SPICELAND - As music from The Oak Ridge Boys flows out of the jukebox, John Montgomery sits at a table inside his new restaurant and talks about a familiar subject.
Within 20 minutes, he mentions three different times that "failure is not an option" for Montgomery's Steakhouse, which opened on Ind. 3 in Spiceland this summer.
"Take care of your people. Take care of your customers," says Montgomery, who co-owns the restaurant with Don McSwain.
"If you do those two things and you provide a service that's at a fair price, then it will work."
What Montgomery hopes will work is a concert venue, a steakhouse, a banquet hall, a bar and a destination wrapped into one business south of New Castle. It's located on a property where another restaurant failed just years ago - but Montgomery says over and over again, that outcome isn't an option for him.
The restaurant at 5800 S. Ind. 3, near the busy interchange of Interstate 70 and Ind. 3, was first built under another owner as Macaboos Steakhouse, which debuted in 2008. That restaurant closed soon after it opened.
The building sat vacant for years until 2011, when Montgomery, McSwain and another business partner decided the property would be a good location for a concert venue and restaurant.
The fact that there aren't other destination restaurants in the area and the fact that the interchange is ripe for development helped draw Montgomery and his partners to the property.
Their restaurant first opened on June 3 under the name Open Throttle.
However, soon after the opening, one of the partners left the ownership group, and McSwain and Montgomery, who also own a business called Quality Built Backyards in Indianapolis, decided to change the name of the restaurant.
Montgomery said he thought the name Montgomery's Steakhouse better suited what they wanted their restaurant to be.
Now, steadily, the business is growing in Spiceland. For a recent concert, Montgomery's drew about 600 people. On Thursday night, more than 100 people ate at the restaurant.
Montgomery said he wants to see that success continue. He's currently working on scheduling more concerts for the outdoor venue that can hold about 12,000 people. He's also working to get the message out that the restaurant is ready to win over new customers.
"Just come in and try us," Montgomery said.
Montgomery, who's 45 years old, lives in Cincinnati but because of the restaurant, he's now renting an apartment in New Castle. He's originally from Scott County in Indiana, and he has family in Rush County.
When the restaurant first opened, another person was running its day-to-day operations. But after that person left, Montgomery stepped up. At times, he works 17-hour days at his new restaurant.
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