The LaBeaus keep their place a family affair
Near the shores of Bear Lake sits a family-owned restaurant, LaBeau’s, that has become a landmark to many travelers.
Renee LaBeau and her late husband Bob had a dream to open their own business, so they turned to the classified ads. In early January and February of 1981, one ad caught their eyes, LaBeau said, for a drive-in up for sale in Garden City, Utah.
“One thing lead to another and before we knew it, we bought the store,” she said.
Out of all the businesses Renee could have started she chose a restaurant. She said she was always interested in the food industry, and combining that with her son Brent LaBeau’s fast-food experience at McDonald’s, they went to work.
Soon the sign for the bought-out Western Drive-In was taken down to be replaced with its new name that would stand from 1981 to the present. At first the business was slow, but each year following, the pace quickened as the costumers kept coming, Renee said. Now one of the most popular places around Bear Lake, she said cars can be seen parked up and down the road for about a block both ways.
“As many years as I have had the business, it’s still a thrill to see all the cars parked outside the store. It makes me feel really good,” she said.
They had reached their goal: They had opened a family owned restaurant and were working together to make it run smoothly. But the legend of LaBeau’s came close to not making it past that first year along the shores of Bear Lake, she said.
Renee said as a new restaurant owner, a family loss almost made them shut their doors. Bob LaBeau passed away in 1982, just one year after the restaurant opened.
“Many people told me to sell the restaurant,” she said, but some advice from a member of her church told her not to make any major decisions the first year after the passing of her husband.
Twenty-five years later, she said she has never regretted keeping the restaurant. “It would have been the biggest mistake of my life if I had sold the restaurant,” she said. “Staying busy with the store helped me cope.”
The day after Thanksgiving 1988, it was decided the Garden City restaurant would no longer be the only location.
LaBeau said her son Brent decided to build the store that is still in its original spot along 1400 North in Logan. Renee, who still runs her store in Bear Lake, said her store is a seasonal store, only open from May to October, but the store her son owns is open all year long.
They have come a long way since those first years of operation. When it first opened, the menu had four sandwiches and 20 shakes to choose from, said Shauna LaBeau, a manager of the Logan location and junior in family finance. Today’s menu has expanded to 42 sandwiches, as well as chicken strip meals, and has 46 shakes to please almost everyone.
Shauna is the granddaughter of Renee, and her dad Brent owns the Logan location. She said she enjoys working at the restaurants with her family. She is one of 10 grandchildren, nine of which have worked summers at the Bear Lake LaBeau’s.
“I started working when I was nine, washing tables. It was fun to be with my cousins working at Bear Lake,” she said.
Shauna also said some of the most popular items on the menu are the raspberry shakes, which Renee said are made with Bear Lake raspberries, and the LaBeau’s special, a hamburger patty served with ham slices.
Jamie Spooner, a sophomore majoring in business, said his family has a tradition of going to LaBeau’s every time they go to Bear Lake. He said his personal favorite is the famous raspberry shake.
“I didn’t know they had one here in Logan. That makes my day,” Spooner said. He said even when they go to Beaver Mountain, he sometimes makes the extra drive to Bear Lake for the food.
Renee has enjoyed the restaurant business and how it keeps the family close. “It has been a great experience running the store, and I love being there (Bear Lake) in the summertime,” LaBeau said, “It’s been so good to have my family around, I just love every minute of it.”
-dwkeocher@cc.usu.edu