![]() It is glass encased on the restaurant side and also has a river view.Įxecutive Chef Nick Bell was allowed to design and create an entirely new kitchen with all new appliances and new, well, everything. The venue also includes an event room that holds 96 and will be served by the restaurant’s kitchen. The entrance walk is also now under roof, and the entry will feature a wine case. Another uncovered patio is planned for just beyond it. The patio is at least double its former size with seating for about 60, is all under roof, and includes its own bar. Frank G’s under construction / photo by Lori Boone Seating for about 80 is now broken up into three more intimate areas and includes horseshoe booths, banquette seating, and typical tables and booths. You can walk from the entrance directly to the bar area and have a nice view of the river. Now, the bar is on the second level and includes high-top tables. The seating was all grouped into two areas and offered little intimacy or atmosphere. The bar was in the wrong place, forcing customers to walk through diners and sit in a corner, he said. Papa partially blamed the layout of the former restaurant space for its serial turnover. If you’ve been in the space under former names, you are in for a surprise. Over the next two and a half years, he completely gutted its two levels. In hindsight, that turned out to be a blessing, he said, and allowed him the time to do the entire renovation he wanted. Papa closed on the Stone Point Landing property, most recently the former Oak Arbor Grill, just days before the COVID shutdown. The executive chef he planned to work with on it unexpectedly died, and Papa found himself at loose ends.Īs chance would have it, just across the river, another opportunity arose. ![]() You see, the Didio’s building turned out to be “built like a fort,” Papa said, with absolutely nothing up to code. So how did the old Didio’s project stall and the new Frank G.’s Place take off? He and his better half often found themselves driving out of the county to Cranberry Township or Boardman, Ohio, for more variety.īeing a true Beaver Countian – he’ll note he was only not in Beaver County for the two years he was in the Army – he wanted to stay local. He’s in no way disparaging to other upscale local eateries such as the nearby Wooden Angel or Jackson’s near the Beaver Valley Mall in Center Township, but there just aren’t enough locally, he said. He developed the Elysium On The Park condos near the courthouse in Beaver, a professional building in Chippewa Township, and converted a former housing project into the Mayfield Village Apartments in West Mayfield.) He collaborated with Regis Luger in 1992 to open a commissary in Bridgewater where the Hot Dog Shoppe’s hot dogs and other menu items are made fresh daily. (And, let’s pause to note that Papa’s not an idle guy. ![]() It seems Papa, who built the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppes from two in the ‘70s to nine company-owned and three licensed locations in Beaver, Lawrence, Butler and Allegheny counties and eastern Ohio, had always had an itch in the back of his mind to create an upscale spot. ![]() And wondered.Īll of this backstory is leading into how Papa also came to own the majority share of the old Keystone Bakery location at Stone Point Landing right across the Beaver River in Bridgewater – and how he’s about to open a beautiful modern restaurant there. And when the old gas station next door came up, Papa made sure the former owner removed the tanks, and he bought it.īeaver Countians, ever nebby, wondered what the long-time owner of the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppes was up to. So when the old Didio’s came onto the market six or seven years ago, Papa bought it. It’s apparent he thought the world of his dad. The family didn’t own a vehicle until he was about 10, and his dad caught the bus at Conway’s Corners, which used to be the only route between Pittsburgh and New Castle, he said. It’s a not a short walk but that’s what you did in those days, said Papa, 75, of Patterson Township. Papa still calls the intersection at the end of the Rochester-Bridgewater Bridge in Rochester “Conway’s Corners,” and he tells the story of how he and his sister would walk from their home near the old Rochester Hospital to the old bus stop near the old Didio’s every day to meet their father coming home from the steel mill. If you’re one, you know that Walmart Plaza in Center Township is the old Gee Bee Plaza, the East Rochester-Monaca Bridge is the old Toll Bridge, etc. Soon, folks will come to know him as a purveyor of upscale dining and fine wine.īut the first thing that’s apparent when meeting Papa is that he’s a Beaver Countian.īeaver Countians will recognize it in part by his common use of calling things by what they used to be long ago. Folks who know Frank Papa’s name probably link him to the iconic Brighton Hot Dog Shoppes and their equally iconic plastic cups.
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