Richard Jeffery, owner of Riverwalk Pizza in downtown Naperville, is proud of his business.
As an Augustana Graduate, it was an interesting choice for Jeffery to come to Naperville, so close to his college’s rival. In fact, Riverwalk Pizza is practically across the street from Wentz Concert Hall.
Though Riverwalk has only been open for a couple of years, Jeffery is moving on to new opportunities in land excavation. Jeffery is an entrepreneur at heart and enjoys flipping houses. At the time of this interview, he had just purchased a new house.
“Anything worthwhile is a lot of work,” Jeffrey said. “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
Jeffery averages 100 or more hours per week while running Riverwalk and Tropical Ice at the same time. He notes that at a festival he will be working at this weekend, lines for vendor booths may be 40 to 50 people deep for 10 hours straight.
Jeffrey said he loves talking to North Central students and will miss that aspect of his job. “They (the students) understand the world around them, and we can discuss and debate,” he said.
Though he said he won’t miss the hours, Jeffery will miss working Friday and Saturday nights, which he said are always entertaining.
“You never know what someone is going to say or do,” Jeffery said. “People can be funny.”
The pizza establishment is one of the few places near campus that is open as late as the local bars. However, Riverwalk Pizza does not serve alcohol.
“The reason I don’t serve alcohol is to keep a family atmosphere,” Jeffery said, with an open Dr. Pepper can on the counter.
Though he is under pressure to start with his new business partnership, Jeffrey remarked, “When it goes, it goes.” He would like to hold on to Riverwalk for as long as he can, and understandably so.
