Business Spotlight: Riverview Lodge still going strong after 62 years in Antioch

By Roni Gehlke
For the Contra Costa Times

Name of Business: Riverview Lodge

Type of business: Restaurant

Owners: Carole Chadwick and Deanna Daly

Founded: 1948

Address: 1 Wharf Drive, Antioch

Phone number: 757-2272

Hours: Bar 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday; Dining 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Number of employees: 20

Products and services: Riverview Lodge offers dining with full windows offering a view of the Delta. "People really enjoy watching the ships turn around the Delta while they eat," Chadwick said.

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its specialty is seafood, featuring shrimp, chowders, clams and crab. They offer Creole, Newburg, curry, au gratin and Thermidor prepared seafood. The also have a crab, shrimp and seafood souffle on the menu. Along with their seafood dishes, Riverview Lodge also prepares a variety of steak and chicken dishes.

They offer eat-in and takeout service and banquet services.

How did you get into the business?: Chadwick's grandfather, Frank Battaglin, built the restaurant more than 60 years ago. It has stayed in the family ever since. "My father Larry (Battaglin) took over the business in 1954," Chadwick said. "Then I took over for him. Now my daughter Deanna is working with me."

In 1961 the restaurant burned down in a fire that took out the whole pier. The repairs cost more than $750,000, but as quickly as possible the family rebuilt the restaurant in the same location. Now the restaurant is one of the longest-running businesses in the community.

Best part about the business?: "I would really have to say the customers," Chadwick said. "I really enjoy the restaurant business and getting to serve people and seeing to their tastes."

Worst part about the business?: "Like everyone else the economy has me worried," she said. "As well as the fact that over the last several years it has been hard to get people to come downtown."
Chadwick said that many people in Antioch don't really know what the downtown has to offer, and the Riverview Lodge isn't visible from the street so people can't really see it driving by unless they are in a boat.

Key to success: "That has to be consistency and fair prices," Chadwick said.

Biggest misperception about the business: Chadwick said that there really isn't a misperception about her business. There is a lot of history to the Riverview Lodge and a lot of people who have been in the area for a long time remember coming to the restaurant on special occasions or with family. She just hopes that they remember the restaurant is still open for business.

Future plans: Chadwick says she plans to keep everything the same in the coming months. She is disappointed that the downtown is losing the Fourth of July fireworks and parade this summer and hopes the economy will turn around soon so that those events, which bring people downtown, will be back in the future.
— Roni Gehlke