Karaoke, Artwork and Baby Back Ribs: Rivara's Bar and Grill

Popular lounge and eatery enters its 38th year

Rivara's Bar and Grill on Maple Avenue caters to all potential markets—families, the lounge crowd, and private parties. The lounge, which seats 28 at the bar and 46 in total, is host to karaoke Thursday through Saturday evenings, with occasional live music on Saturdays—making Rivara's an ideal weekend destination.

The restaurant's Skylite Room offers a shower package for $27.95 per person ("Our most appealing package," says owner Frank Rivara) which includes all the standards like a custom shower cake, wishing well, and more. The restaurant itself seats 95, with a capacity of 65 in the Majestic Room, which can also be used for private parties. Furthermore, the restaurant is beautifully decorated with paintings by Frank Rivara's daughter and artist, Brecken.

"She's a well known hula hoopist," Frank Rivara says. "She was voted top Dance Artist for 2010 by www.hooping.org, and currently travels the country and teaches classes." Frank's son Andrew is an artist as well.

The Rivara twins, Frank and Victor, opened their popular restaurant and lounge, Rivera’s Grill House, back in 1973 under the name of The Owl and I—for what the brothers found in a dark corner of the attic upon purchasing the building: a stuffed owl. Also, the popularity of the 1970 romantic comedy The Owl and the Pussycat starring Barbara Streisand and George Segal was a factor in the naming of the restaurant.

"To our surprise, it became our instant logo and image of identity," Frank Rivara says with a laugh. Therefore, the stuffed owl was prominently displayed in the restaurant.

Stop at the traffic light at Maple Avenue and River Road, and you'll notice Rivara's. Then again, you may find people like the ones Frank Rivara claims have told him, "'I’ve passed by 1,000 times, and I finally came in.' That’s often what happens."

The Rivara family reads like a "Who’s Who" in the current Bergen County restaurant realm. Frank’s cousin Pat Quinn, who owns Rivara's with Frank and his twin brother Vic, also owns the Glen Rock Inn in neighboring Glen Rock, and baby brother David Rivara owns and operates the Maywood Inn, originally opened by Rivara's dad, Victor.

The Owl and I, primarily a disco lounge with live music, remained open until 1988, when a planned major renovation saw half the restaurant knocked down and rebuilt, this time as Rivara's Grill House.

"We added a relaxed dining experience," says Frank Rivara. The same year, the brothers added the upstairs Skylight Room—which can accomodate 100 people—but didn’t initially open it.

"We were told by many that we couldn’t get approval to use the space," Frank Rivara says. It was finally opened in 2000, and the borough of Fair Lawn has embraced it with open arms. "It’s amazing, you can't always listen to what you think is dogma," he says.

Mariana Costanza is head waiter at Rivara's, and Dave Smith is the executive chef. Both have been with the restaurant for almost 20 years, and Smith started out as a dishwasher and line cook. Since 2002, the signature Rivara's menu item has been baby back ribs. "People can count on top quality—a consistent product," Frank Rivara says.

For Frank Rivara, a third generation restaurateur, whose grandfather first opened the Victor Hotel back in 1916 and named it after Frank's dad, the restaurant business is like a marriage.

"You're married to it," he says. "You get used to it. It's almost like being in the circus. You're here seven days a week and holidays. When you open it you're 23, and before you know it, you have a family, mortgage, responsibilities. So you keep it going. And, before you know it, 35 years have gone by."

Rivara's Bar and Grill, located at 6-18 Maple Ave., can be reached at 201-797-4878, or you can visit www.rivaras.com. The restaurant is open seven days a week, with the bar/lounge open from 11 a.m.-2:30 a.m. The dining room is open Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m.-midnight, and Sunday from 11 a.m.-9 p.m.