RICHLAND – Richland’s newest restaurant, Country Junction, is going strong after opening its doors three months ago.

The restaurant is in the same place that Loriann’s occupied at 400 S. Oak St. until it closed in June 2022. Country Junction is owned by Bill Randall and Dave Brown, and the location is especially convenient for Randall because his other business, R&R Frames, occupies the back half of that very building, so he can supervise both businesses with ease. Brown also has another job, running Iowa Construction and Remodeling, which has built and moved homes in Richland and the surrounding area.

Randall said it’s nice to not have to travel back and forth from one worksite to another.

“I spend my time about 50-50 in the two places,” he said.

Randall said it feels nice to be running a restaurant right when business activity in Richland is exploding, with the recent opening of a Jefferson County Health Center clinic last year, a new child care center planned for next year, and the pending move of Packwood Locker to Richland.

Country Junction opened on March 2, and Randall said he has been pleased with the support he and Brown have received from the community.

“We’re getting good reviews, and people like the food,” Randall said.

The restaurant has 15 employees, and Randall said a lot of them are “young kids who are pretty gung ho.”

“They’ve been doing a really good job,” Randall said.

Though many restaurants have struggled to find staff these last three years, Randall said that has not been a problem for Country Junction.

One of the reasons that Country Junction has been a success so far is that it’s open all seven days of the week, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“People know we’re going to be open,” Randall said.

Randall said the dishes that have been his biggest sellers have been tenderloins and pizza.

“We do a lot of hamburgers, too,” he said. “Our hot beef is a really good seller, and our open-faced tenderloin sandwiches sell well. We’ve got ice cream and homemade pies, too.”

Randall said it’s hard to say which day of the week is busiest, since the crowds ebb and flow for no apparent reason.

“Out of the blue, we might have a lunch where we get swamped,” he said. “Friday and Saturdays are usually good, and Sunday dinners are really busy.”

Randall said business is good when there are activities in the area, such as a sporting event at Pekin or a gathering in Richland. For instance, during the town’s city-wide garage sale in early June, Country Junction was hopping.

The one thing that hasn’t gone well so far this spring and summer is the constant construction on Highway 78. Just as soon as the bridge west of Richland was finished after a year, the state started on another project east of Richland that is forcing motorists to make a detour.

“It’s put a damper on things for people trying to get here,” Randall said. “But things are going well, and we appreciate the community’s business.”