VIRGIN—The founders of Stage Coach Grille have opened a floor-to-ceiling, Santa Fe-inspired restaurant with a fine-dining menu, providing everyone from loyal locals to Kevin Costner a restaurant experience they’re sure to remember.
Defeating the odds isn’t a new story for George Rodinos, who co-owns Balcony One with his wife Cindy Rodinos. St. George News sat down with the couple along with chef Edgar Lopez and restaurant manager Ricki Triplet in their main dining area to hear how it all came about.
“This place would be absolutely nothing without these people right here,” George Rodinos said. “We have a great crew. With them, we’ve been able to stay open, stay alive and go forward.”
Balcony One, a predominately American restaurant with Mexican and Greek influence, opened two years ago this month and features an eclectic atmosphere with six different dining areas: the sunroom, the main dining room, a bar, an additional room inside the bar dedicated to Sam Zitting, an outside patio dining area and a balcony. At capacity, the restaurant can fit around 200 people. And sometimes, those people are celebrities.
Famous actor Kevin Costner has been to Balcony One twice. The first time, Rodinos said Costner’s rep ordered 15 sandwiches to-go, but when they came to pick it up, they were blown away by the restaurant. Costner came inside to see it for himself, and the group decided to eat their sandwiches in the ambiance of the restaurant.
“We looked at him, ‘Oh, it’s Kevin Costner,’” Lopez said. “He had hats and glasses and he decided to eat right here on the patio.”
A few months later, Costner’s rep called again, this time with a party of 19, and said Costner wanted his party to eat inside. George Rodinos said he originally planned to give the party privacy with an entrance from the back fire escape, but that’s not what Costner had in mind.
“He said, ‘Hell no. I want to go through the front door, and I want to show my wife what you and your wife have done here,’” he said.
George Rodinos has owned seven restaurants across the world from Greece to La Verkin. Born and raised in Athens, he came to the U.S. at 9 years old.
After breaking his arm rock climbing, he moved to Los Angeles to work at his father’s deli. What was expected to be a few months turned into 10 years and included personal ownership of three restaurants: Georgie’s Cafe in downtown LA, Georgie’s number two upstairs and Harlow’s restaurant, which he said was the first patio dining restaurant in LA’s downtown Garmon District.
From LA, he took on a joint restaurant venture in Miami, then opened a restaurant in Montreal, Canada. He then decided to move back to Greece in 1989, where he also opened a restaurant. Despite his Greek roots, Rodinos said the locals only saw him as an American and did not support the business. In an attempt to save a failing restaurant, he opened a bar – both of which went under.
“I went broke,” he said. “I came back to this country, serving tables and doing construction. I was an immigrant twice in America and that’s the beauty of the American dream – you can fail, you get the guts, and you start over again. You’re not that snob that used to be a restaurant owner and can’t serve tables.”
While living in Las Vegas, he visited Southern Utah and fell in love. He bought a camera and decided he would shoot his way through retirement.
“I got my camera, got the horses, it’s the end of the line, like, hang up and breathe. And just as I did, she came into the picture,” Rodinos said about his wife.
In order to be closer to her daughter and grandkids, Cindy Rodinos moved from New York to Southern Utah 14 years ago. That’s when the pair met for the first time and were married a year later in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The couple first built The Stage Coach Grille in La Verkin, which opened in 2015 and sold in 2018. They were officially ready to retire, a feeling that expired in two weeks.
“An opportunity arose,” George Rodinos said. “Cindy and I are people of faith and we felt that God opened the door for us. We wouldn’t be here without him.”
The couple bought the property from the owners of the Fairfield Hotel, who sold it at a quarter of the market value, with the following conditions: they couldn’t flip the property, they couldn’t sit on it and they had to build. They agreed, and Balcony One broke ground in late 2019. Shortly after, the pandemic struck the nation, but together, the Rodinos pushed through to open their doors in October 2020. From the color scheme to the authentic Santa Fe doors, the entire design of Balcony One was completed by Cindy Rodinos.
“I love Santa Fe, so I designed the place inside and out like Santa Fe,” she said. I’m the artist; he’s the businessman.”
After completing her first painting at 13, she said her paintings have been featured in eight different galleries in four different states. Paintings as well as her husband’s photography are for sale at the restaurant.
“My job is to eat here every night and talk to the customers,” she said. “We’ve gotten so much positive feedback. I hear a lot that we’re a gem in the desert.”
Dishes and desserts
When it comes to the food at Balcony One, Lopez brings 25 years of experience to the table and is responsible for everything from the main dishes to the desserts. And everything at Balcony One is made from scratch, right down to the salad dressings.
“This gentleman here, I say is the backbone,” George Rodinos said, pointing at Lopez. “Because if the food is no good, we’re out of business.”
With a career that began as a dishwasher at a LA restaurant, Lopez said he worked his way up while being mentored by a variety of chefs along the way. He remained at the same restaurant for 15 years, then moved to Las Vegas where he worked for Wolfgang Puck for 10 years at Caesars Palace, the Palazo and MGM. When he was asked by Rodinos to work at Stage Coach Grille, he jumped at the opportunity and has since been a part of Balcony One since its construction.
On the management side, Triplet said she’s been in the restaurant industry her entire life, and began by baking pastries, bussing tables and serving with her dad at a country club. Later, she met the Rodinos and worked at Stage Coach Grille alongside Lopez. Balcony One is a “family affair,” with her father as the butcher, smoker and dessert maker, her daughter making salads and appetizers, her husband in charge of the pasta dishes and her son as a busser.
“It’s much more of a family thing than it is a business thing,” Triplet said. “I don’t know what I’d do if I had a normal job that did the same thing every day. I like it to be interesting, to be something different.”
George Rodinos said they run Balcony One with the following philosophies: do the right thing, create a good atmosphere and provide great food and service.
“The second part of that philosophy is taking care of the locals,” he said. “If you build a good reputation, the word of mouth is worth more than anything. We’re in our 70s, so this is our last restaurant. For us, it’s leaving a legacy behind and this is the foundation.”
Balcony One is located next to Fort Zion at 770 W. state Road 9 in Virgin. Call 435-635-7141 or visit the Balcony One Website for more information.
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