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Their Plates Are Full

For longtime restaurateurs, this tough business is the spice of life

By Tracey M. Dooms

Most folks involved in the restaurant business agree it's a tough job to be in. Customer appetites change all too often, turning once-trendy restaurants into leftovers, and long hours with few days off discourage many would-be restaurateurs. Despite the drawbacks, though, at least 10 local restaurant owners and operators have managed to keep the customers coming back to their restaurants for 25 years or more. Their stories are as varied as their restaurants, but one ingredient for success runs true for most: Plain and simple, they just love the business.

Don Boller Owner, Dairy Queen

Don Boller has always been in the food business. In the Air Force, he was a mess sergeant, and in the early '60s he had a traveling job with a food-related company. His doctor told him he needed to settle down into a less-stressful job, so he bought the North Atherton Street Dairy Queen; his doctor obviously didn't realize the stress involved in operating a restaurant. "I dang near bought a Tasty Freeze in Altoona, but I said, 'That's not my home-town,' " Boller recalls. In 1964 the DQ was a little flat-roof building with a walk-up window; "we kind of grew it into a big one," he says. About three years ago, he opened the Bellefonte Dairy Queen, operated by his daughter and son-in-law Leanne and Stewart Boone. He and his wife, Lois, also own the downtown State College DQ but lease it to another operator. Boller, a self-professed "people person, " loves meeting both customers and employees. He's proud to have reached the point where he's hiring the children of early employees, and he's thrilled when former employees stop by to say hello. He believes his success is partly because of giving back to the community, such as by sponsoring baseball teams. "To be in a community, you've got to give something back," he says. With unemployment low and the Centre Region growing fast, Boller says it's getting tough to find enough employees, but he's still looking to the future as he gets ready to remodel his first store into a red-white-and-blue shop that's a far cry from the original drive-up. One thing hasn't changed, though, and that's Boller's favorite treat: a plain vanilla cone.

Pat Daugherty Owner, The Tavern Restaurant

Pat Daugherty is quick to point out that The Tavern's success goes back to May 12, 1948, when J.C. "Jace" O'Connor and Ralph M. Yeager opened what was then a 50-seat restaurant. Even with just two entrees - spaghetti and steak - the new establishment proved so popular the owners had to expand within the year. Seven expansions later, The Tavern is owned by Daugherty, who bought the restaurant in the last days of 1979 with Bill Tucker (who died in 1995). Tucker was already waiting tables at The Tavern and working on a hotel-restaurant degree when Daugherty joined him as a waiter in 1967, while studying civil engineering at Penn State. "Over the years, we were doing different things, but we always stayed in touch," Daugherty recalls. Eventually, the pair bought their former place of employment. "I wouldn't have felt confident to try it without Tucker," the current owner says. Daugherty credits the "great kids" who wait tables at The Tavern with much of the restaurant's success. "The kids who work here, frequently they make friends for life," he says. Now he's seeing sons and daughters of former servers taking on those jobs while they're in school at Penn State. He also lauds Tucker for coming up with The Tavern's signature "unlimited vegetables and salads" menu. Although Daugherty wishes he had more hours in each day to get things done - "anybody that knows me well knows that I'm pretty easily distracted" - he says he loves everything about the restaurant business (including The Tavern's chicken Normande - chicken breast stuffed with apples and cheese). Right now he's working on adding regular features and vegetarian dishes to the menu, wrestling with a new computer and renovating the building's heating and cooling system, among other tasks. "It's a matter of coming in and trying to get better every day."

John Dimakopoulos Owner, Waffle Shops

Greek immigrant John Dimakopoulos arrived in State College in the late '60s to visit a fellow Greek who owned The Arena, a steakhouse then operating in the building now occupied by Gingerbread Man. Dimakopoulos ended up staying to work there for a few years and then opening his first Waffle Shop in downtown State College, in 1972. Although he still speaks with a Greek accent and visits his home country on vacation, he says he's never considered moving from State College. "We have deep, deep roots here," he says of himself and his wife, Lisa, who had moved here from Pittsburgh to attend Penn State. To temper the long days that are a standard part of the restaurant business, Dimakopoulos hit upon the concept of being open only for breakfast and lunch, although that still means someone has to be at the restaurants by 5 a.m. Today, his business has grown to include three Waffle Shops in State College and one in Bellefonte, all of which are packed Sunday mornings after a home Penn State football game. He says this area is a "fun, fun place to do business," adding, "State College is home. We're always going to be here."

