'll also do catering.”

Juicy's also has an extensive “to go” menu that will be offered at the new restaurant as well.

Needles isn't the first place that would come to mind when thinking of where one might put a new restaurant in the Tri-state area, but Bradley and his partners believe that it is not only a good choice, it can spark economic revitalization.

“The mayor and the council are interested in revitalization. They've talked about it a lot, but they don't have the money to invest,” Bradley said. “There hasn't been a lot of interest in redevelopment from people with the money to invest.”

Why Needles?

The market in the area is seen as a positive by Bradley.

“Here, there are not that many good restaurants. Even going up as far as Mohave Valley there aren't that many good restaurants,” Going south there are not that many until you get to Lake Havasu City.

“In our restaurants the prices are phenomenal and th#e food is fantastic.”

When the 7,200-square-foot facility opens for business it will feature mostly table seating as opposed to the booths of the California Pantry, but Bradley plans to retain some booth seating. It will also have an old-fashioned lunch counter.

“You don't see those much anymore,” Bradley said.

He feels the location just off I-40 and situated between two Best Western hotels (owned by his partners Shepard and D'Amico) is a natural site for a successful restaurant.

“These hotels have a really high occupancy rate year around. There are 200 people in these hotels every day. They got to eat someplace and drink someplace.”

He is also pleased with the kitchen facilities.

“When this kitchen was built it was state-of-the-art,” Bradley said. “You couldn't afford to build this kitchen today.”

Phase 2

The restaurant are just the beginning of the plans for the partners. They own a large acreage between the two hotels and behind the future Juicy's.

“We're going to build storage units. They'll be really nice high-end units,” Bradley said. “We'll have a convenience store with gas pumps, a state-of-the-art car wash and there will be a lot of retail out there, too.

“Well have a launching service so people can come up here in their Porsche and we'll launch their boat for them.”

Bradley almost passed on getting involved in the project.

“This all would not have happened if not for Doctor Shepard and Sebastian. They came to me and said ‘Would you be interested in opening this restaurant?' and I said no,” Bradley said. “Then about a week later it was ‘Would you take a look at it and tell us what it is going to take to fix it up so we can lease it?'

“A week later they said ‘Would you be a partner?' and about an hour after that I said yes”

Bradley still owns Juicy's River Cafe in Havasu, but recently sold Juicy's Noodles Italian Kitchen.

“It's the little things in this business that make the difference in being a good restaurant. You have to really want to be in this business to be good at it,” Bradley said. “I've had five restaurants in Lake Havasu City. It's been kind of an evolution.

“I thought about retiring and in stead of working playing golf or racing cars.

“But, this is what I do.”