The new owners of the Rib Eye restaurant in Napavine decided to buy the restaurant while on an airplane flight and faxed an offer from a car rental business in Iowa.
Peter Beck and Sandra Radcliffe-Beck had heard about the Napavine restaurant and its sister restaurant in Olympia being for sale during a two-day trip to Winlock, where the two own a 100-acre property. Peter got a flat tire and when he went to Fred's Shell station to get it repaired, owner Fred Blum mentioned the restaurants might be going under due to the legal difficulties of owner Robert Reeves.
In January Reeves pled guilt to four counts of second-degree child molestation with a 13-year-old girl. As a result he lost approval to sell pull tabs and liquor. In addition, the Washington Department of Revenue had filed a lien against the restaurants for $64,000 in unpaid taxes.
The Becks looked at the restaurants and on the plane ride made the decision. They faxed an offer, attorneys negotiated and on March 18 the Beck's owned two Rib Eyes with a total of 87 employees.
Peter Beck first got involved in the restaurant business in 1972. Friends of his decided to open a restaurant in North Seattle called Raintree with a cook-your-own-steak concept that was popular in Hawaii at the time. Beck constructed the building and stayed on at the restaurant until 1977 when he decided it was time for a change.
He spent the next few months skiing at Sun Valley in Idaho and also started investing in real estate. In May 1978 he joined the Red Robin restaurant chain. At the time they only had two restaurants. Beck and his partner built it into a nationwide publicly-traded chain of 225 restaurants which they sold in the late 1980s to a Japanese company.
Over the years between restaurants he's invested in real estate, skied as much a possible (a passion since age 13) and in 1999 ran for mayor of his hometown of Edmonds, losing by only 25 votes in the primary. He has also volunteered his time to the Boy Scouts and an architectural advisory board for Edmonds.
Sandra Radcliffe-Beck has worked with deaf and dying people for more than 20 years. She married Beck in 1995 and has also been investing in real estate. She has been hiring at the Napavine Rib Eye and is working on improving the restaurant.
The couple has applied for gambling (pull-tab) and liquor licenses, which take between 60 to 90 days to be reviewed.
Plans for the restaurant include some menu changes such as bottomless fries and cutting out items that don't sell so well; some physical improvements such as upgrading the electrical panels and outlets; a new supplier of steaks and drug testing for the work force.
Perhaps more important, the Beck's want to bring a new philosophy to the restaurant.
"Have the employees think on their feet and be responsible for their actions, that's kind of how we operate," said Sandra.
"It will be a bit by osmosis, a bit by understanding and training and a lot by expectation," said Peter. "They haven't had any ability to make their own decisions. Some haven't had an opportunity to excel."
Don't, however, expect changes to jump out.
"I like to make changes like a laser," said Peter. "Seamless, anticipated, calculated, so that they don't really detect the change."
Chef Mike Heiner, who has worked at the restaurant for more than six years, said conditions have changed under the new ownership.
"We've changed the way we cook everything," said Heiner. "Its all fresh fish now. We're smoking ribs for 14 hours opposed to four. We're using choice prime rib. We're looking at everything and thinking and tasting."
The name on the front will soon be changed to Beck's Rib Eye. The couple have also made an offer on a third restaurant at an undisclosed location.
