Longtime restaurants prove they can be wonderful without being fancy.

Longtime restaurants prove they can be wonderful without being fancy.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Steve and Carol Morey went out for breakfast recently and passed on all the national chain restaurants near their Poland home.
They could have ordered french toast and eggs at a half dozen of them, but none would have offered what the Moreys really were looking for -- comfort.
For that, they ended up where Steve Morey has been dining for 45 years -- the Golden Dawn on the North Side.
"It's not fancy, but it's wonderful," his wife said.
That same recipe -- not fancy but wonderful -- has created a loyal following for three Youngstown restaurants that have been in the same families for more than 70 years -- Golden Dawn, MVR in Smoky Hollow and Boulevard Tavern on the South Side.
Surviving that long under the same family ownership gives a restaurant a lot of credibility, said Carmen Cassese, owner of the MVR. These restaurants have so much history by now that they've become local icons.
"We just had a couple come in who were staying at a hotel in Boardman," Cassese said. "Someone at the hotel told them that there's this 80-year-old place with great food."
What people want
Customers like that aren't looking for the cookie-cutter design of a national chain, he said. They want a hometown atmosphere.
That's what all three restaurants offer. They are throwbacks to when their neighborhoods were bustling and when the steel mills were booming.
All three have been in their current buildings for more than 60 years and have an old-time feel. The bars are all more than 50 years old. So are some of the photos on the walls.
The food is homemade from recipes that go back for decades. More importantly, the owners also go back for decades.
Steve Morey has been greeted by Ralph Naples, the Golden Dawn owner, and his brother Carmen for the four and a half decades he's been eating there.
"They're good people. That's why we come here," Morey said.
The three restaurants always have been about people. Long ago, it was people gathering around a bar for a drink and conversation. Now, the bars have become minor parts of the businesses and whiskey drinkers have been replaced mostly by families.
"It's almost like a social gathering here," said Nick Petrella, Boulevard owner. "People come in because they see friends and neighbors that they don't normally see."
Defining moment
The end of Prohibition in 1933 was a defining moment for all three places.
In the 1920s, the Boulevard began as a grocery store, and the MVR started as a pool hall. When Prohibition ended, they both became successful neighborhood taverns, along with the Golden Dawn, which opened in 1934.
In the coming decades, all three became so popular that the founders expanded their kitchens and their menus.
Their attention to good food and good company helped them survive the coming challenges -- people moving to the suburbs, mills closing and neighborhood blight.
As for the future, however, the restaurant owners all have different outlooks.
Cassese at the MVR seems to have the most secure plan at this point. He's only 51 and he has one son, Joe, working in the business as well as in the development office at Youngstown State University. He has another son, Frank, studying at Ohio State University.
He's planning on his sons' taking over the restaurant some day. In the meantime, he's hoping the three of them can share oversight duties "so no one is buried."
"That's the hard part of the business -- you have to be here," said Cassese, who also works as equipment manager for varsity sports at YSU.
Business has been very good in recent years, he said.
The MVR has been helped by YSU's expansion into the neighborhood and increased activity downtown because of the Chevrolet Centre, he said. He's hopeful that even better days are ahead as Wick Neighbors plans a residential and commercial development in Smoky Hollow.
Cassese added a 125-seat banquet facility three years ago, and he's planning to add one or two more boccie courts and a carry-out pizza shop.
Unsure of succession
Petrella, 60, doesn't have a clear succession plan like Cassese. The Boulevard Tavern owner has sons in New York City and Cleveland who are working in their own careers and a daughter at John Carroll University.
His father, Angelo, and his uncle, Joe, ran the business as long as their health allowed -- from the 1940s to 1989 when he took over. Petrella figures he'll remain at it as long as he's healthy, just like them.
He said he'd like to slow down someday, however. But for now, he's grateful for his manager, Craig Deoring, "who does more work than me."
He's also hoping for a rebound in business. The 1990s were "really good" years, and the Boulevard tripled its seating capacity with an addition in 1992.
But business has dropped considerably since 2001, which Petrella attributes partly to lingering economic effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
He added that the growth of chain restaurants in Boardman hasn't helped and fighting negative perceptions of Youngstown is always tough.
"We have had no problems here," he said. "But a lot of people have the connotation that it's dangerous here."
Still, Petrella isn't worried about the future. If he keeps offering good food and friendly service, he sees no reason why he can't keep his Southern Boulevard establishment for many years to come.
Future is unclear
The future is a concern at the Golden Dawn.
Ralph Naples is 87 years old and has no family members interested in taking over the business. He works 10 to 15 hours a day.
"I wake up with a purpose every day," he said.
His brother Carmen is 86 and sold his ownership stake to his brother in 1991 so he could slow down. He only comes in five or six hours a day.
The brothers took over from their father, Andrew, in 1960.
Ralph Naples said he isn't sure what will happen to the Golden Dawn in the future.
"It's a day-to-day proposition," he said.
For now, none of his nine children or Carmen's seven children -- or any of their grandchildren -- is interested in running the business. Ralph Naples said he may sell it to someone outside the family.
"Then my kids will find out they goofed up," he said with a laugh.
For now, the brothers are happy to tend bar and oversee operations.
It's been a good way to make a living, Carmen Naples said, mentioning some of the benefits that all of the restaurant owners expressed.
They know they have been important part of the life of the city and, more importantly, the lives of their faithful, regular customers.
"We're seeing our fourth generation of customers," Carmen Naples said. "You feel they're all your children now."
shilling@vindy.com