Spillway Grill and Bar celebrates 19 years of 'good people, good food'
After nearly 20 years of running the Spillway Grill and Bar, owner Stephanie Klement says not much has changed since she started running the place.
"Just good people, good food, good service," she said. "I think it's been pretty consistent."
Klement is a Council Bluffs native and she attended St. Albert Catholic School, graduating in 1991. She later went to Iowa Western Community College and worked as a dental assistant.
Spillway Grill and Bar owner Stephanie Klement, center, poses with employees Nesha Edmondson, left, and Kim Boner, right, outside the long-running eatery, 1840 Madison Ave., on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026.
Prior to that, Klement had come up working waiting tables and bartending, something she said came natural to her.
"I always worked in the industry through college," Klement said. "I just enjoy serving people and being social."
The former ownership of Mosquito Creek Lounge, the space where her establishment now resides at 1840 Madison Ave., was a family friend and he was looking to sell the place. Klement said it was a "right place, right time" situation and the opportunity to run her own business came at the right time.
"It just kind of fell into my lap," she said.
She's been running the place ever since, and the Spillway will turn 19 next month.
She said renaming the bar was a nice transition that fit the area's aquatic geography.
"We had to think of something because we wanted to change the name," Klement said. "And Mosquito Creek behind us runs into the spillway down the road."
The hot beef plate, left, and French dip with fries served at Spillway Grill and Bar.
Klement, who is better known as "Sis" around the bar, said the Spillway wouldn't be what it is without the staff, many of whom are longtime employees. She said there isn't much turnover, which has led to good consistency in the service and food at her establishment.
"We have a great staff," she said. "They're reliable and energetic and have fun. We wouldn't be anything without them."
Nesha Edmondson is one of those employees, and she has been a bartender off and on ever since Klement opened the Spillway.
"We're a family around here, for sure," Edmondson said. "You can attest that to Sissy. She's an excellent person and she's kind to everyone who walks through the door, employee or customer."
While Edmondson has been around since the Spillway's early days, she said there are several day one regulars who are still coming around.
"We love our regulars," Edmondson said. "Some of our customers have been coming around for nearly 20 years. When you walk in here it always feels like home."
She chalks it up to the Spillway's family-like atmosphere.
"My kids kind of grew up here," she said. "It's kind of a home away from home for a lot of us."
Though the friendly faces are great, you still need a good product to keep people coming back. Klement said she prides the Spillway on having consistent, comforting food that caters to all palates.
The menu is a mix of traditional pub fare, pizza and comfort classics, as well as lighter provisions like salads and wraps.
Spillway Grill and Bar owner Stephanie Klement runs a lunch order out to customers on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026.
Spillway's burgers and hand-pattied, and their take on the Iowa classic pork tenderloin is breaded in-house every day.
The Philly sandwiches come with steak or chicken, with the latter being available grilled or fried. Diners wanting to spice things up can make it a "Bullseye" with jalapenos and cream cheese.
The menu offers standard sides for meals such as fries, tater tots, soup, salad and cottage cheese, but customers can upgrade with cheese balls or potato munchers, which are potato bites filled with cheese and jalapenos.
The Spillway pizzas are 12-inch thin crust pies, and gluten-free crust is also available. You can get more traditional pizzas or make things interesting with recipes such as the Ranchero, which starts with a ranch base and is topped with chicken, bacon, red onions, cheddar and mozzarella. The Bullseye has a barbecue sauce base and comes with chicken, jalapenos and cream cheese.
The bar also has drink and food specials every day of the week, where the comfort food comes into play. Chicken fried steak is a staple on Mondays, and French dips and hot beef plates headline on Thursdays. The full menu is offered on weekends, but there's also a special menu for Saturdays and Sundays that offer discounts, deals and a few items you won't normally see on the main menu.
Bartender Nesha Edmondson pours a beer at Spillway Grill and Bar on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026.
And with the fall weather in full effect, it's a good time to mention that the Spillway has daily soups cooked up by Klement every morning in the kitchen. She said her soups are a crowd favorite, and she's always rotating different recipes every week. Now that it's football season, she said chili is on every day, as well.
Klement has been making the Spillway soups for the last 15 years or so. She said she was inspired by a former cook who went by Tootsie. Klement said she never gave up her soup recipes, so she had to watch and learn.
"I would just watch her because she would not give me her recipes," she said with a laugh. "She wouldn't write them down for me so I would just watch her every day and just kind of picked up on it."
Speaking of football, Klement said the Spillway is a great place to watch a game. And while it's a bar, she said it's definitely a family-friendly place to gather. She said she loves Friday night lights this time of year, where local athletes and their families and coaches will come in for a bite before or after the big game.
And when bigger groups want to gather, the Spillway has a private upstairs area reserved for parties of all occasions.
Running a restaurant can be challenging at times, especially now with food prices and other necessities increasing more and more; however, she said it's just another obstacle she's had to work through the last 19 years.
"You have to adjust," Klement said. "It's happening to everyone, not just us."
Despite these challenges, Klement said she couldn't see herself doing anything else. No matter what may come her way, she knows she has great friends, employees and customers that have her back when she needs them. And she doesn't see herself moving on anytime soon.
"That's the plan," she said. "It's what I know. It has its ups and downs, but more up than downs. Otherwise, I wouldn't still be doing it."
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