With visitors pouring in, Ponca officials look to fill restaurant void

PONCA, Neb. — John Kingsbury understands the art of slow cooking when it comes to economic development.

But he’s missing a key ingredient for the recipe that’s been simmering in Ponca for more than a decade.

Kingsbury is not a chef. He is a banker who is turning up the heat to reopen a downtown Ponca restaurant to serve visitors at nearby Ponca State Park.

The opening of a dozen new mini-lodges at the state park this fall puts the town of Ponca on the spot to take advantage of an opportunity to feed and entertain thousands of visitors a year.

“Now it’s the town’s turn,’’ Kingsbury said.

Ponca has a small downtown cafe and a new pizza restaurant, but the city’s largest restaurant — Oscar’s River Town Restaurant — closed in late 2008 and is for sale. The Better Ponca Foundation will pay $2,500 to anyone who helps find a new owner-operator, Kingsbury said.

Oscar’s opened in 2007 after 71 mostly local boosters invested up to $4,000 each to renovate an old steakhouse at a downtown intersection leading to the state park. They turned the place into a restaurant and sports bar with seating for 112. A back room for banquets and dances accommodates 150.

But unable to sustain adequate management, the investor-owners closed the restaurant.

“It needs to be owner-operated, and they’ve got to understand what park people want vs. what Ponca people want,” Kingsbury said. “Then they have to be smart enough to make them work together. It can be done.’’

Kingsbury said restarting the restaurant would bring park visitors and residents of nearby cities into town to spend time and money. About 150,000 people live within a 45-minute drive of Ponca.

“People will drive to a small town to eat. They’ll come from all over. You just have to give them decent service and a few shops,’’ he said. “It’s a matter of putting together the right combination of things.’’

Contact the writer:

444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com

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