Formerly: A&W Root Beer Stand (1957–1982)
Sharonville, Ohio · Founded 1957 · Building: 1957, according to business history
A seasonal Sharonville drive-in, founded as an A&W in 1957 and still making root beer on-site with water from its 280-foot well.
The Root Beer Stand opened in Sharonville in 1957 as an A&W Root Beer Stand and became an independent business when its franchise expired in 1982. At its original Reading Road location, it still makes root beer on-site with water from a 280-foot well and serves footlong coneys, burgers, floats, and ice cream.
Mick and Nancy Ridenour, with Nancy's parents Jim and Catherine Clark, open an A&W Root Beer Stand in Sharonville.
Source: The Root Beer Stand, “A Brief History”; The Root Beer Stand official website.
The A&W franchise expires, and the continuing business adopts the name The Root Beer Stand.
Source: The Root Beer Stand, “A Brief History”; Spectrum News 1, “62 Years at The Root Beer Stand, Not Much Has Changed,” 2019; Clio, “The Root Beer Stand.”
Scott and Jackie Donley purchase The Root Beer Stand from the Ridenour family and open for the 1990 season as its new owners.
Source: The Root Beer Stand, “A Brief History”; Ohio Magazine, “The Root Beer Stand, Sharonville.”
Scott and Jackie Donley begin transitioning the business to their daughter Abby and her husband, Eric Burroughs.
Source: The Root Beer Stand, “A Brief History”; The Root Beer Stand, “Mug Shots.”
Reporting says Eric Burroughs gains full ownership of The Root Beer Stand.
Source: Roadtrippers, “This root beer stand has been an Ohio summertime staple for three generations,” 2024.
Ohio Magazine identifies Eric Burroughs and his wife Abby as the owners of the operating Sharonville stand.
Source: Ohio Magazine, “The Root Beer Stand, Sharonville,” 2025.
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The Root Beer Stand, Ohio tourism, and independent local coverage consistently identify 11566 Reading Rd. as the business's 1957 original and only location. The reviewed record strongly supports the claim, but does not include the complete set of licenses, directories, and records needed to document every season without interruption.
The business says its property has a 280-foot-deep well whose water contributes to its root beer’s distinctive flavor. Ohio Magazine and Roadtrippers independently describe the same well-water production practice and identify the root beer as made on-site.
The stand’s official history, Clio, and Spectrum News report that it opened as an A&W Root Beer Stand in 1957 and became The Root Beer Stand when its A&W franchise expired in 1982.
The stand has a strong 1957 origin and a well-supported continuous local identity, but no statewide comparison of older Ohio root-beer stands, A&W locations, drive-ins, and their operating continuity was located. Its statewide seniority has not been established.
Ohio Magazine identifies Eric Burroughs and his wife Abby as owners. The business's own succession history says Scott and Jackie Donley began transitioning ownership to Abby and Eric in 2013.
Roy Smith founded The Root Beer Stand in Sharonville.
The Root Beer Stand identifies Mick and Nancy Ridenour and Nancy's parents, Jim and Catherine Clark, as its original owners when it opened as an A&W in 1957.
Source: The Root Beer Stand, “A Brief History.”
The Rief family acquired The Root Beer Stand in 1990.
Scott and Jackie Donley bought the stand from the Ridenour family in January 1990. Their daughter Abby and son-in-law Eric Burroughs later took over ownership.
Source: The Root Beer Stand, “A Brief History”; Ohio Magazine, “The Root Beer Stand, Sharonville,” 2025.
The Root Beer Stand uses municipal water for its root beer.
The business makes root beer on-site using water from a 280-foot-deep well on the property.
Source: The Root Beer Stand, “A Brief History”; Ohio Magazine, “The Root Beer Stand, Sharonville,” 2025; Roadtrippers, “This root beer stand has been an Ohio summertime staple for three generations,” 2024.
The Root Beer Stand has survived by protecting the details customers recognize: a limited seasonal rhythm, its original roadside location, familiar family ownership, and root beer that starts with the same private-well water source. The business changed names after A&W, but it retained the practical routines that made it a Greater Cincinnati summer institution.
The Root Beer Stand opened in Sharonville in 1957 as an A&W Root Beer Stand. When its franchise expired in 1982, the continuing business adopted The Root Beer Stand name and stayed at its original Reading Road location. It remains a seasonal Greater Cincinnati drive-in, making root beer on-site with water from a 280-foot well.
The Root Beer Stand has a strong same-site Sharonville history dating to 1957, but it has not been established as Ohio’s oldest operating root-beer stand. That statewide title would require direct research into earlier Ohio root-beer stands and A&W locations, including whether their businesses operated continuously.
The Root Beer Stand says its root beer is made on-site with water from a 280-foot-deep well on the property. The business and independent features identify that well water as a key part of the drink’s distinctive flavor.
Eric Burroughs and his wife Abby own The Root Beer Stand. Abby’s parents, Scott and Jackie Donley, bought the business in 1990 and began transitioning it to Abby and Eric in 2013.
11566 Reading Rd, Sharonville, OH 45241
(513) 769-4349
The Root Beer Stand is seasonal, generally opening in late March or mid-March and closing in September. It offers walk-up service and outdoor seating; current reporting says it accepts cash and major credit cards, sometimes with a transaction fee.