Where Harrisonburg’s Artful Dodger was previously located is now home to La Habana, or DUKES, a local restaurant and bar owned by Alex Rivera. As the Artful Dodger was thought by many to be a staple of downtown, Rivera decided to leave most of the interior and exterior design of the building to not let it be forgotten. “We don’t want to replace the Artful Dodger,” said Rivera. “We’re bringing in something a little different… it could be your next favorite place.”
Rivera is from El Salvador and moved to Harrisonburg roughly 20 years ago. He started his career by opening the restaurant Latin’s Flavor in downtown Harrisonburg, which is still running. He also owns the Rivera Brothers Construction Company and La Habana restaurant, which is now called DUKES.
Rivera decided to name the restaurant DUKES because the majority of his customers are James Madison students. “Habana Cafe initially started as a restaurant, but was quickly transformed due to the growth of customers looking for something new and different,” he said. “Harrisonburg already has a consistent growth of restaurants and I wanted La Habana to be something that still brought in the Latin community and the Harrisonburg student population.” Rivera thought that changing the name to JMU’s athletic mascot would bring in more students and make them feel more engaged in a place that includes them.
However, DUKES has also been feeling the effects of COVID-19. Harrisonburg is currently rated fourth highest in the state for COVID cases per 100,000 residents according to the New York Times. “Since COVID started, the staff and management have been hard at work to comply with all of the COVID safety regulations to create a safe place for both students and families,” Rivera said. The changes include “decreasing maximum capacity from 150 to 50… distancing the seating, and no one is allowed to come to the establishment if there is no available seating. Masks should be used at all times unless you are seated at your table.”
DUKES was also well known for their college nights on Tuesdays, where they created a safe atmosphere for college students to come and drink responsibly (21+) and dance with live DJs. Due to COVID, Rivera said that “DUKES has stopped their live events in order to limit the amount of people that come here and not put anyone at risk due to the limited amount of space for dancing.” DUKES still hosts live sports at the bar and private events like birthday parties.
The restaurant has been open for about two years in total. It has become a hot spot for college students. Rivera is known for his hospitality and friendliness with his customers and has created a lot of great relationships in the Harrisonburg community. Senior Joshua Gomez, a local resident of Harrisonburg, was a previous DJ who is now an active member of DUKES social media. Gomez is hoping that COVID will begin to die down so that DUKES can bring back their college nights and some of their regularly-scheduled events.
Rivera is happy to have his business grow and the community feel more connected to his dreams.
