The menu invasion begins early next week.
The Reuben.
“I’m a big believer in the Reuben sandwiches, and I, for one, believe it needs to be on every menu,” insisted Rick Veon, the new owner of Belmont Brewerks in Martins Ferry. “If it’s made the right way, it sells and sells a lot.”
The Brewerks Club.
“The Club is the Club, right? It’s all about quality meats,” the owner said. “Oh, and the egg. Gotta have a fried egg on the Club.”
The Cuban.
“Let’s just say we’ll be serving our own twist.”
The Roast Beef Melt.
“When I moved away from Wheeling for college, this was a meat-and-potato valley,” Veon recalled. “And when I moved home a couple of years ago, I quickly realized it’s still a meat-and-potato valley. That’s why this sandwich makes total sense.”
The Killer Grilled Cheese.
“Think about what you had when you were a kid, and then take it up a few notches. And then do it again.”
Veon knows sandwiches thanks to his 30 years in the food service industry, and now that he is preparing to add and subtract to and from the Brewerks’ menu, he’s working on familiarizing himself with the tastebuds of the Upper Ohio Valley.
“I know we’re going to change the menu slightly in the near future, but after that we’ll take some time to communicate with our customer base so we can make sure we include what they love,” Veon said. “A restaurant’s menu in Arizona may work in Arizona, but that doesn’t mean the same menu will work here. We all have our favorite things to eat, so that’s why we’re looking forward to having those discussions with the people who come here.
“I know the menu at Brewerks hasn’t really changed for a couple of years, so we’ll have to get some items on it, and then I believe placing some seasonal dishes on our menu will be a good idea, as well,” he said. “That’s why we’ll be adding those sandwiches to our menu early next week.”
Muffa-Whatta?
Just Google it.
Mŭfə-lŏtə, -lĕt-a: A warm sandwich consisting of a large round roll of Italian bread split in half and filled with layers of hard salami, ham, provolone, and olive salad. noun.
A muffaletta is a famous Italian sandwich invented in New Orleans with cured meats (ham and salami), provolone cheese, olive dressing and great bread. The olive dressing sports chopped green and black olives with onions and olive oil and spices, and the bread is a round sesame-seed roll big enough for sharing.
“I am not sure if we’ll have those just yet, but sandwiches, by far, are my favorite things to eat, and I’m not sure why,” Veon said. “For some reason, I just think everything you eat can come between two pieces of bread. And I do love bread, almost any kind, and terrific foods to put in the middle. And it has to be consistent with the way it is built for the customer. For example, the mustard always has to be on the bottom and the mayonnaise had better be on the top.
“I can ‘sandwich’ anything, and the people in Martins Ferry will find that out. Hell, I sit around sometimes just creating new sandwiches so you’ll never know what’s coming next,” he said with a smile. “We plan to have some fun on Facebook, too, about what to put on the sandwiches like the meats and the veggies and the condiments. Sandwich making, after all, is an art. I at least I think it is, and I’m willing to bet other folks do, too.”
The 53-year-old eatery owner had an extended career with Jason’s Deli, an operation in the Chicago area that included 14 units but was 48 locations strong when Veon opted to move on. He also gained experience with steakhouses in the St. Louis area before returning home to Wheeling to be with his family.
“It’s so funny how I got into this industry,” he said with a chuckle. “I worked at a bank after I was graduated from Arizona State, but then a friend of mine opened a steakhouse, and it was failing because he didn’t know what he was doing. With zero experience in food service, I took a look.
“I dissected his inventory and his processes, and I found out that everyone was stealing from him,” Veon revealed. “So, we fired all of them and built it back up from the ground. Now, the man has 10 locations.”
An Empire
It seems he recognizes the challenges.
“There is a lot of great food in this area, but I can’t lie; I miss Chicago because I miss being able to walk down the street and get whatever kind of food I want at that moment on that day. I know I can do nothing to change that fact here overnight, but we can change it a little bit, and that’s the plan.”
A good plan, it appears to be.
“As I am getting into the food service business here, I know I have to be realistic, and I know that what I miss the most just can’t be supported here right now. If great things happen in the future, maybe we’ll be able to support more food diversity along with the great places we have now. But, for now, we’ll make a few changes at Belmont Brewerks while understanding it’s always a work in progress. And, to be honest, that’s really the fun part for me.”
Not too bad for a rookie, right?
“I’m really proud to do this because I have worked for some pretty big corporations, and I have run multiple restaurants at one time, but I decided I was finished making money for other people. It’s my turn,” Veon said. “It’s time for me to do it for myself.
“I was looking to open something of a sandwich shop, and I went out to look at some buildings, but I couldn’t find anything that really interested me. And my friend knew the owners of Belmont Brewerks, so we went to speak with them,” he explained. “We talked about a lot of different things, and at the end they asked me if I wanted to buy it, and I agreed after some thought. But I can tell you, I can’t stay stagnant, and if I am going to get back into food service, it probably won’t be long before one turns into two.”
Hence, the empire.
“I’m not sure right now if it will be under the same brand, but once you have one, operating two is pretty easy,” Veon said. “I don’t like each day to be the same, and I always have had more to give than operating just one restaurant. So, I will build an empire of some kind, that I do know.
“I came home in 2020 because the virus shut everything down, and I saw it as a good time to do what I knew I would do someday, and that’s coming home,” the Linsly graduate added. “Since I’ve been back in Wheeling, I’ve married my high school sweetheart, and I’ve purchased a great restaurant with terrific employees. So, yes, it’s good to be home.”
