Winter may be cold, but the 1924 remains as hot as ever
Damien and Peter O’Riley’s riverfront steakhouse in Murray Bridge is coming off back-to-back Murraylands Business Awards wins, and for good reason.
This story is brought to you by Spry Holdings, sponsors of the 2026 Murraylands Business Awards.
It has been a busy winter at the 1924 Riverfront Steakhouse, the restaurant on Murray Bridge’s foreshore.
Amid the steady stream of openings and closures, management changes and refurbishments that mark the hospitality scene in any bustling community, the venue has established itself as one of a handful that can reliably stake a claim to the upmarket crowd.
It’s the place you take a visitor from interstate or spend an anniversary dinner, as well as being the place you go for a feed with the family on a random Thursday night.
That reputation has earned the 1924 back-to-back Murraylands Business Awards, now, as the region’s best pub, club or restaurant.
And four years after its establishment, co-owner Damien O’Riley says things are going as well as ever.
“We have had the busiest winter we’ve ever had,” he says.
“Could it be following on from (the award), who knows … it could be the conditions in the economy, the food you’re presenting, the price you’re doing, it could be that the river looks great in the middle of winter.
“But I would say that this winter has been busier than last summer, which is unheard-of.”
An extension built in 2023 proved to be a pivotal turning point for the business, as it tripled the dining room’s capacity and the restaurant’s turnover, as well as positioning it to host weddings or other events.
Installing heaters in that semi-outdoor area helped, too.
But staying relevant, maintaining customer demand, is a constant battle in an industry in which attention can often drift towards the new and different.
“You have to keep the meals consistent and of a high quality, and you can’t have the prices too high,” Damien says.
“All the costs have gone up – chicken has almost gone up 25 per cent, meat, pork’s gone up, lamb’s gone up, fish and prawns and calamari; then you back it up with the higher costs of electricity and gas and everything.
“But you can’t let the Murray Bridge community have sticker shock, either – you can’t move a $30 dish to $33.
“As long as you provide a quality product at a good price, hopefully you’re going to be alright.”
For the record, Damien’s favourite is the King Henry pork cutlet with hot chick topping: calamari, Camembert cheese and chilli sauce.
Chef Tyson Welling likes the 400 gram Scotch fillet: “The thickness works well and it’s easy to time.”
Server Mahlet Lewis goes for the eye fillet, or sometimes the barbecue pork ribs.
Are you hungry yet? Photos: 1924 Riverfront Steakhouse.
The O’Riley brothers, Damien and Peter, are veterans of Murray Bridge’s hospitality scene these days, having been the original proprietors of the old Riverscape Restaurant in the 1990s.
Having regained control of that building – a stone’s throw away – earlier this year, they are halfway through redeveloping it into a walk-in cafe and kiosk which will go by the name the Foggy Lantern.
Their plan is to give it a grand opening event on October 2, though they may sneak a few customers through the doors in the weeks leading up to that date.
In the meantime, they’re running split shifts: mornings at the Lantern, lunch service at the ‘24, more work over at the building site, then dinner service.
Could the brothers be their own biggest competitors when the best restaurant award comes up for nominations next year?
Maybe, Damien concedes – but that would be a great problem to have.
