Our Rich History: Tim Reese lives dream by ‘making someone else’s day better’ at Peewee’s Place

By Raymond G. Hebert, PhD
Special to NKyTribune

In the summer of 2009 Tim Reese, known to his friends as “PeeWee,” decided that, despite a recession, “he always wanted to own a restaurant.” The opportunity presented itself, so he boldly moved forward, “upbeat about his new eatery.”

PeeWee was known in Northern Kentucky at the time for his Center Line Development LLC as well as his foundational work as “president of the Spartans Youth Football Program and the years he spent on the Villa Hills City Council.” He pulled together family savings and overcame the risks because of the dream they could create (Lucy May, “It’s a Tough Market but Tim ‘PeeWee’ Reese Is Upbeat about New Eatery,” Cincinnati Business Courier, August 3, 2009).

It all started when Tim, his wife Kim, and other investors acquired the building that had been the former Speakeasy Bar and Grill along Anderson Road. It was in the midst of a community where he and his family were proud to have lived and worked for so many years. Despite the risk, they saw it as a “great investment with a strategy of converting the space into a family restaurant with a high school sports theme… [and] targeting adults and parents of local high school students before and after sporting events” (Jedd McKinney, “Restaurant Owner remakes Speakeasy into PeeWee’s,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 6, 2009, p. 64). In recent years, his link to some of the high schools has even led to a regular culinary class that Tim teaches at Beechwood High School.

The balance of the Enquirer article emphasized the risk tied to the timing plus the implication of a reasonable price and a belief that “his strong background in youth sports” would pay huge dividends. This likelihood was backed by one of the area’s most successful businessmen, Dave Heidrich, vice president of Crescent Springs-based Zalla companies, who saw that Reese was wisely “trying to capitalize off Crescent Springs, Villa Hills, and Fort Mitchell being areas that enjoy high school sports.”

By 2015, having proven it could provide “good food and good service,” PeeWee also tried having a “free if you can eat it all” promotion, outdoor dining, and a sand volleyball court. For the former, it meant “consuming 5 burgers and 27 ounces of fries” to earn the free meal. Not many were successful in those years (Jenn Shockley, “9 Restaurants in Kentucky Where Your Meal is Free If You Can Eat it All – PeeWee’s”)

One unique feature at PeeWee’s, as stated by Amy Scalf of the Community Recorder, is the touching relationship Tim and his team have built with a special group of the community’s ”seniors.” It started with Sharon and Bob Dickman, multi-decade regulars, who were so consistent on Wednesdays that they began to refer to themselves as COW’s or “Cousins on Wednesdays.” After Bob Dickman’s death, Sharon continued to come in on Wednesdays, along with many “singles 55 and older like her. In quoting Dickman, Amy Scalf clarified her hope that such a group could continue and grow, to help those looking for companionship without “dating,” so they can move forward and meet new people” (Amy Scalf, “Seniors Find a Home at PeeWee’s,” Community Recorder, January 20, 2013).

A similar story could be found in Tim’s determination, after having been part of a Cursillo program, to create a meaningful Prayer Group. It was so successful that the group grew to over 400 with 60-70 there every Saturday. In mid-October 2024 they celebrated their 1000th meeting (Hebert interview of PeeWee Reese, Monday, November 11, 2024). This and many other such offshoots, with and without music, are examples of PeeWee’s spontaneity on behalf of his community. One of the ways he has celebrated birthdays is with donations, collecting on one occasion, 1,700 pairs of men’s boxer shorts for the Emergency Shelter, and on another occasion, some seven truckloads of jackets. Frequently, the cause is important to a regular or group of regulars doing things to help other regulars (Reese interview).

Proof of how far Tim had come in his first decades can be found in Katie Robinson’s article for a highly read online source called Cincinnati Refined. In describing PeeWee’s, she said “this is the kind of restaurant that you feel like you’ve visited your whole life – one that has the best comfort foods, like breakfast, burgers, ribs, chicken bites, and pies. And what’s a local watering hole without the fun regulars … at least 10 at the bar on the afternoon I stopped by.” Turning her focus to PeeWee himself, she added: “The reason though that people love to hang out at this restaurant isn’t only for the great food and drinks, but for the fun, hometown atmosphere that PeeWee provides every single day… the only thing more intense than the juicy burgers is the high-spirited outgoing character that is PeeWee Reese” (Katie Robinson, “PeeWee’s Place Is a Bar and Grill with Great Food and Undeniable Charm”, Cincinnati Refined, October 14, 2018).

