Slough House Social at Colusa Landing

My nephew, Gregg Hankins and his wife Krista have recently signed a lease for the Restaurant property formally known as Rocco's on the River and before that Steelhead Lodge. For many years this property was know as Steelhead Landing. It was one of 3 boat landings located between the Meridian Bridge and the Colusa Bridge over the Sacramento River. The South-most of the 3 boat landings was most recently called Lovey's Landing. When I was a kid growing up about a quarter of a mile downriver of the place, it was called Hank and Mickeys Boat Landing. It was owned at that time by Hank and Mickey Gies. Their son Larry Gies was a couple of years ahead of me in school and for many years Larry has been a Chiropractor in Yuba City. Later on, the Landing was sold and became Bob and Pats Boat Landing. I don't know much about them, as I had left the area when they took over. We did frequent the boat landing to launch our 1958 Chris Craft Silver Arrow ski boat. The Sacramento River was our favorite waterskiing waterway in those days. Up until a year of so ago, Lovey's had a restaurant and bar. Last summer we had our boat docked at Colusa Landing and we tried many times to go downriver and have a drink or a meal at Lovey's, only to find it closed. The last time I checked, the sign on the door said they were open for business one day a week, but we could never find them open.

The next boat landing, going up river is Wards Landing. This one has also been there a long time. Back in the day they lifted you boat off of the trailer with a big pole boom and lowered it into the water. In later years they put in the first boat ramp North of Teesdale Weir The ramp is very steep and it is a challenge to launch boats there. Wards Landing has survived mostly due to the boat ramp and docks. The has not been a restaurant or bar or store there for many years.

Now we come to the subject of this article. The Steelhead Lodge. Steelhead Lodge was the North-most of the landings between Meridian and Colusa. It was about 7 or 8 miles upriver from our ranch, so a bit too far for young kids to venture on their bikes. I did not know too much about Steelhead until it was re-developed by Colusa Landing. I think they must have torn down most everything, as it doesn't look anything like I remember it. They built a nice restaurant and patio area and put in a very nice boat ramp and docks. They also developed a small number of RV camp sites on the river side of the levee. I believe that the restaurant first opened as Steelhead Lodge Bar and Grill. I don't think it lasted too long and soon it became Rocco's on the River. Rocco's is evidently a traditional restaurant in Colusa on Main Street. They took over the restaurant at Steelhead and called it Rocco's on the river. That is when I started frequenting the joint. They have a nice bar that overlooks the River and an outdoor patio. they also have a stage in the outdoor area where they would do Karaoke on Friday nights. The bar served up some good on-tap beers and a limited menu of typical river resort food like you would find on the river in Sacramento or the Delta. I always felt the menu was too limited, but the lack of kitchen space may have been what was dictating the menu. The best thing about Rocco's on the River was the people. They had great bartenders and servers that were always friendly and accommodating. There was also a steady string of locals who who would arrive in the afternoons from the farms and ranches around Colusa. Many of whom, I had known as a kid playing Little League Baseball in Colusa in the 1960's We had many great visits. They also had a Margarita machine filled with the best frozen Margaritas on the river. In the summer prior to Covid, we put our boat on the dock for a couple of months and would go out in the evening for a Margarita and a cocktail cruise down the river. We would end our cruise at dinner time and have dinner at Rocco's. Just this last summer, they completed an RV park on the outside of the levee. This is a beautiful modern RV park with maybe 50 or 60 RV campsites. Right now they appear to be full to capacity with waterfowl hunters.

During the summer of Covid, we went by Rocco's and couldn't tell if it was open or not. Most everything was not open, and we, being over 60, were being very careful and staying away from gatherings of people. Later in the summer, Our friends Charlie and Lacey said that Rocco's was open and they had gone for dinner. We went out the next weekend to see if we could get a Margarita and dinner. The place was closed up tight and there was a sign of the door saying that the place was closed and would be opening again soon as Steelhead Lodge bar and Grill. Rocco's on the River was evidently gone for good. A couple of weeks later, I called Heather, the manager of Colusa Landing and asked about the future of the restaurant. She told me she had just signed a lease with a man who was planning to get the restaurant open again within a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks later, we drove out there again to look. The place was still dark and obviously under some kind of construction.

Last week, I got a call from my son Blair and he told me that my nephew Gregg Hankins and his wife had leased the restaurant and would be opening it up by the end of the year. Gregg used to work for Colusa Casino with responsibility for their Buffet. He left Colusa Casino and became the Food and Beverage Director at Feather Falls Casino in Oroville when it opened. He did a fantastic job, handling everything in the Casino and Resort the related to food and beverage. Over the years we met many of the people who worked for Gregg at Feather Falls and one thing was abundantly clear. Everybody who had worked for him, loved him. He once told me that he had literally hired the entire food and beverage staff for the resort. On one occasion, we discussed his hiring philosophy. Gregg said he hired 100% on personality. He said "I can teach anyone to wait tables, I need people with personality". Gregg left Feather Falls a few years ago and went on to a career in food sales with U.S. Foods. To this day we see many of the folks Gregg hired at Feather Falls still doing their jobs with that "personality". A lot of that is the legacy of Gregg Hankins.

Today, we went out to see the restaurant in Colusa and see how it was coming along and to offer our help. There was not any activity today, but we know there will be a lot of activity as Gregg gets this new venture going. Gregg is in a unique position with regard to this restaurant. He has worked with many of the food service workers in Colusa and Oroville. He should have no trouble using his unique hiring philosophy to get a Cracker Jack staff put together for this venture.

We look forward to many more evenings on the Sacramento River at Slough House Social. Good Luck Gregg and Krista Hankins!