Brecksville Patch Profile: Creekside Owners Matt and Shirley Harper

Since opening in 1992, Creekside Restaurant and Bar is known among Brecksville residents as the place go if they want exceptional, high-quality food at reasonable prices.

But according to Creekside owners Matt Harper, 51,  and Shirley Harper, 50, the restaurant  as it exists today, where you can just as easily grab a lobster pizza as a rib-eye steak, was not the type of restaurant they originally opened.

“It originally opened up as what I like to call a malt-shop type of thing with burgers and shakes,“ said Matt Harper.

“But in this area in Brecksville, they wanted something more than that, so we made changes … and kind of made it more for what the customers in this area were calling for: more upscale, a bar and more variety of food other than burgers and shakes and that sort of thing.”

Creekside has undergone many changes over the past 19 years, mostly in response to the changing desires of their customers. It's this willingness to give the customers what they want, typically the hallmark of any good restaurant, that has led to its longevity.

“Twenty years in any business is good, but especially in the restaurant business there aren’t that many around that have been in business for that long,” said Matt.

“Our customers are many regular customers that come in several times a week,” said Shirley  It’s not unusual for our customers come in to dine two or three times a week.”

What’s ironic is that neither Matt nor Shirley ever envisioned themselves as restaurateurs; Matt’s background is in marketing and finance while Shirley is an accountant by profession. Neither one even knows how to cook, preferring to leave that aspect of to business to what they call their “wonderful staff of cooks and managers.”

What they do have, however, are deep roots within the community, having lived in the area for most of their lives.

“I didn’t wake up one morning and say that I wanted to do that,“ said Matt. “It’s just that it was a business opportunity that presented itself and we had both grown up in this area.”

“We love the community,” added  Shirley. “We have many, many friends, both  because of the restaurant and because of the community, in our lives.”

One of the downsides of being such a longtime fixture in the community is that after a while there are no such things as secrets because everyone knows everything about you.

Still, there are a few things left that some people might find surprising.

“A lot of customers do not know that we do all of our own baking,” said Shirley. “I think everybody knows everything about us (because) we don’t hide anything personally too much, but as far as it business goes it’s the desserts. Every day people ask, ‘Where do you get  your bakery? Where  do you buy your bakery?’ We do all of our own baking. All those desserts here are done by our staff.”

Come February, Creekside will be celebrating its 20th anniversary and will mark the occasion with a number of specials, such as bringing back items from the original menu. Still, while many would consider this a milestone, to the Harpers, this is merely a steppingstone.

“I think it’s been a testament to the  business and the community that we’ve been  here this long,” said Matt.  “I see no reason this can’t go on for another 20 years.”