Red Bull Inn

Mr. Fleck decided to pattern his new establishment after an English pub and call it the Red Bull Inn.

The Red Bull Inn was a restaurant chain (19 or 20 locations) in both central Ohio and eastern Pennsylvania. There may have been another location in West Virginia, but who cares?

People loved the place, but it went out of business 30 years ago, before you were born.

What's The Deal?

From that first fledgling business in Carnegie in 1964, Mr. Fleck's Red Bull Inns grew to include, at their peak, more than 20 restaurants in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia before the chain dwindled to one because of financial problems.^[1]

Sadly, Buss died in 2004 at the age of 79. Buss, to his many friends, was an entrepreneur founding nearly a dozen businesses in his life, most notably his restaurants, The Corner Bar and the Red Bull Inns. A successful investor in his later life, Mr. Fleck dedicated himself to his family and Catholic Charities.

Remembering

When entrepreneur Louis Fleck opened the first Red Bull Inn in Carnegie in 1964, his vision was an English pub, complete with lots of rich dark wood, a large friendly bar, and a good share of ambiance. The resulting inn, known “For Good Cheer and a Hearty Meal,” became so popular that during the 1970s and 80s, more than 20 Red Bull Inns appeared in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Known for a lively Octoberfest, Robinson Township’s Red Bull (located on Campbells Run Road near the parkway) also offered lobster pot, chicken cheddar salad, the Little Red Bull ribeye steak, an appealing salad bar with their signature salad dressing, and much more. Louis Fleck himself was known to visit and greet the guests as he moved from table to table. One Robinson diner spoke so highly to him of a particular soup that the waitress brought her a take-home carton of it with his compliments.

Fleck liked interacting with staff as well as customers. Said his son Dan, “My dad liked to get up every day and go into the restaurant and say hello to everybody. He was the ultimate shopkeeper.”

Sadly, Mr. Fleck passed away in 2004, and the last of the Red Bull Inns closed in 2007. In 2010, more than 35 former employees held a lively reunion at Downey’s House on Route 60, where they shared many fond memories of a much-loved restaurant.

The Menu

Testimonial

The Red Bull Inn in Ambridge had been our favorite dinner spot. Jan and I and Jack and Jeanne would double date a lot, and the Red Bull was the usual destination. The Bull claimed to have been the first restaurant to introduce the salad bar. I'd hate to think about what might have been in some of those salads we had eaten before the Red Bull was also the first to introduce the "sneeze guard" a few years later!

They also made a "lobster pot", chunks of langostino^[2] in a little crock with butter, and great French Onion soup. To this day though, my favorite meal when eating out is a Filet Mignon paired with a Lobster Tail with lemon and butter. It doesn't get any better than that.^[3]

References

mmmmm, Red Bull Inn is a part of a series on Food

[1] ttps://danielebrady.blogspot.com/2020/03/antlers-hotel-considered-for-red-bull.html

[2] ttps://www.seafoodsource.com/news/foodservice-retail/langostino-lobster-difference

[3] ttps://joethebartender.blogspot.com/2010/02/ambridge-red-bull-inn.html

[1]

[2]

[3]

Red Bull Inn

Contents

What's The Deal?

Remembering

The Menu

Testimonial

References

Navigation menu

Red Bull Inn

What's The Deal?

Remembering

The Menu

Testimonial

References

Navigation menu

Search