River’s Edge Bar and Grill has been a part of the Gibsonton community for more than 20 years. What started out as a little local bar has grown into being ‘The Jewel of Gibsonton’, according to one of the current owners, Robert Cremeams. “The bar isn’t just owned by my husband Robert,” said Lisa Cremeams, “His brothers Randy and Ron are co-owners and their girlfriends Paula and Dawn are waitresses as well.” River Edge is family-owned and operated.
Robert Cremeams got to know the bar’s former owner Barney Madden because Robert was a regular on Saturdays; but not for a cold beverage. Robert was a regular for River’s Edge’s burgers. “I own the property across the street from the bar and at the time, the bar only had hotdogs and hamburgers on Saturdays and Sundays,” Robert said. “Barney only had about 150 burgers and when they were gone, they were gone, so I would call over to the bar and tell them to put a burger aside for me for lunch.”
Robert and Barney’s friendship grew over the years and over the burgers. “Barney wanted to sell the business and he knew I was responsible enough to run it, so I talked with my brothers to see if they would be interested in being business partners,” Robert said, “I told them if we didn’t do it together, then we don’t do it at all.” The brothers thought it was a great idea, so in 2012 the brothers leased River’s Edge from Barney for two years and then finalized the purchase in 2014.
The brothers have made lots of improvements since taking over River’s Edge. “We have a full and extensive menu, a wait staff and misting fans, in addition to a new seawall and dock,” Robert said.
“We’ve also become known for our oysters and shrimp, but we do sell about 10,000 burgers a year.”
Robert and his family love being the owners of River’s Edge and pride themselves on their customers saying they feel as if they are part of the family. “It’s a lot of work but we want to make River’s Edge better than what it was before,” Robert said. “We want to make the jewel of Gibsonton shine a little brighter.” The brothers are currently in the process of obtaining a permit to extend the docks to accommodate more boat traffic coming to the bar.
For more information or to check out the menu, visit www.riversedgebarandgrill.com or call 671-9196. River’s Edge Bar and Grill is located at 6226 Ohio Ave. in Gibsonton.