Carl Hacker Owner, Duffy's Boalsburg Tavern

In 1971 Carl Hacker was working at the electronics company now known as HRB Systems Inc. when he had what he jokes may have been the traditional age-40 midlife crisis. With his wife, Joanne, he bought Duffy's Boalsburg Tavern from Mary Duffy, and almost 30 years ater, he's never considered leaving the restaurant business. Although it was a big jump from electronics to restaurants, Hacker had an idea of the long hours he was getting into, having spent his teenage years around his father's restaurant in Lancaster County. "I see an awful lot of places where somebody says, 'Gee, I'm a great cook, why don't we open a restaurant?' " he says. "They don't realize it's a 24-hour job, seven days a week." Perseverance has been a key to success with the restaurant, which dates to 1819, Hacker says. "There's no big magic. It just takes a lot of time, a lot of hard work, a lot of devotion to it." With his son Charles and daughter Cindy becoming more involved with the operation, the elder Hacker has been trying to retire, but still finds himself showing up seven days a week more often than not, while Joanne still serves as hostess. "I guess after a long enough period of time you get used to it," he says. "It's like having a rock in your shoe." In the meantime, Hacker continues to enjoy eating Duffy's ham-and-bean soup for lunch at least once a week, and is passing on these words of wisdom to his children: "It's not too difficult if you can stay focused on just a couple of basic things - you want to have good food, good service and a pleasant atmosphere. If you can do those three things, you can satisfy most customers."

David Letterman Owner, Bonfatto's

Dave Letterman's grandparents, Guy and Pauline Bonfatto, started Bonfatto's in 1919 across High Street from the current Bellefonte restaurant. For years, the family business was a produce store that included door-to-door delivery. In 1958, Letterman's uncle John Bonfatto created the "bonanza sub sandwich," which he made in a little room in the back of the grocery and sold at 35 cents for an 8-inch and 65 cents for a 16-inch. In the early '70s, the family decided to expand on its popular subs and converted to a bar and restaurant. Letterman, 40, was about 15 or 16 when he concluded he didn't like working nights and weekends in the family business, so he decided to find another way to make a living. He worked for a small defense contractor in Boalsburg and then at the Applied Research Lab, designing and testing systems for submarines. In 1989, his Uncle Francis asked him to come back to the other kind of sub business. "I was a little hesitant," Letterman says, "but I felt like what I was doing wasn't having a lot of impact." So he gave up those standard 40 hours a week and went back to having a lot of impact, working in the restaurant seven days a week. In 1991 the family opened the State College Bonfatto's, and last year he took over ownership of both, although Uncle John and Aunt Mary still help out. "I love it," he says. "You get a chance to meet a lot of interesting people. You get to make a lot of friends. ... We treat our customers the way they should be treated, the way my grandparents would have treated them." Lately he's been busy opening a third Bonfatto's, also in Bellefonte, which will seat more than 120 with a bar, lounge, dining area, drive-up window and delivery service. Although the new restaurant will feature an expanded menu, it'll still carry that original sub. "We have a great product, he says, noting that he's shipped sub orders to other states and even to Guam. "Right now we're feeding the grandchildren of people who've grown up on [the subs]."

William McFadden Chief Partner, Faccia Luna Pizzeria

Bill McFadden was wearing a suit and tie as a stockbroker when he decided to do what he'd always wanted - go into the bar and restaurant business. In 1974 he bought the Hofbrau on Bishop Street in Bellefonte, and he taught himself to make pizza. "I used to say to people, 'If I can sell pizza with a name like Hofbrau, it had better be good,' " he says. By the early '80s, Hofbrau pizza delivery trucks roamed State College on a regular basis, and in 1989 he opened Faccia Luna in State College. (The Hofbrau closed a few years ago.) Thanks to a former fraternity brother at Penn State who always wanted McFadden to bring pizza when he visited in Wash-ington, D.C., the restaurant owner also operates two pizzerias in the capital, with plans to open a couple more (easier to get a liquor license there than in Pennsylvania, he notes). The former stockbroker loves what he does, although he admits it's not for everyone. "It's not a 9-to-5 job," he says. "I work every Friday and Saturday; I work holidays. We're cut from a little bit different piece of cloth, but we do enjoy what we do." He also enjoys the fresh Norwegian salmon ("the same salmon they serve at the White House") he brings in each week. "That's my favorite thing - aside from my pizza."

James Meyer Owner/General Manager, The Autoport

As a teenager, Jim Meyer worked just about every position at his dad's hotel and restaurant business - yard maintenance, laundry, dishwasher, short-order cook, desk clerk, lifeguard and more. That experience serves him well now that he's taken over at The Autoport. "As manager, you do everything at one time or another," he says. Meyer's grandfather, M.B. Meyer, opened The Autoport Motel & Restaurant in 1936 in the middle of what was then open farmland. Don Meyer (Jim's father) became involved with the family business in the '50s. Jim had his sights on a career as an airplane pilot and was serving in the Air Force in the late '70s when The Autoport business grew too large for his dad to run by himself. So, when the third-generation Meyer's military tour ended in 1982, he joined the family business and hasn't looked back - well, maybe once in while. "I think there's been a time or two when, after putting in 30 straight days and long hours, the thought [of leaving] crosses my mind." Long hours aside, Meyer thrives on coming up with new ideas, satisfying customers and managing a "smooth" operation, and he likes being able to manage as a business owner rather than as an executive for a corporate chain. "As a small family business, we make all those decisions, and we can react to the market quicker," he says, noting that his sister, Beth Ferringer, recently joined the business. "Because we make the rules, we're also able to bend them to accommodate the situation." Meyer has built upon the "strong clientele" his father grew in earlier years, recently updating the menu and dining areas. Next on his plate is expanding the indoor dining area of the lounge by 48 seats. "You're always trying to keep ahead of everybody else, and there's always a lot of new competition," he notes.

