Popular restaurant reopens, joins with Gate City bar and pool hall
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POCATELLO — A restaurant that closed its doors in 2021 is back in business, and teaming up with a local bar and pool hall.
The Rim Rock Grill is now serving patrons of Cue & Brews at 259 East Center Street. It officially became a part of the business on November 13.
“I’m gonna be seeing a lot of my customers return and they’re coming over here and finding a new place to go and it’s been really good,” said Steve Lenon, the former Co-owner of the Rim Rock with his wife, Julie Lenon.
The Rim Rock has been serving Gate City customers for over five decades. Originally, it was the Rim Rock Bar & Grill located on South Fifth Avenue, but it had to close when negotiations with the property owners on a new lease fell apart.
Despite this setback, Lenon worked to continue his passion and serve his food. For about a year, the Rim Rock continued to serve customers at Clydesdale Bar & Lounge.
“(But) they knew that I wasn’t going to be there forever,” Lenon said.
Jeff Diller and Jeremiah Huskey, the co-owners of Cue & Brews, had been friends with the Lenons for a long time and they had been operating the pool hall since 2020. After it closed, they all started to work out a plan to keep the Rim Rock alive.
They wanted to partner and bring the Rim Rock into Cue & Brews, but as Diller and Huskey met with contractors, they realized the cost of remodeling their building to include a kitchen was too great.
They weren’t sure what to do until they had a meeting at the beginning of this summer and came up with the idea of operating out of a food truck. Now customers will be able to find that truck permanently parked in the back of the building where Lenon will cook his food.
Lenon said people who order from him can expect quality food.
“I want it to taste good. If it doesn’t taste good to me, I’m not going to serve it to the public,” Lenon said.
While the Rim Rock is most known for its burgers, Lenon said, he also serves Idaho Nachos, sandwiches and much more.
“We’ve got a huge menu,” Lenon said.
Diller said they’ve seen more and more people coming to the pool hall as word about the Rim Rock has spread around town.
“And they come in and just rave about it,” he said.
The Rim Rock is bringing in so many customers, they extended Cue & Brews’ hours, Diller said.
“We used to not open up till about noon or so because we didn’t get a decent lunch crowd,” Diller said.
Cue & Brews’ new hours start at 10:30 a.m., serving lunch from 11 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. People who want to order food can go right to the counter inside the pool hall and place their order, and their food will be brought right to their table.
Diller said, “It’s a dream come true,” to have Rim Rock become a part of Cue & Brews.
“We’re excited and couldn’t have a better business partner to be rolling with,” he said.
He called the Rim Rock Grill Lenon’s “legacy,” and he and Huskey are proud to incorporate it into their business.
“That’s why I built the name that I have because I always took a lot of pride in what I cook,” Lenon said.