This tiny Richmond burger bar’s open sign? The lone employee’s motorcycle out front.

It may be inconspicuous and easy to miss to the wandering eye, but the walls of the quaint, twelve person capacity (three with COVID restrictions) Wink’s Bar in downtown Richmond has plenty of stories to tell going back over 70 years.

The latest story involves the restaurant’s lone employee (the owner), a motorcycle (also the owners) and a road trip out west (taken of course by Wink’s owner).

It’s Wink’s simplicity that has helped things along during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though difficulties still remain, diners have supported the restaurant strong. Wink’s has an average online rating of 4.75 stars and some burgers often sellout.

Being a one man show has empowered owner John Dale Warner to be fast and efficient on his own behind the bar and in the kitchen. The small space makes reduced capacities far less of a burden at Wink’s than most other places, even further diminished by Warner installing a carryout ordering window in the early stages of the pandemic.

It also gives him the ability to easily close whenever he’d like to travel more, which he often does to race vintage motorcycles. If you’re ever unsure if Wink’s is open or not, a good way is to look for Warner’s bike outside the bar. That, or keep up with Wink’s on Facebook, where he shares each night’s menu, specials, closures, surprise openings and more.

Motorcycle road trip leads to diner

First opened at the location in 1947 and known historically to diners as The Silver Diner and Cain’s Diner over the decades since, it laid vacant for over a year and was at risk of being torn down to make way for parking before Warner signed a lease on it and opened Wink’s in October 2014.

A Pike County native who graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 1992 with degrees in history and education and has lived in Richmond since 1996, Warner had no experience working in the food business prior to opening Wink’s. The idea for the venture came after he was laid off from his factory job with GE Lighting when their Lexington factory closed in 2010. Warner used his severance package to travel the country on his motorcycle, departing for the open road with a small group of friends only two days after his last day on the job.

“Two years quickly turned into four years,” joked Warner. “I got to the point where I was needing a job again but didn’t want to work for anyone but myself.”

In search of work, Warner’s mind immediately wandered back to his time traversing the country and all of the mom-and-pop establishments he encountered along the way where, according to him, you could always find a greasy burger and ice cold beer at an affordable price.

“I talked to the owners of all these places and while they wouldn’t be rich they’d be getting by, happy in life and most importantly (for me), working for themselves,” said Warner.

One place that stood out to Warner in particular was The Bright Spot in the remote town of Hiland, Wyoming, which he remembers as being a gas station with two pumps, a bar and a restaurant all-in-one. Despite Warner passing through there one morning with his friends at 10 a.m. he said the room was packed full of oil field workers grabbing a beer and a bite to eat on their way home from working overnight.

“It made me realize that if this bar and restaurant could be successful in a town with a population of only 16 then there’s nothing stopping me from being successful either,” said Warner.

His initial plan into the food industry was to have a mobile food limousine serving barbecue while towing a smoker out of a stretch vehicle he owned at the time. But Warner scrapped the plan when a friend acquired the former Silver/Cain’s Diner and asked if he’d rather go in that direction with his foody dreams instead.

“It was a lot of work. The building was in a flooded and abandoned state after plumbing had frozen and burst the past winter,” said Warner. “I couldn’t stand to see a place as special as this potentially get torn down though. It’s an honor to be a small part of its history and preserving its legacy.”

What’s on the menu at Wink’s?

Warner keeps the menu at Wink’s simple by cooking up a rotating variation of burgers ranging from the top selling Bacon Bleu Burger (bacon, bleu cheese, grilled onions and house mustard) to the Pepper Pepper Bacon Burger (jalapeno, pepper jack cheese, fried jalapeno straws and house made spicy mayonnaise), East Kentucky Sunrise Burger (fried bologna, bacon, fried egg) and the Vegetarian Black Bean Burger, among others.

Wink’s also features chicken tacos smoked on-site and other occasional specials depending on what Warner can find at Uncle Charlie’s Meats, a Richmond butcher since 1952. In the past specials have included a pork tenderloin over beer cheese grits topped with a fried egg and house mustard and the “tender cheese,” a play on a patty melt with tenderloin instead of hamburger.

“I try to switch what I serve up regularly while also keeping things extremely simple at the same time,” said Warner.

Wink’s Bar

Where: 115 East Water Street, Richmond

Hours: Thursday-Saturday 5-9 p.m., closed Sunday-Wednesday

Online: Facebook.com/WinksBarKy

This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 6:00 AM.