By Allen Payton, Publisher

If you’ve been missing smoked, grilled barbeque in Antioch, then you’re in luck. The Rib Shack, opened by Ron and Mandisa Mixon on September 1^st, serves up just what you’ve been craving.

“We started the restaurant because there wasn’t many barbeque places in the area,” Mandisa said.

No one else was providing smoked, grilled barbeque, so they did.

“We were originally going to open a hot dog cart,” she shared. “But when Ron found this location, we decided to open a full restaurant.”

Mandisa is the chef. While they’ve never owned a restaurant before, she gained some experience helping her sister, who owns a restaurant and catering business in Foster City.

But, she learned her cooking skills from her grandmother, who is a native of Mississippi.

“We have a long line of entrepreneurs in our family,” Mandisa stated.

She makes the barbeque sauce and the batter for the fish.

Ron, who also owns a handyman business and has been pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship for the past four years since they moved to Antioch, handles the barbequing.

It’s a family business, with both their daughters serving customers and helping out, and Ron’s brother supplying the home-made sweet potato pie.

They serve ribs, chicken, links and fish, plus desserts. I’ve eaten there and found their barbeque sauce to be delicious.

The Mixons encourage everyone to “Come by and enjoy great barbeque!”

They’re located at 1803 West 10^th Street near the corner of Auto Center Drive, next to economy Auto Body and Paint, and across from Hazel’s. They offer dine-in, take-out, catering and lunch-time delivery for three orders or more.

 

Don’t Miss The BEST 2012 Halloween Party Ever! This Friday night at Humphrey’s on the Delta. Stop by for dinner before the show and party. See their menu at www.humphreysonthedelta.com. Call for reservations at 925-778-5800. Humphrey’s is located at 1 Marina Plaza, at the foot of L Street, in Antioch.

 

By Allen Payton, Publisher

If you haven’t yet been to the new Kobe Japanese Steak, Seafood, Sushi, Teppanyaki, Fusion restaurant and bar in Antioch, you should.

Named for the finest beef in the world, Kobe is the only restaurant in the area to offer such tender New York steak and Filet Mignon that just melt in your mouth.

Plus, their other menu items of seafood, sushi and chicken will tantalize your taste buds, as well.

What’s more is you can enjoy a show of the preparation of your meal at one of their 12 teppanyaki tables.

Started by four friends who met while all working at the same restaurant, Antioch’s location is Kobe’s fourth, with plans for more.

Partners Benny Chen, Phillip Chau, David Dong and Chef Peter Pan (yes that’s really his name), know what they’re doing from their experience in the restaurant business for between 15 and 30 years, each.

“Offering a fine dining experience with five-star food and five-star quality is our goal,” Benny stated.

Lunches include Hibachi Platters, Special Sushi Combos and Bento Boxes. Dinners include Hibachi Entrees and Special “Kobe” Imperial meals, such as steak and lobster or shrimp, and dinner for two with a choice of three items.

They also feature a sushi bar that seats 17 and offer “fusion” choices of Japanese, Korean, Thai and Chinese food, as well as a Kids Menu for age 10 and under.

See their ad on the previous page for location, hours and a special offer.

Sin (pronounced Shin, short for Sinead – it’s Gaelic/Irish) Silver will perform this Friday night, September 14 and next Friday night, September 21 at Schooner’s Grill & Brewery in Antioch starting at 7:00 p.m.  Schooner’s is located at 4250 Lone Tree Way in Antioch, near the AMC Theaters. For reservations call (925) 776-1800 and for more information visit their website at www.schoonersbrewery.com.

A new Japanese restaurant, featuring steak, seafood, tepanyaki tables and a sushi bar, has opened in Southeast Antioch. Following a VIP reception and ribbon cutting by the Antioch Chamber of Commerce, Kobe Steak and Seafood House opened on Wednesday, August 29, 2012 with great food, unique drinks and exciting performances by tepanyaki chefs.  The restaurant is located at 5007 Lone Tree Way at the corner of Hillcrest Avenue. For reservations call 925-706-8887.

