Bradenton Boiler Room reopens with ‘famous steak sandwich’ and new ownership
Butch and Edie Van Ostenbridge started dining at the Boiler Room when it first opened in the 1980s.
So when the iconic Bradenton restaurant closed in 2020, it marked the end of an era for them and other fans of the Boiler Room’s “famous steak sandwich.”
Until now.
In early July, the Bradenton Boiler Room reopened under a new name and new management at 5600 Manatee Ave. W.
“We couldn’t wait,” Edie Van Ostenbridge said. “Every day we drive by, it looked too busy. So we came early (Tuesday).”
Karen Bell, who owns A.P. Bell Fish Co., Star Fish Co. Market and Restaurant and Tide Tables Restaurant and Marina, reopened the Bradenton Boiler Room with business partners Josh and Staci Wilkinson.
Bell told the Herald in January 2024 that they were going to reopen the beloved Bradenton restaurant, which first opened in 1983.
It took more than a year due to the catastrophic damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and replacing plumbing and exhaust systems before the Bradenton Boiler Room was ready to reopen.
“We just wanted to bring something back that the community loved and missed,” Staci Wilkinson said.
Boiler Room reopens with tribute to founder
The new restaurant pays tribute to its founder, Matt LaVallee, who died in 2022, with a framed picture and history of the restaurant adorning a wall.
“Matt was a hell of a friend,” Butch Van Ostenbridge, a third-generation Bradenton native said.
Van Ostenbridge said that when his younger brother died 10 years ago, they held a celebration of life at the Boiler Room and LaVallee “wouldn’t take a dime from me.”
“He had the biggest heart in the world,” Van Ostenbridge said.
The menu is similar to the restaurant’s original setup, but the recipes aren’t the same, Wilkinson said.
Cheesesteaks with ribeye steak, cheese, onions and peppers on a roll are the Bradenton Boiler Room’s signature item.
“We’re not reinventing the wheel,” Wilkinson said. “We’re trying to step in and do it the way that they did it.”
But there are other choices on the menu that have been a hit with customers.
“We’re bringing back the cheese steak sandwiches, the shoestring french fries that everybody loved, the onion rings, the onion strings, the jalapeno poppers,” Wilkinson said. “We’ve got amazing wings people are raving about. Burgers, chicken sandwiches. We’ve got a buddy of ours on the payroll, his name is Ryan. He has award-winning chili. He wins chili cook-offs around town all the time and he’s putting his chili (on the menu).”
What’s new?
While the menu features some traditional favorites from the original restaurant, the inside of the new Bradenton Boiler Room has some changes.
Wilkinson said they removed the drop-down ceiling and built a second floor for dry storage.
The changes were a hit to the Butch and Edie Van Ostenbridge, who were recently having lunch with their nephew at the reopened restaurant.
“It resembles (the old restaurant), but it’s definitely different,” Edie said. “I love the floors and I love the seating. It’s so much easier to sit here than the booths that we used to have.”
Added Butch: “I like how they did the bar. It looks like they moved it out a little bit, so they’ve got more room to work back there. And the ceiling used to be really low, so they took that out and that adds a lot. It makes it look so much bigger.”
Wilkinson, who grew up in Orlando, met her husband Josh more than a decade ago at Tide Tables in Cortez. Josh grew up around the corner from the Boiler Room, so before it closed in 2020, he took Staci to experience the restaurant.
“He said, ‘I have to have a cheesesteak and see the Boiler Room once before it was gone forever,’” she said. “And then never say never, we are, five years later, picking it up.”
Hours of operation
The Bradenton Boiler Room serves beer and wine. It is closed Tuesdays, but open the rest of the week from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
For more information, visit Bradenton Boiler Room’s Facebook page.
