Million Dollar Party: A Restaurant Memoir - Softcover

Robert Mark; Butherus Ihrig Susan Jean Ihrig; Susan Jean Butherus Ihrig

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1457557053 ISBN 13: 9781457557057

Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing, LLC, 2018

Synopsis

Million Dollar Party: A Restaurant Memoir by Robert Mark Ihrig and Susan Jean Butherus Ihrig

Million Dollar Party is the story of our lives,and the drama surrounding our restaurant and bar. We spent years engrossed inlaying the groundwork, which led to our ambition getting off the ground. We opened Bob's Gridiron Grille and the Pigskin Pub in Lincoln, Nebraska, known worldwide as Cornhusker country. Totally convinced my one-of-a-kind collection of Nebraska football memorabilia would be a draw, I was dead wrong.

This is not a how-to-book. How could it be? We failed. We're not qualified to tell anybody anything, other than what we experienced. This memoir delves into the why, the wherefore, and the what. Why did I want a restaurant? What did we do to plan for our venture, and what exactly happened? Nothing turned out the way we designed; instead, our dream turned into something out of a horror story.

I should have listened to Susan, who was supportive, though skeptical. More than once, she pointed out, "A restaurant involves hard work, long hours, employee problems, customer complaints, health inspections, and government regulations," but I didn't hear her. I understand now, but I was too busy doing what I wanted to do. I had it all calculated, determined the place would be a destination spot, but things got mucked up along the way.

In telling this cautionary tale, our intent is not to rain on anyone's parade, only to point out a few obstacles. If you are not prepared to enter this competitive and extremely over-saturated market, then what we've written will prove worthwhile. I wish I'd had a book like this in my hands before we started. If I had, maybe we would have done things differently, or perhaps not at all.

Once I was told by a man I greatly respected, "A smart man learns from his mistakes, but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others." Our sincere hope is what we have shared serves a purpose. We welcome you inside our old establishment, opening the doors one final time.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Mark Ihrig and Susan Jean Butherus Ihrig, authors of Million Dollar Party: A Restaurant Memoir

Million Dollar Party was co-authored by Robert Mark Ihrig and Susan Jean Butherus Ihrig.
Bob is a dreamer. So was his father before him. Susan, his wife, has been his love and partner for forty-six years. Bob's dad was a coach and a school principal, and by the time Bob was twelve, they had lived in fourteen places, in three states. His mom was an alcoholic. He collected baseball and football cards, but after seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, he rushed out to buy drumsticks, and started a rock band.

Susan's family owned a farm on the outskirts of Culbertson, right off Highway 6 and 34. The big red barn in back of the house could be seen from the road, and was a local landmark of sorts. She grew up in a loving family with four sisters and went to the same school from kindergarten to graduation. She studied hard, and played the organ in church. Susan and Bob were born two months apart in the same Catholic hospital in McCook, Nebraska, but never met until they entered college on music scholarships, where they were in marching band together, hung out, and got married in the days of the Vietnam War.

They launched their plan of a lifetime in 2003, opening a restaurant and bar in the heart of Huskerland, Lincoln, Nebraska. Their place was decorated in Bob's lifelong collection of Cornhusker memorabilia. Even though he promised Susan the restaurant would be a huge success - it was a miserable failure. Just a few years before, they had some two million in assets, but after closing the doors and draining the beer kegs, they left town with $500 in their pockets.

Shaking off the dust of defeat as they drove away, Susan mumbled, "I could never imagine sitting in Memorial Stadium watching a Nebraska football game ever again. Serves us right for throwing a Million Dollar Party!"

Bob and Susan now reside in Parker, Colorado.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing, LLC
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1457557053
• ISBN 13: 9781457557057
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 322