NEWPORT - Barleycorn's floating restaurant goes on the auction block Monday, and just down the river two other restaurants have closed for good, as the river restaurant scene in Kentucky begins to change.

        But there appears to be no single reason for the demise of some riverboat restaurants and the success of others in Newport and Covington, according to the people in the business and the customers who flock to the riverfront in good weather.

Ken Heil, owner of Barleycorn's, blames the floating restaurant's demise more on his feud with the city of Newport than on declining business. (Patrick Reddy photos) | ZOOM |

        Barleycorn's owner Ken Heil, who operates other land-based restaurants of the same name in Kentucky and Ohio, said his problems were more with his feud with the city over a new parking lot than with declining business. He also pointed out that operating a barge-based restaurant on the Ohio River is no picnic.

        “The overhead in operating a floating restaurant is much higher than on land,” he said as he sat in the empty restaurant Friday while prospective bidders toured the boat. “Insurance is a lot more expensive, and there's the expense of moving the fleet during high water just about every year.”

        On Tuesday, Jimmy Bernstein closed his Sloppy Joe's restaurant on Riverboat Row just west of Barleycorn's because the concept — a Key West-style eatery — didn't work.

        As he put it, the Ohio River is not the same as the Atlantic Ocean. He is considering several other options for the restaurant location, including an events and catering hall.

        Art Tudor, the manager at Remington's, just up the river from Barleycorn's and mate to the adjacent Hooters, said business has been great at those two floating eateries and he doesn't expect any changes.

The barges that housed Gator Sports cafe (left) and Pisces (second from left) are scheduled to be moved from Covington landing in the next week | ZOOM |

        “Naturally, the business is heaviest in the warm weather months,” he said. “But we do pretty well in the winter unless the weather is really bad. It's the uniqueness of being in the water, rather than looking down at the water from above. Of course, the restaurants built above the river don't worry about high water and bad weather, but those are a part of doing business on the water.”

        Mr. Heil said another aspect of his decision not to renew his five-year lease with the city and pay about $100,000 a year in rent for the moorage just below the Newport Aquarium had to do with the planned opening next year of the Newport on the Levee entertainment complex.

        “We've been told there may be seven national chain restaurants in Newport on the Levee,” he said. “There's only so much of the pie to go around.

        “When we started here in 1984, there was a renaissance on the Kentucky side of the river with Mike Fink's (in Covington) and the Islands upstream. When the other restaurants came in, things were really going well. Now there's another renaissance, but this time it's restaurants on land above the river.”

        Sheila Sorrell of Western Hills, who had lunch at Remington's on Friday, said she didn't think there was any change in people's attitudes about floating restaurants.

        “I used to eat at Barleycorn's a lot,” she said. “But in the last couple of years I think the quality of the food and the service went down. I think they lost business. It wasn't because they were on the river.”

        Mark Leurck, another west-sider, said he saw no change in the crowds that flock to the riverfront in good weather to eat and drink.

        “Remington's and Hooters were packed for lunch (Friday),” he said. “I couldn't get in. What I'd like to see is some marina activity on the Cincinnati side. All the business is in Kentucky.”

        Patricia Dailey, editor in chief of Restaurants & Institutions magazine, said that with so many choices for consumers, restaurant stagnation is tantamount to failure. A restaurant that doesn't continue to provide a contemporary, exciting experience will sink, in some cases literally.

        “People's expectations are extremely high and their attention spans are short,” she said. “They need to be continuously entertained and they need an endless supply of new experiences.”

        Restaurateur Jeff Ruby, for example, in 1995 invested half a million dollars renovating his Waterfront restaurant in Covington, which included renaming it South Beach Grill. Since then, he has completely renovated his kitchen and changes the menu every six months.

        He said that as amusement parks have to add rides each year, restaurants have to offer new experiences.

        “I look as the restaurant business as living theater,” he said. “Give the community something new every few years and something exciting and something different to do. Bring them a new show.

        “It's like giving them a new ride each year.”

        Within the next few days, the barges that once housed Gators Sports Cafe and Pisces, a 240-seat upscale seafood restaurant, will be towed from the Covington Landing down the river to Louisville.

        Pisces was the latest restaurant to fail in that location, closing in August, after less than a year in business. The barge formerly housed the Glass Onion, Gumbo Charlie's and Stobarts.

        Kelly Gerrein, the facilities manager for Covington Landing, said the Star of Louisville, which owns the barges, has no immediate plans for them once they reach Louisville.

       Cindy Schroeder, Lisa Biank Fasig and Ray Schaefer contributed to this story.

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