Riverstone Restaurant is a Family Affair

Lupe Moyotl knows that sometimes you need to make a change.

That’s why, when he and three of his family members started their own business in the former home of Bill’s Restaurant in Montgomery, they decided to go with a new name: .

It’s a fresh start for the building at 702 Montgomery Road, which has seen numerous iterations and owners of Bill’s Restaurant over the past few years. Moyotl, Riverstone’s manager, said the change of name was a way of letting people know that everything about the place has changed.

Moyotl and his relatives—his uncle Nick Ramirez, the restaurant’s chef; Nabor Ramirez, and Guadalupe Moyotl—all have years of experience in the service industry. Nick Ramirez has been a professional chef for 15 years, and for the past several, all four of them worked at Mother’s Pancake House in Aurora.

For some time, the foursome have been talking about opening their own restaurant, and when they heard that Bill’s had closed once again, they jumped at the opportunity. Moyotl agrees that it’s risky, but he said, “If you never risk anything, you never know if it’s going to work.”

Riverstone offers a wide variety of menu items, but Moyotl says the favorites are their roasted chicken, their homemade soups, and their burgers, made from scratch. The first two months have been good, he said, and on Fridays, it’s difficult to find a parking space—the lot is full.

Moyotl said he’s met many former Bill’s customers who have tried Riverstone, not knowing what to expect. And they’ve been impressed, he said. 

“People come in and say, ‘We didn’t expect you to be that good,’” he laughed.

The hardest part, he said, has been filling the restaurant on Mondays, since Bill’s had taken Mondays off for years. But Moyotl said he’s very happy with the reception the restaurant has received in Montgomery. He’s planning a grand opening celebration for April.

“I think people were waiting for someone to come here and open with quality,” Moyotl said. “Quality and good prices will bring people back to this place.”

Riverstone is open seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.