“It sounds really corny, but to me the Barrel House is more than a house. It’s home to me. It’s like my family,” Filloon said. “Running a restaurant isn’t about the owners, the managers or the kitchen. It’s every team member. Recognizing the value of what they bring to our restaurant and giving them appreciation is so important to me. We couldn’t do this without them.”
That people-first philosophy is supported behind the scenes by co-owners Dan Lech and Bryan Taulbee, who used years of restaurant experience to build an infrastructure that allows leaders like Filloon to focus on care and consistency rather than constant problem-solving.
Once a car dealership in the 1950s, the building includes a 5,000-square-foot space below the dining room that the owners have repurposed from its former service bay.
“We have an on-site workshop, so we’re able to do a lot of our own repairs and maintenance,” Lech said. “We also have backup equipment on site for anything that goes down. If something breaks, we just swap it out and get it fixed so we don’t miss a beat.”
Lech is quick to point out that success is not driven by ownership alone.
“Sue’s front-of-house presence and guest interaction combined with Brian Fields’ heart-of-house expertise make a huge difference,” Lech said. “It’s easy for leadership to receive all the kudos, but it’s really the team that makes sure that happens. We average about 100 employees who work here.”
Over the years, some team members who started as teenagers have returned after college or stayed on in limited roles because they enjoy being part of the environment.
“The kids go through school and college, get their big girl jobs and big boy jobs, and then months later they’re calling and asking if they can come back once in a while,” Filloon said. “They miss being here.”
In the kitchen, that same focus on consistency is led by kitchen manager Brian Fields, who joined the restaurant just three months after it opened. Filloon credits Fields with maintaining high standards behind the scenes.
“It’s a lot of work every day to ensure that we’re all following food safety, and he’s great at that,” she said. “We do great with the health department because we have really high standards.”
Fields oversees ordering, food safety and kitchen standards and plays a role in menu development. While new items are introduced carefully, the menu does not change frequently and some items that were removed over the years have even been brought back after popular demand.
The menu leans into familiar comfort foods, including burgers, quesadillas, flatbreads, wraps and smoked wings, with seasonal additions layered in throughout the year. During the summer months, that often includes fried zucchini and squash.
“I load that smoker every day,” Fields said. “On my days off, our assistant kitchen manager loads it, but almost every day we’re loading that smoker. It’s a lot of fun.”
Fields’ love for cooking began long before he entered a professional kitchen.
“My grandma showed me how to cook a bunch of different stuff. We kind of lived off the land,” Fields said. “My grandpa worked at a restaurant, and I just wanted to do it.”
That influence shows up daily in the kitchen, particularly with the burgers. Broadway Barrel House has won Best Burger in Warren County for several consecutive years. Fields created the two most recent burgers added to the menu, including the Boom Boom Burger, made with a handcrafted certified Angus beef patty topped with boom boom sauce, pepper jack cheese, kielbasa sausage and onion straws on a pretzel bun.
Awards and popular menu items may be what guests notice first, but much of the work behind them happens out of sight.
Lech is the first to acknowledge that building the restaurant has not been without challenges.
“Well, we certainly had our challenges when opening and we’re not perfect,” he said. “The recipe seems simple. You want to be clean, consistent, provide good service and be personable. It sounds easy, but if you can rally a team to deliver it every day, you’ve got a good shot at being successful in this business.”
Nina Weierman is a freelance writer and mother living in Centerville, Ohio. More about her projects and writing can be found at linktr.ee/ninaweierman.
HOW TO GO
What: Broadway Barrel House
Where: 402 N. Broadway St., Lebanon
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays
Online: BroadwayBarrelHouse.com or 513-934-7799
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