By Natalie Souza-Rapp

Since opening in 1991, Humphrey’s delicious food and beautiful atmosphere has made it one of the most attractive dining establishments in Antioch. This well renowned restaurant sits in a perfect area on the water near the Antioch Marina in historic downtown.

Since the early part of this year, Antioch opened its new boat ramp, making Humphrey’s an even more popular dining spot for boaters.

When first entering Humphrey’s, one cannot miss learning how the restaurant came to be, a beautiful story of a humpback whale that entered the San Francisco Bay and made his way up the Sacramento River and Delta in 1985. Everyone watched as this whale made headlines and a successful rescue mission made it possible for the whale to find his way back to the Pacific Ocean.

Whether one is sitting in the lounge or in the dining room, there are many fantastic views of the river. It is truly relaxing watching the boats going up and down the waterway. Ms. Eva Romero, owner and manager since 1995, is excited to introduce their new menu due out August or September. You will still find popular dishes on the new menu; these include fresh Salmon, Halibut, Sea Bass, Seafood Newburg, Seafood Pasta, Cioppino, and Captain’s Platter which includes calamari, jumbo prawns, scallops, and cod. On Sundays, one has the option of ordering off the lunch or brunch menu.

Having owned and sold La Plaza Restaurant in 2004, Mrs. Romero says in 2011, they “brought over our popular dishes from the La Plaza menu.” When asked about blending a menu at Humphrey’s with a Mexican restaurant menu, she replied “these dishes were La Plaza specialties and they do well”. The dishes are the beef, chicken, and shrimp fajitas, and Camarones a La Plaza. They also offer Taco Tuesdays with a car show from 5 p.m. until close.

They have a large banquet facility that can hold seated meals for up to 300 people, as well as the Harbor Room with seating for up to 25.

There’s live music every Friday night starting at 9:30 p.m., and they feature the local, popular band PhD’s on the last Friday of the month. People can dance the night away on the large dance floor. The cover charge is just $5.00.

On Sunday afternoons, from 3pm-6pm, there is live music on the deck, overlooking the marina, performed by the Latin jazz band, Point of No Return.

Humphrey’s dining hours are Sunday-Thursday, 11am-9pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm with the lounge open until 1:30am. On Saturdays you will find events ranging from wedding receptions to birthday parties taking place in the large banquet room.

Since first opening, Humphrey’s has remained one of Antioch’s top restaurants for a great menu, superb service and gorgeous views. They are located at 1 Marina Plaza, at the end of L Street. For reservations call 778-5800 and for more information visit their website at www.humphreysonthedelta.com.

– Analysis –

By Allen Payton, Publisher

Humphrey the whale would be shedding a tear if he knew what was happening to his namesake restaurant in Antioch.

Humphrey’s on the Delta restaurant has been in the news, lately, due to some back rent owed to the city of a little over $48,000, because the city owns the land upon which the restaurant sits, as well as the filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to reorganize their finances, to avoid foreclosure and remain in business.

Let me first state, Humphrey’s is still open and in business, and owner Eva Romero and her new partner Samir Rohayem plan to keep it that way.

But the question is how did Humphrey’s get here? Well that’s the whale of a true tale of competition and inconsistent and unfair treatment by the City of Antioch, over the past 10 years.

A little understanding, first. The city has an incentive to make sure Humphrey’s is successful. Why? Because their rent is based upon a flat rate or a percent of gross sales, whichever is greater. So the more business Humphrey’s does over a certain amount, the more money paid to the city.

Let’s go back to 2001 when the City Council chose to go into direct competition with Humphrey’s, when they approved construction of the Lone Tree Golf & Event Center’s new banquet facility.

Up until that point, Humphrey’s was the only place in town where you could hold a seated event for up to 300 people.

The Lone Tree facility was originally planned to be a 150-seat banquet hall at a cost of $3.6 million. Instead, the City Council at the urging of then Mayor Don Freitas, approved a 300-seat, $4.8 million facility. Then with construction cost overruns of $900,000 that figure increased to $5.7 million.

The city loaned that $900,000 to the golf course, but the first payment of $48,379 wasn’t required until this year.

