Breen Bentley bet on himself 40 years ago and he paid off.
Breen Bentley bet on himself 40 years ago and he paid off.
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The local restaurateur, whose last name adorns the sign of his popular Ontario Street bar and inn, was named the 2024 recipient of the Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce’s Business Leader Award.
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“It’s been hard work,” he said. “I’m not too sure how many people can do it on their own for 40 years and not be franchises.”
Bentley grew up in the industry, spending a decade as a busboy, bartender, cook and manager at the Ali Baba restaurant – now Demetre’s – and managing the Olde English Parlor for a few years.
When he was 29, Bentley purchased The Jesters Arms pub from David Lester on Jan. 3, 1984.
“It was good timing. It was all luck,” he said. “It was a very good pub and it was perfect for me, (but) that was his stamp and his concept. I renovated it to have my own unique feeling.”
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He also changed the name to Bentley’s and relocated a couple doors down the street to where the business has been a fixture since the mid-1980s.
“We took a lot of chances. You go big or forget it,” he said. “I think hard work and trying to be a unique place (has been a key to success). We didn’t want to be like anyone else, like a franchise or another pub or bar. We tried to create a unique beverage, food and social place.”
It hasn’t always been easy. The pandemic presented an unprecedented challenge that crippled the hospitality industry and was a double whammy for establishments like Bentley’s, whose inn has 12 rooms. Economic recessions and fears of government belt-tightening that would affect the tourist-driven Stratford Festival also gave Bentley cause for concern over the years.
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“Stratford has a great downtown, specialty shops, river, theaters,” he said. “Not too many cities in Canada can brag about that.”
Now 69, Bentley has no plans to withdraw. His kids – Breen Jr., Tanner and Brooklynn – are all part of the business.
“My goal was to have one child maybe work for me,” Bentley said. “I didn’t want to get rid of it, and I do enjoy it… but it ended up a bit of a miracle with all three kids and owning the building.
“It’s quite a unique thing we got going.”
Bentley joins the likes of Don McDougall, Rob Staffen and Jeff Orr – “pretty good territory,” he said – as recipients of the chamber’s business award, which is decided by its board of directors as part of a three-step secret ballot process.
Bentley will accept the honor at the 28th annual Business Excellence Awards gala May 2 at the Best Western Arden Park Hotel.
“I didn’t plan to have it this way,” he said. “It just worked out better than I ever could have expected.
“I’m pretty proud of what we pulled off here.”
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