Suddenly, with all clearly going well, an unpredictable crisis struck a few years later, with the 2019 coronavirus pandemic and, for a long while, nothing would be the same in the restaurant world. Yet, once again, according to WCPO News, “it might not be surprising to learn that it [PeeWee’s] found ways to stay afloat” during those difficult years. First of all, as shared by PeeWee “he took it upon himself to do whatever it took to keep employees busy, to where they could make a living,” beginning with providing meals for the Benedictine Sisters at the neighboring St. Walburg Monastery who had contracted Covid 19 “and could use some meals [and] since for their entire life they’ve been praying for us – now [we] could do something for them” (“Good Deeds Pay Off in the End for Northern Kentucky Bar and Grill,” WCPO, 2021).

What was noteworthy is that “the word got out and help poured in (from) Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, and Michigan” and, not surprisingly, from closer to home, (with) all of that aid adding up to close to $12,000 for many meals from PeeWee’s.” All involved called it “a quest to keep ‘good stuff’ alive.” The news story concluded, appropriately, that “it proved that paying it forward is a lesson learned from others” (WCPO).

Later that same year, PeeWee’s daughter Molly Reese was featured in a human-interest story in the Wright State Guardian, where she was interviewed. It begins with her regrets as a teenager when her father (PeeWee) “was always working instead of spending time with her. Her dad was often absent for her high school volleyball games, and there would be days she didn’t see him at all.” Then, after working in the restaurant herself and seeing how caring and beloved he was, she “as a 20-year-old college senior at UC, appreciated what her dad was – a focal point of the community who makes people’s lives better.”

The article includes a historical look back at the city of Crescent Springs, where PeeWee’s is located, and the story of her dad that opened her eyes, so she could see for herself “how much PeeWee cares about the people he encounters… including pictures of friends who have passed away gracing the walls” so they would not be forgotten. He also provided special support for many with disabilities and “helped 30 heroin addicts to get sober and move on to successful lives” (Shelly Fisher, “Kentucky Local Inspiring Kindness Through Hardship and Generosity,” Wright State Guardian.

One final aspect Molly shared with readers was her love of children and “passion to get into daycare” while also wondering if “she will be the one to carry on his legacy when the time comes.” With great maturity, it occurred to Molly that father and daughter have passions in the present that encompass the past and the future. “PeeWee wants to help people with difficult pasts, Reese (Molly) wants to mold children’s futures… (and she) does not see her love for business ownership as a conflict of interest with a degree in education. She sees her degree as a steppingstone on the path to fulfilling her passion” (Wright State Guardian).

Interestingly, after just over a year in the public school system, with its bureaucracies and restrictions on teachers combined with a turning point period for the restaurant, Molly decided that the family business had to be her priority, while being eternally grateful for what she had learned about people and life in completing her college degree. Her father agrees, saying that “a college degree is never wasted.” Molly, along with many other family members, are now an integral part of the restaurant’s success. Even PeeWee’s parents, who are in their 80’s, come in two days a week to cook. It is such family devotion to this special restaurant that allows PeeWee to branch out and do some of the special things he does.

Perhaps Katie Robinson of Cincinnati Refined stated it best by noting the many friends and family who are regulars, as well as a wide range of organizations who “habitually meet there too,” and even the players in tournaments and sand volleyball leagues who are also “members of the PeeWee’s Regulars Club.” When asked how he felt about being such a prominent person in the community, PeeWee humbly replied:

“I pride myself on knowing people and being friends with everybody. My favorite motto is, ‘Make somebody else’s day better.’ How tough is it?” (Cincinnati Refined).

That motto has kept PeeWee’s Place vibrant and welcoming from recession to pandemic and beyond as it adorns the t-shirt of every employee: “MAKE SOMEBODY ELSE’S DAY BETTER.”

Dr. Raymond G. Hebert is Professor of History and Executive Director of the William T. Robinson III Institute for Religious Liberty at Thomas More University. He is the leading author of Thomas More University at 100: Purpose, People, and Pathways to Student Success (2023). The book can be purchased by contacting the Thomas More University Bookstore at 859-344-3335. Dr. Hebert can be contacted at hebertr@thomasmore.edu.

Paul A. Tenkotte, PhD is Editor of the “Our Rich History” weekly series and Professor of History and Gender Studies at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). He can be contacted at tenkottep@nku.edu. Tenkotte also serves as Director of the ORVILLE Project (Ohio River Valley Innovation Library and Learning Engagement). For more information see https://orvillelearning.org/