Once the new facility was open at Lone Tree, city, Chamber of Commerce and other events started being held, there instead of at Humphrey’s where they all had been held in the past.

Then the city chose to go into the restaurant business, again. This time with the Downtown Restaurant Incentive Program, in which they had $500,000 in redevelopment money to give to two restaurants.

They ended up granting $300,000 to help Bases Loaded open on G Street, which offered a full bar, food and live musical entertainment, just like Humphrey’s does. Now they’re struggling to stay alive, too.

At the time I argued that whatever the city did for a new business, they need to offer an equal benefit to existing businesses that the new one would compete with.

Instead, the city spent $20,000 on a consultant for Humphrey’s who told them three things, two of which they did: 1. change the staff uniforms, 2. make changes to the menu, and 3. spend $500,000 to $750,000 to fix up the place. The Romero family didn’t have that kind of money for improvements.

All they asked from the city was a new sign at the end of L Street at 2nd Street so people would know that Humphrey’s was there, since the trees in the marina parking lot had all grown up and now block the view of the sign on the front of the restaurant.

Then along came the new Antioch Community Center at Prewett Park which can also hold sit-down, catered banquet events for 220 people in one room and as many as 1,000 in the gymnasium. So, not only was the City competing with Humphrey’s, again, they’re now in competition with Lone Tree – which is owned by the city but operated by a nonprofit board of directors.

City staff recognized that, in their report to the City Council on February 10, this year, when they pointed out the challenges facing Lone Tree – “loan debt, downturn in the economy, creating a larger event center facility desired by the community leaders, the new Antioch Community Center.”

In that same report, staff pointed out that Lone Tree was in arrears almost $542,000 in payments on the loan for construction of the facility.

I don’t fault the golf course board. It was the Council at that time that strapped the board with a much larger debt than was planned or manageable.

But if they can’t make their loan payments, the city’s General Fund – which pays for police – has to pick up those costs.

Fortunately, according to one board member, they have made all the payments required by the city, this year. That included a $281,000 loan payment reducing the amount in arrears to about $260,000 and a $74,055 payment on the loan for the parking lot improvement, reducing that balance to either $74,055 or $148,110.

However, that doesn’t include the approximate $850,000 remaining from the loan for construction cost overruns.

The Prewett Park Fund, for both the new Community Center and Antioch Water Park, received a subsidy of almost $300,000 in this past year’s budget from the city’s General Fund. So that tells me unfortunately, they’re not making it on their own, either.

So now there are three facilities competing for the same banquet room rental business – which needless to say has dropped off dramatically since 2008 – and two of them are owned by the city, and all are struggling. One council member said the city now rotates events among the three.

Another shot from the city was the replacement of the Marina Park with the new Boat Launch Facility. Why? Because people would use the park for weddings then have their receptions at Humphrey’s, afterwards.

Finally, the latest shot was when the Council voted against changing the name of L Street to Marina Way or Parkway, as has been in the city’s Economic Plan since 1996. Humphrey’s address would have been 1 Marina Way or Parkway. The signs on the freeway would have provided permanent marketing for the waterfront and the road. Currently Humphrey’s address is 1 Marina Plaza, but there are no signs with that name on it and is confusing.

Yet the city is coming down hard on a 70-something, Hispanic female and longtime Antioch business owner and resident, over $48,000 in back rent.

Eva Romero attempted to sell the business two years ago, but she claims when the managing partner of the LLC defaulted on payments, she had to take the restaurant back.

She really doesn’t want to be in the restaurant business any more. She wants to retire.

One council member said it was because Romero filed for bankruptcy protection, the city was done dealing with her. They’ll be happy to negotiate with a new owner on the back rent. But not with Romero, because he doesn’t believe they can due to Humphrey’s being in bankruptcy.

Something smells about this entire situation, and it’s not from the fresh fish served at Humphrey’s or from a whale.

The City Council needs to work with Romero and her new partner, and let Humphrey’s deal with their creditors and stay alive until they can find a new buyer. It’s only fair after all the competition the city created for them.