When regulars heard that beloved Riverside dive bar Art’s Bar and Grill was changing hands, they were curious. When they heard the buyer was one of the brothers behind a fine-dining restaurant, curiosity became alarm.
Andrea “Dre” Palagi did his best to reassure everyone. That included server Debbie Hodson, who’d been at Art’s since 1985.
“I had anxiety for the month before he took over. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stay or retire,” Hodson, 68, says at the end of a recent shift. “As soon as I talked to him, I knew I was going to stay.”
Art’s first day in Palagi’s hands was March 28, 2023. The world did not end.
“Rather than change everything and terrify customers,” Palagi tells me, “I went slow. I did invisible things they wouldn’t see.”
He kept all the staff who wanted to stay (there was one defection) and hired an executive chef, who showed up to discover that the four-burner stove had only two working burners.
Palagi set about fixing or replacing the plumbing, the roof, the refrigerator and that troublesome stove. The menu stayed mostly intact, but customers were served better versions with fresher ingredients.
Physical changes to the dining room were subtle. Booths got dimmer switches and USB ports. Tables have candles. There are now — gasp — plants.
And it’s working. Business has more than tripled, Palagi has gone from six to 24 employees, hours are expanding and regulars are thrilled and relieved.
Alissa Erickson delivers lunch at Art’s Bar and Grill in Riverside on Aug. 9 to Chuck Conder, left, Steve Adams and Peter Hubbard. Conder, a councilmember, calls Art’s “that local Cheers hangout that people love.” (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
“He didn’t come here and blow it up,” says Chuck Conder, a Riverside councilmember, eating lunch on a recent Friday with friends Steve Adams and Peter Hubbard in one of Art’s red-leather booths. “He kept the ambience of the place and didn’t drive away the regulars. Little by little, he’s added his own flavor.”
Adams, a former councilmember, says that when he was a cop, he only ever visited Art’s when sent there about a disturbance. Now he’s a regular.
“Did you ever used to come in here before?” Hubbard asks me. “It was a dive bar. Now he calls it ‘a five-star dive bar.’”
Art’s pre-history begins with founder Art Conte’s earlier venture, a bar named the Circus Room. It was in the back of a liquor store on University Avenue west of Market Street. The city tore the building down to build a Greyhound station and in exchange set Conte up at 3357 University in a red-brick building dating to 1928 with tin ceilings.
He opened it in 1984 as Art’s Bar and Grill.
Art’s Bar and Grill, in business since 1984, is housed in a 1928 building off the 91 Freeway in Riverside. Most customers enter from the rear, where there’s a tiny parking lot, with overflow parking at the neighboring mortuary. (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Art’s had no jukebox, no entertainment, no orders to-go. Prime rib was a specialty. Taco Tuesday was a madhouse. In the early days, people smoked. No outside light penetrated. And Art’s was open until 2 a.m., with a line to get in some nights, retired server Mary Haynes recalls.
After Conte’s death in the 1990s, daughter Paula Jones, who was already working there alongside her father, took charge. She was dedicated, but business dipped during the Great Recession and never fully recovered, says Haynes, who retired at the start of COVID.
By early 2023, Jones “was just ready to retire,” says Hodson, her friend and the longest-serving employee. But two would-be buyers dropped out during escrow.
Then Palagi stepped forward.
His father had opened Mario’s Place, an Italian restaurant on Magnolia Avenue, in 1981. Three years later, Mario Palagi was dead of lung cancer. His family went all in to keep his dream alive.
Dre worked more than 40 hours a week at Mario’s alongside brothers Arrigo and Leone while attending Poly High. After a year at a five-star restaurant in San Francisco, he returned to Riverside, logging 38 years total at Mario’s Place, which some call Riverside’s finest restaurant.
Andrea “Dre” Palagi jokes with longtime customers Terri and Art Rivera at Art’s Bar and Grill in Riverside on Aug. 9. Palagi takes time to walk the dining room and get to know customers. (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Palagi had been visiting Art’s weekly when Jones broached the idea of selling. The timing was right. A heart scare had made him take a fresh look at his life.
And there was a sentimental attachment to Art’s, which was his late mother Eleonora’s favorite bar. He saw a chance to make sure it survived.
“I love my brothers, but it was time to challenge myself,” Palagi, 55, says.
Art’s Bar, in turn, was challenged by its new owner.
“Art’s had live music one weekend only in 40 years,” says Hodson. She doesn’t know why.
Debbie Hodson makes change for a customer at Art’s Bar and Grill in Riverside on Aug. 15. Hodson heard about a job opening in 1985, came in for an interview, was hired on the spot and has worked there ever since. “It’s my home away from home,” she says. (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Palagi has brought in live music on weekends and installed a digital jukebox. He’s added trivia and karaoke nights and multiple video screens. Art’s had stayed the same for so long that Hodson admits she was automatically skeptical of each change.
Now she’s one of the biggest users of the jukebox and hosted her 68th birthday at the bar in April, on a night when the band Raincross Drive performed. The changes now seem overdue, she says.
“It’s a whole new vibe mixed with the old vibe. I like that,” Hodson says.
Over the July Fourth weekend, Art’s closed for a thorough cleaning and the installation of new carpeting. Broken chair rollers were replaced. The menu continues to evolve, with items like ahi poke wonton tacos and apricot-glazed salmon joining reliables like sirloin steak, housemade potato chips and the Big Art burger (now with Wagyu beef).
“I would say 95% of the menu is made from scratch,” boasts Rafael Gutierrez, the executive chef, during a break. “I’m about to go back into the kitchen and make creme brulee.”
Palagi wants everyone to feel comfortable at Art’s, encouraging visits for breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks.
Andrea “Dre” Palagi chats with regulars from behind the bar at Art’s Bar and Grill in Riverside on Aug. 9. He has expanded the menu, the beer and wine offerings, the hours, the staff and the entertainment since taking over the business in March 2023. (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
“What I’m trying to create is ‘Cheers’ meets the Regal Beagle from ‘Three’s Company,’ ” Palagi says with a chuckle. “I’m honored to be able to keep the legacy going of Art’s.”
Regulars appreciate it.
“It’s just one of those places in Riverside,” says Chani Beeman, a city native who dines there two or three times a week. “We love Art’s. It’s been here too many years to lose it.”
The personable, 6-foot-4 Palagi often goes table to table to chat up customers. No subject seems to be taboo.
“They always say don’t talk about religion and politics. After almost 40 years in the restaurant business, I do it,” Palagi says. “It stimulates conversation and stimulates drink sales.”
Here’s to continued good health for Art’s.
David Allen has a three-column minimum: Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, like davidallencolumnist on Facebook and follow @davidallen909 on X.
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