Tyler Baugh

University alumnus Richie Patel has opened his first restaurant, The Rooftop, at the age of 22. Patel graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing.

“The business courses and people I met prepared me for where I am today,” Patel said. “The business classes I took gave me the skills and knowledge to day to day business activities.”

Patel said Timothy Mahoney, his adviser at the Romain College of Business, was a great encouragement to him during his time at the university

“My advisor helped me out with a lot of things, by just talking to me as a friend,” Patel said.  

Mahoney said Patel showed true skill by opening The Rooftop.

“In addition to getting the college experience, (Patel) has hands-on experience of operating a business and managing a business, but I want to stress that the Rooftop restaurant is really his own business,” Mahoney said. “His family is not running it. He is the one who picked the location, the furniture and the menu. This is really his enterprise.

The Rooftop restaurant includes traditional breakfast items, sandwiches, pizza and wings. The bar has selections of bottled beer and several different bourbons.

The seating on the roof is seasonal and is open by spring, allowing customers to enjoy the atmosphere of downtown while also enjoying their food.   

“I opened this restaurant myself, but I’ve worked at a family business prior to this called the Carousel,” Patel said.t led me to the direction of this.”

The Carousel is a locally owned restaurant in Evansville that has been around for over 15 years.

Patel said his biggest accomplishment is having opened the restaurant at such a young age.  

“Richie and I had several conversations about what he wanted to do with his future and there are several people in his family that are very strong entrepreneurs,” Mahoney said. e has relatives that own businesses here in the community and maybe (all) over the country, so it was very easy having conversations about starting a business (with him).”

Patel learned the ropes through family members who owned their own restaurants, and through all his years of experience, launched The Rooftop.

“The biggest struggle was getting things in line,” Patel said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say I struggled because I have been exposed to it my whole life, but there is stress that comes with it.”

Despite the uphill climb of owning a restaurant not being easy, Mahoney believes in Patel.

“(Patel) is a fine young man,” Mahoney said, “and he will be successful at this business.  I see him owning more businesses in the future.”