A YouTube channel that’s profiled more than 800 independently owned restaurants will feature a restaurant along an eastern Iowa river that has a “Wall of Honor” for Vietnam veterans.
Roger Zearley is co-owner of the Riverbend Pub & Grill in Manchester. “I think it started with me getting a missed call and listening to a voice mail and going: ‘Is this real or not? Did they really call me?’ And so I called back and, yes, it was ‘America’s Best Restaurants’ and we had a good conversation,” Zearley says. “We had some things that they thought were very unique.”
Representatives from America’s Best Restaurants were at the Manchester pub last week to film their morning prep and lunch hour and visit with customers. Host Luis Rivera says he walked out on the restaurant’s deck that overlooks the Maquoketa River, turned back around toward the building and was overwhelmed by what he saw.
“The biggest service member wall that I’ve ever seen in my entire life. It was just impressive. I had heard about it, but I had never seen it. This thing’s two stories tall. It’s unbelievable and then to have all the Iowans that perished during Vietnam listed alphabetically — it’s a lot,” Rivera says. “It’s pretty overwhelming just standing in front of it, so that was amazing.”
Zearley says local vets asked a key question when the current owners bought the restaurant. “‘Hey, would you keep these signs on the side of this building?’ And we’re doing a full remodel. We got involved with Brian over at Manchester Signs and he helped design that along with a lot of vets that helped us put this together,” Zearley says. “…The Wall of Honor is all about the vets and we’re just proud that it’s handing on the side of Riverbend.”
Producers of America’s Best Restaurants say the episode about the Manchester restaurant will be posted on their YouTube channel in the next seven to nine weeks.
(Reporting by Janelle Tucker, KMCH, Manchester)