By Kathryn C. Weigel
Take one sergeant first class and blend his restaurant management skills with the number-crunching aptitude of a real estate property manager. Toss in a taste for big-city nightlife and a soupcon of small town atmosphere. Blend in a varied menu and full-service bar. Add DJs, dancing and darts. Whirl it all together with biweekly live bands on a new patio.
 And, voila! The result: DB’s Junction in downtown Hopewell, a lively railroad-themed restaurant and nightspot that has to turn patrons away on weekends.
In the last year and a half, Doyle Bunch and Bruce Sessoms have served up dining and entertainment in this winning combination. They’ve done it with an attitude that “change is a requirement for any good business,” and a belief that “our customers are what make us,” says Doyle.
Their business partnership started with residential property investments about five years ago. Doyle, the “D” in DB’s Junction, had managed the Chairman’s Dining Room at the Pentagon before being transferred to Fort Lee in 2004 to work in executive services or protocol. Bruce, the “B” in the business name has a background in real estate and accounting in both Northern Virginia and Richmond.
When Bruce and Doyle bought an older home in a quiet Hopewell neighborhood, they found themselves missing big-city nightlife. Their next-door neighbor was looking to sell his cafeteria business, which had been started by his grandfather in the late 1940s and also run by his father. Bruce and Doyle saw different possibilities for the brick restaurant on East City Point Road near Randolph Road and the CSX tracks. They saw a chance to create for their new hometown the kind of nightlife they missed.
A deal was struck in 2006, and Doyle and Bruce set to work redecorating and planning for something many people believed would not work in Hopewell. They added glass-topped patio pub tables and swivel chairs in the bar area, dubbed DB’s Club Car by a customer, and blended them with the existing booths in the dining room. Cheerful, yellow tablecloths spruced up the booths, and green linen napkins replaced the paper variety of the cafeteria days. A big-screen TV was added to the bar, and the dining room was equipped with a drop-down screen and projector for DVDs. Antique furnishings were chosen to create a foyer.
 Keith Wilkerson, a Chester artist specializing in train themes, painted the dining room walls with railroad logos of times past – Norfolk & Western, Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac, Seaboard and Atlantic Coastline. Each of Wilkerson’s numbered prints is displayed in the restaurant as are paintings by other artists as well as railroad items donated by friends and customers.
Delegate Riley Ingram’s family gave the partners a 1929 Seaboard Airline Railroad time schedule that’s been framed for display. Neighbor Dorothy Turner donated a 1925 railroad lantern and a large Lionel crossing signal. Donna Shipman gave Bruce and Doyle a framed railroad cross-stitch sampler she made. Sam Guercio, Jr. donated two old railroad prints.
Doyle and Bruce fenced in a triangular area and installed a patio with its own bar, comfortable tables and chairs, and a stage. The menu ranges from prime rib to pizza and a variety of sandwiches with railroad names.
A lunch buffet and menu items are available weekdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. DB’s Junction re-opens evenings to serve up appetizers and meals from the menu as well as entertainment. Mondays through Thursdays, the restaurant re-opens at 5. The evening starts at 7 on Fridays and 8 on Saturdays. Closing time on Friday and Saturday is 2 a.m.
DJs play beach music and oldies on Wednesdays, classic rock on Thursdays, and Top 40 and hip-hop on weekends when an area band is not on the patio stage.
Construction workers mingle with business people, young families and retirees entertaining visiting family members at lunch time. The evening crowd is also diversified.
Bruce and Doyle are proud that their business appeals to a broad audience and has become a place “where good people meet to make good friends,” as Doyle puts it.
For More Information:
DB’s Junction
Hopewell
120 East City Point Rd.
541-6060
Hours:
M & T 11am-2pm,
5pm-midnight
W & Th 11-2pm, 5pm-1am
F 11am-2pm, 7pm-2am
Sat 8pm-2am |
