New Terrace Restaurant in Mohave Valley gaining popularity with general public
-Mohave Valley, Arizona - July, 2007

Since its soft opening last September, the Terrace Restaurant - within the El Rio Golf Club residential/commercial development of Highway 95 between Jerome Avenue and Boundary Cone Road - has become a popular dining attraction in Mohave Valley not just for golfers but for the general public as well.

From the restaurant's spacious outdoor terrace patio, diners and visitors can enjoy a commanding, panoramic view of the mountains and desert landscape. The Terrace is nestled between the driving range on its east side and hole number 18 on its south side, so patrons can watch golfers teeing off and linksters finishing their games.

Last February, the Terrace at the El Rio Country Club began serving dinners on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Patrons may now enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner at the increasingly popular restaurant. And, now that summer has arrived, the Terrace offers early bird specials beginning at 4 p.m. daily. "We're in the process of designing a menu for seniors that will go with the early-bird specials," said the Terrace Restaurant's new manager, Jeff Harmer.

One breakfast menu specialty is the Birdie Omelet ($7.95) and, for the hardiest of appetites, there is the Mohave Valley Big Breakfast (pancakes, eggs, etc.) and the Eagle Omelet (three eggs). Cost of each is $8.95. Breakfast at the Terrace also offers traditional morning delights such as bagels and cream cheese, croissants, dry cereal and oatmeal and a chef's creation - a 'grab-and-go' El Rio Burrito.

Lunch at the Terrace offers an assortment of savory delights and one of the most popular is the El Rio Stacked Steak ($9.49), listed in the 'Hot Sand-Wedges' part of the menu. This lunch favorite is a tender steak grilled, stacked and smothered with grilled onion with slow roasted tomatoes and jack cheese on the restaurant's signature crusty sub. Another lunch (and dinner) favorite is soup of the day ($3.29). Soups at the Terrace are made fresh from scratch every day giving patrons the opportunity to taste the difference from the average restaurant soup fare.

'Chip and Run' sandwiches on the lunch menu range from the Birdie (a unique mesquite-smoked turkey breast and trimmings), the Arizona Classic BLT, the "Back-Nine Burger and the "Champion Burger" to the Great Big Bertha, the El Rio Country Club's foot-long premium all beef hotdog.

The very reasonably priced dinners belie the quality of the food served at the Terrace Restaurant. Four of the most popular dishes are the chef's choices for regular and new patrons. They are the Braised Mahi Mahi ($14.89), the Flat Iron Tumbleweed Steak ($16.89) and the Chicken Artichoke ($16.89).

For those not hungry enough to eat a full dinner, the Terrace serves 11 different appetizers, the most popular being platters of traditional hot or sweet and spicy chicken wings ($9.49 for two dozen wings).

For the convenience of the region's many different civic and business organizations, the Terrace has available, a sunroom adjacent to the restaurant that can comfortably seat up to 25 individuals.

For larger events like wedding parties, the restaurant area and outdoor terrace patio are available. "We're flexible," said Keri Stewart, general manager of the El Rio Country Club. "If we have it (restaurant space) available, we'll figure out a way to make it work. We can accommodate up to 150 people," she said.

In the very near future, regular customers and new visitors to the El Rio Country Club are going to see continuing, substantial commercial development adjacent to the Terrace Restaurant, according to Bill Palmer, executive vice president of the subsidiary companies comprising the large Hoover Companies group.

In fact, poised for immediate construction are 24 rental casitas that will be located in front of the Terrace Restaurant. Floor plans for the casitas will vary in style and size to accommodate visitors and travel groups but they are being developed primarily for the convenience of golfers with all of the necessary comforts ensuring that there would be no need to leave the property, said Palmer.

"We're going to start grading it, probably in September (2007) and begin the vertical construction of the casitas around the first of the year," said Palmer. The anticipated period that the casitas will be available for rent or lease is the latter part of next spring.

"They're not going to just be rooms, although they could be rooms," said Palmer. An example of the varied designs of the casitas, one might feature a living room with perhaps three adjacent bedrooms. "So, if you brought a group here, you could have multiple bedrooms attached to one living area," Palmer explained.

In addition to the casitas, work crews are performing landscaping around the 14,000 square-foot El Rio Clubhouse and there may soon be a nearby outdoor barbecue cooking facility for public and private groups planning special events.

The El Rio Golf Club is a highly visible 1,600-home community currently in its second phase of development by The Hoover Companies. There is also substantial commercial development planned near the Terrace Restaurant site. One commercial development is the newly opened El Rio Professional Plaza, now available for lease.

Among the amenities planned for residents in the home development areas of the El Rio Country Club are several tennis courts and swimming pools to be constructed in the third phase.

The Hoover Companies is currently involved either in the planning or actual development of more than five-dozen projects, many of which are within the Mohave Valley region. One is development of the Mariposa community on the west side of Highway 95, several hundred yards south of the entrance to the El Rio Country Club.

That residential community will be able accommodate up to more than 1,000 homes when built out. "Depending what we're able to have approved, there could be anywhere from 880 to 1,100 homes," said Palmer.

For easy reference, the new Mariposa community will be located west, behind an abandoned and dilapidate house that has become a landmark of sorts in Mohave Valley. The old house is located on property in the vicinity of the highway that will be commercially developed. Palmer said development of the Mariposa community could begin as early as next year, "But a lot of it will depend upon what the absorption rate is here (El Rio development)," he said.

The Hoover Companies is also developing 235 acres of riverfront property in nearby Needles, Calif. Palmer anticipates acquiring map approval for the new subdivision by early 2008.

For more information about the Terrace Restaurant at El Rio Golf Club, Stewart may be contacted toll free at 1 (888) 88-ELRIO or at (928) 577-0132. For residential and commercial developments of The Hoover Companies, call (928) 577-0577.