Shelley’s Pike Inn owner hopes to sell, and retire
Greg McElhaney and his daughter, Holly Tatano, have helped make Shelley’s Pike Inn a hit among local customers.
Camaraderie is the order of the day for co-owner Greg McElhaney, back left, and six of his regular customers, clockwise from left, Jan Hupp, Sam Saieva, Don Mazza, Tad Zieba, Chick Carlisle and Candy Ingersoll.
The Pike Inn on Pike Street in Houston is up for sale.
Greg McElhaney had a simple but ambitious goal.
“I wanted to retire at 50,” he said. “Fifty came and went, and I said 55. Then 55 came and went, and so did 60. I finally said 63, figuring it would take a couple of years.”
“It” – the sale of his business – hasn’t happened.
Once an avid angler, McElhaney wants to return to his favorite pastime; wants to enjoy more casual times with his wife, Shelley, and their family; wants to travel, take a vacation with their clan.
“I want to enjoy life while I’m still healthy,” he said, smiling his easy smile.
But at 65, going on 66, McElhaney still owns Shelley’s Pike Inn, a popular dining destination in Houston Borough that, in many ways, is his fourth child. He operates the place with his daughter, Holly Tatano, the manager.
McElhaney certainly has his line in the water, fishing for a buyer that would enable him to ease into retirement. The inn has been for sale for three years.
There is interest, he acknowledged, from “people who have other diners.” But until a sale is consummated, McElhaney will stay on board, hoping the eventual new owner maintains it as a diner.
And why not? For 30 years, Shelley’s Pike Inn has served a heaping helping of homemade entrees, soups, gravies and camaraderie for newcomers as well as a cast of regulars as big as that of a Hollywood epic. It is a friendly, appealing place, tables arranged neatly, walls attractively adorned with retro signs, photos and drawings. Service is fast and friendly.
Breakfast, lunch and/or dinner are available there; hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday.
Located at 144 W. Pike St., the inn is one story high with hundreds of stories to tell.
“My only disappointment,” McElhaney said, “is I haven’t written a book.”
It would be a compelling read, beginning with Reed Lumber Co. One of its buildings was converted into a restaurant called Rocky’s, owned by the Vulcano family. McElhaney’s parents and an aunt and uncle later purchased it, and hired Shelley, but decided to get out after 2 1/2 years.
“Shelley really wanted it, so I bought it as a birthday present. Our attorney and accountant helped get it,” said McElhaney, a union construction worker at the time.
The couple became owners April 15, 1986, almost exactly three decades ago.
Greg wanted to name it Pike Inn, but encountered a snag. There was a Pike Inn elsewhere in Pennsylvania, owned by a physician in Somerset. “I had to get his permission to use Pike Inn, and he said no, so I added my wife’s name.”
McElhaney, a Houston resident almost his entire life, said he and Shelley dealt with structural issues and did some other remodeling over time. There was little they could do with the building, however, after what Hurricane Ivan wrought in September 2004.
“We were working,” Tatano recalled. “Within seconds, I had water up to my knees. We lost our cars, and our cooks and customers lost theirs, too.”
Flooding, which was pervasive throughout Washington County, was only the beginning. A fire followed, and by the time insurance investigators could assess damage to the inn, mold was pervasive. The building had to be leveled.
The McElhaneys decided to build anew on the site and opted for a stainless steel structure. “If you buy one this size, it’s $1.5 million,” Greg said. “We got plans and had Nello Construction do it.”
Work took nearly a year, but Shelley’s Pike Inn was back – to the relief of the owners and the regulars.
“The Breakfast Club is coming in,” Tatano announced, as several longtime patrons entered, joining a cluster who were already there. It was St. Patrick’s Day morning, and most were donning green and in a too-rah-loo-rah good mood.
“We’re the 250 Club,” Chick Carlisle, a jovial man, said of the group at his table. The name, he explained, refers to the minimum weight of each individual.
Each individual but one, that is. Tad Zieba said he just topped 200 pounds, but was allowed to join.
Among the regulars – and not all of them topped 200 – were Carlisle, Zieba, Jan Hupp, Sam Saieva, Don Mazza, Candy Ingersoll and Konnie Sanders.
Sanders and Ingersoll are school bus drivers who transport Washington and McGuffey students to and from classes at Western Area Career & Technology Center.
“We’re here for breakfast four days a week for nine months,” said Ingersoll, of Washington. “We like the convenience, and it’s our morning break.”
“It beats sitting in a cold bus,” said Sanders, of Prosperity. “There are friendly people here, and it’s cozy.”
The restaurant has been a comfortable spot for Greg and Shelley McElhaney. They’ve had to work hard, of course – this is a family business, after all. Shelley is retired now and Greg is still going, keeping the inn open for 14 hours five days a week and seven hours on Sunday. On the seventh day, he often does repairs.
McElhaney is proud of the inn and the family atmosphere it fosters. He said he closes on holidays because “people should be with their families,” but feels guilty about that. There is a liquor license, but McElhaney does not push alcohol. He said he tries to keep prices “as affordable as I can. One of the hardest things is when I have to raise them.”
He is selling the 2,750- square-foot building, of course, plus a half-acre, two parking lots, all equipment and the liquor license through the business brokerage firm the Cypher Group, led by Jerry Cypher.
McElhaney cannot control what a new owner may do, but has a recommendation. “It’s important to keep a hometown restaurant.”
Soon, he hopes to join his bride of 46 years in retirement.
“It’s been an amazing trip,” McElhaney said, “but it’s time to get out.”