I just returned from Lancaster, PA with Mom, Dad, Michelle, Kayla, Emily and Sonia for the opening of my dad's restaurant, Junior's. Named after Dad's first born....Sonia.
The grand opening was on Thursday, aside from a few hectic moments, 3 nights of last minute cramming until 2am, and dealing with dad when he hasn't slept..... it's been fun!
Dad started construction on the building (which was a mess) in October 2004. He re-sided the building and put on some fancy moldings and plaquards on the exterior. He redesigned the outside/inside, designed the kitchen, installed heating/cooling system, and tiled the floors.
My job has been logo design and branding....I built the menu and template, designed the logo, business cards, shirts, hats, etc. Michelle is the manager, she does paperwork, pays the bills, scheduling, and keeps dad in-line (Sonia calls Michelle the bulldog :) ) Sonia worked out the food on the menu, pricing, and wrote the lettering on the chalkboard menu-boards.
Mom's pierogies have been a hit at her church....we thought it would be a family-owned touch to put them on the menu. Last night mom got 3 orders for pierogies in a few minutes, and decided maybe we'd have to take them off the menu. :)
Michelle hired 4 girls to work the register/take orders. Dad hired an authentic Italian pizza-maker named Terry. Sonia calls him the 'shredder'....no, it has nothing to do w/ cheese. A paper-shredder: he's sharp, good at keeping things together and not letting things slip through the cracks. He'll shred any worker who gets in the way.
Sonia and I worked the register/took orders solo on Friday night. Terry showed us he's not afraid the reprimand us for fouling up orders. Apparently being the owners' daughter doesn't mean much around here :)
Unfortunately for him, being the owners daughters means we laugh at his reprimand and call him a show-off when he throws dough in the air! :)
Dad also hired Benny and David, two guys he met last year from another pizza shop. They cook and do food prep. (they dont give us any trouble) .
The feedback has been good from the customers. A major 'complaint' is that the portions are too big....we're not sure if that's a good or a bad gripe. The local newspaper came yesterday to take photographs and interview Michelle for their write up....it should be published on Wednesday's local newspaper. Even though we're busy, I think the ad will pick things up considerably.
We already have our committed customers.....those who come in, eat...and keep coming back....some for lunch AND dinner in 1 day! No joke. We had a father/son combo come in yesterday for a large cheese pizza (extra cheese) ....the son was 12 yrs old. They ate the entire pizza and then returned with the rest of their family for dinner! There's Ted, 70 yr old man who lives around the corner, he comes in about every day to check up on us. And, who can forget "Big George", who makes my dad look like 'little jorge'. He came in 2 nights ago and brought his brother last night, they shared a large pizza!
Dad's becoming a local celebrity and humanitarian....I say it only part joking.
I spent some of yesterday handing out fliers to the surrounding businesses. It's exciting to hear that everyone knows the building and has watched it transform over the past 6 months. "I've watched that man work for months now". Customers that come in thank him for revamping the building, which was vacant, and an eye-sore, just 1 year ago. They're excited about a place that has good food and atmosphere.
Restaurant testimony....
The manager at Pizza Hut came in 2 days in a row for lunch!
