GALION — A new restaurant in Galion chose the area because of its community.
Ralphie’s Sports Eatery, which promises customers the “best burgers and coldest beer,” opened its seventh Ohio location in early May at 451 Portland Way N.
“We have the mindset, when we go into a community, to become part of the community, to be involved in the community, to not just serve food and beverage,” said Mike Wallace, the restaurant’s director of operations. “What we found here is that everyone is so warm and welcoming, so supportive.”
The new location, which has 56 employees, has already served more than 3,300 people as of May 8, less than a week after its grand opening on May 2. General Manager Forrest Phillips oversees the Galion and Marion locations.
Owned by Bennett Enterprises of Perrysburg, Ohio, Ralphie’s Sports Eatery opened its first location in Toledo in 1991. Within four years it opened three more locations and has since furthered its reach by branching south into Findlay, Marion and now Galion.
Bennett Enterprises also owns 13 Big Boy Restaurants and four hotels in Ohio. Wallace said it has always been family-owned, calling it “a big, small company.” He says that philosophy starts at the top with President Rob Armstrong’s leadership.
The idea for Ralphie’s Sports Eatery formed when several of Bennett Enterprise’s Big Boy restaurants moved to smaller locations.
“We had all these empty buildings, and we needed something to do with them, so we decided to come up with a new concept,” Wallace said.
It was named after an architect whose name was Ralph. Someone first suggested “Ralph’s” and followed with “Ralphie’s,” which was a hit.
Wallace said the Galion building was brought to the company’s attention by a realtor, and after looking into the location, it seemed like a good fit. At Ralphie’s, the food is fresh and prepared after an order is placed.
“We cook our stuff as soon as it’s ordered. It’s not sitting back there waiting to be microwaved,” Wallace said. “We are a semi-from-scratch kitchen.”
Ralphie’s cuts its own French fries, hand-forms all its burger patties, slices its own cheese and cuts fresh chicken chunks daily.
True to its community focus, Wallace said Ralphie’s strives to source its food locally, choosing food from Ohio, lower Michigan, Eastern Indiana and even Western Pennsylvania.
The menu features burgers, sandwiches, salads, chicken wings, appetizers and more, but Wallace estimates that about 65 to 70 percent of sales are from the burgers, wings and appetizers.
The menu has expanded greatly since Ralphie’s beginnings, even offering gluten-free options.
“It went from a single-, one-page menu to about a three-, four-page menu, one with about four times as many items on it just to meet the needs of the people and requests,” Wallace said.
The Galion location has 16 different taps, offering a full line of domestic beers and a rotating line of craft beers.
The menu is available for dine-in and take-out. Guests are welcome to call ahead with their order for a shorter wait time.
When customers dine-in, they can play KENO, a lottery game that draws numbers every few minutes. Guests wager $1 to $20 and choose 1 to 10 numbers and win by matching numbers.
Ralphie’s pays up to $599 at the store level and issues payout slips for those who win $600 or more.
“This store hasn’t caught on as much quite yet, but I think it will,” said Wallace.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Every day from 9 p.m. to close appetizers are sold at half price, and weekdays from 2 to 5 p.m. with a special on wings. Both are for dine-in customers only.
“We have good quality food and a fun atmosphere, and our prices are reasonable compared to our competition,” Wallace said. “It’s a nice play to gather if you’re going out at night. A group of friends can come out and have a good time.”