Joseph C. Meyer Jr. Owner, Meyer Dairy Store

For Joe Meyer (no relation to the Autoport Meyers), there was never any doubt. He was going into the family business, and he never even thought about anything else. His grandfather had bought the first Meyer farm on West Branch Road in 1887, and his father expanded the dairy business with home milk delivery in the first half of the 1900s. Joe and his brother, Donald (who died in 1981), became owners in 1970, adding a dairy store that year and the restaurant a few years later. Joe Meyer operates the business the same way he talks, slow and steady. "Some days get a little hectic, but after your troubles narrow down, you're happy with it," he says. "You never know what each day will bring." His own days usually involve arriving at the store and restaurant about 9 a.m., taking care of matters there, then heading over to help at the farm, and back to the store in the evening until 11:30 at night. The toughest part of the business, he says, is making sure things are done just the way he wants. He must be successful at that goal much of the time, judging by the line of people that often extends out the front door of Meyer's as folks wait for the chance to buy their favorite flavor of ice cream. The owner's advice: Try the butter pecan.

Paul Rittenhouse Sr. Owner/Operator, State College McDonald's

McDonald's was less than 10 years old and a long way from its billionth burger when Paul Rittenhouse Sr. started working as a counter person in Newark, Del., in 1964. Five years later, with the help of boss Leo Chirtel, he opened State College's first McDonald's (the chain's 1,352nd), on College Avenue. Originally from Brockway, north of DuBois, he had traveled through State College numerous times and thought it a good market for fast food. At the time, the only such restaurants here were two Winky's and a Red Barn. After he opened McDonald's, within a year Burger King, Roy Rogers and Hardees all moved into town. "It was coming fast," he says of the town's taste for fast food. One reason Rittenhouse believes his McDonald's have prospered while some fast-food restaurants have come and gone is the fact that he's a local owner/operator. "As McDonald's operators, we are required to live in the community we own the restaurants in. That's what has made us successful over the years - being involved in the community." Rittenhouse says he can look back and laugh now, but in the early years it was tough to raise both a family and a restaurant business, given the long hours both demand. "This is probably one of the toughest businesses people can operate," he says. "There were some difficult times, but we got through it." His sons Paul Jr., Bruce and Eric must be none the worse for it, since they're all involved in the family business, which has grown to include four State College McDonald's plus one in Milesburg in which Paul Sr. and Bruce are partners. "Now all I want to do is retire," the senior Rittenhouse says, even while admitting he's still everything from an administrator to adviser to janitor for the restaurants. "I guess I'll never be really retired," he says. "My sons will always come to me and say, 'Dad, what do you think?' " And though he's modernized his restaurants over the years, his favorite sandwich is still the old-fashioned double cheeseburger - "the perfect ratio of cheese to hamburger."

Andy Zangrilli Owner, Dante's Restaurants Inc.

With nine local establishments, Andy Zangrilli is a huge influence on the way State College wines and dines. He got his start at 14, working at an Altoona pizza shop owned by Alfred and Connie Sicola. After managing one of their restaurants in Philipsburg - while studying engineering at Penn State - he was aided by his boss in opening the first Hi-Way Pizza, on Hiester Street in 1963. Zangrilli was only 21, but he knew how to make Sicilian pizza, and State College loved it. His intentions of earning just enough to pay his way back to engineering school fell by the wayside. Today, Zangrilli's hard work has paid off in a State College dining empire that includes three Hi-Way Pizzas, Mario & Luigi's, Mario's Cafe & Pizzeria, The Deli, The Saloon, The Crowbar and newly opened Mio Zio, which has been attracting crowds on West College Avenue. The establishments are all grouped under the Dante's Restaurants Inc. name, which harkens back to a former restaurant on Garner Street. Like others in the business, Zangrilli cites being held "hostage" seven days a week as one of the hazards of being a restaurateur. "It's something you really love to do, but you just can't get away from it," he says. On the other hand, he loves creating concepts and recipes, which he often "bounces off" his wife, Cathy, who he says is responsible for much of the decor and design of the Zangrilli restaurants. He also enjoys traveling - especially to Italy - to find new ideas he can bring back to State College. Since he's always introducing different menu items, Zangrilli tries to taste as many as possible when he's dining at his restaurants. A current favorite is Italian peppers stuffed with homemade Italian sausage and cheese, from the appetizer side of Mario & Luigi's menu. He also sticks close to his roots: "Pizza's something I could eat every day."

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