Rudnick’s, home of the monster sandwich, heading for last call in Amwell

The sandwiches look as if they would devour you, without eating at your wallet. The customers are numerous, cordial and largely familiar with one another. The place was built pre-Civil War, yet has a modern, friendly appeal.
Rudnick’s, a family-owned bar/restaurant since 1982, continues to do brisk business along 10 Mile Road in southeasternmost Amwell Township and continues to be a local landmark. But it is in its final mile.
Five months from tomorrow – two days before Christmas – Sherry and Vince Rudnick, the owners, will shut it down. The couple decided to do so around Easter, then posted signs a few weeks ago, alerting commuters about their intentions. Quite simply, they are in their 60s and want to retire. None of their five children wanted to take over the operation, and the spouses do not want a non-Rudnick to run Rudnick’s.
They have had sales offers, to be sure, and likely will get more between now and late December. But Vince and Sherry live on the 140-acre beef cattle farm that includes their popular dining destination, which – considering the circumstances – they prefer to close after three and a half decades.
Those circumstances, Sherry assured, do not include catastrophic illness. “We wanted to put on our signs that, ‘No, we’re not dying,'” she said with mock sarcasm.
Since publicizing that message, Sherry said, “Business has doubled. Not that we weren’t busy before … We have a lot of mixed feelings.”
Deciding to close was a mini-conundrum, for she and her husband have done this for so long. They can’t help but believe they may letting down others. During a recent interview inside their establishment, Sherry continually deflected credit, saying, “We wouldn’t have this place without our customers, our employees and our family.”
But they have viable reasons to shutter, including the not-so-small matter that they still head a farm featuring, as Vince put it, “30 head of beef cattle and two donkeys.” He paused, then looking at Sherry, his partner in witty repartee, added, “three if you count me.”
As yet, Sherry and Vince have no firm retirement plans. Family time will be part of the equation – they have three sons, two daughters and five grandchildren within a 90-minute drive. Traveling is a possibility. Otherwise?
“We’ve never had enough time to figure that out,” Vince said. “Maybe by next February, we’ll want to kill one another.”

Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Sherry and Vince Rudnick are retiring after 36 years in business in Amwell Township.
This property has been Vince’s comfort zone since 1958, when his father moved the family there from the Troy Hill section of Pittsburgh. It sits a few hundred yards from Marianna, and neighboring Bethlehem-Center School District. “This is the last house in Trinity,” said Vince, who will turn 65 in late August.
He is chairman of the Amwell supervisors, with one year remaining on his term. Vince was a coal miner for 35 years, initially at Marianna Mine, which closed following a devastating fire in 1988. He then worked at Emerald Mine in Greene County until his retirement in 2009.
Sherry, 60, grew up nearby and rode the same Trinity school bus that Vince did. She successfully nurtured five children, now 30 to 40 years old, toward adulthood while doing the same with a fledgling business. The bar operated independently until 1990, when the restaurant was added.
Menu items are featured attractions at Rudnick’s, and the core of its operation. Food accounts for 87 percent of the bar/restaurant’s business.
Many sandwiches are monstrously large, including the one-pound hamburger served in a bun that is the equivalent of a loaf of bread. The sub appears to be as big as a military submarine.
“We started with large fries, large burger and a large fish, then it grew,” Sherry said, adding that meats are supplied fresh by Fredericktown Butcher Shop.
Rudnick’s is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The place operated daily for a while, until the couple scaled back to six days, then eventually five. In 2012, they changed the closing time from 10 to 9.
Despite multiple costs attendant to running a bar/restaurant, the Rudnicks say theirs is a profitable business. There isn’t much dining competition in their region; they offer a varied menu at affordable prices; and they have popular daily specials.
Wings, a Wednesday special and a favorite on other days as well, may be at the top. Vince and Sherry say they purchase an incredible seven tons of wings annually.
For the most part, Rudnick’s has been a peaceful place. Sherry said there were a few fights when only the bar existed, and the business has been robbed only once, by thieves who took $1,100 from video games.
The building, erected in 1854, had an interesting history before it was transformed into an emporium of gigantic sandwiches. It was once a general store and a phone company whose back room was a church. “The dumbwaiter is still in the attic,” Sherry said.
A locally written book, “Country Girl,” is set there.
All five Rudnick children have worked there. One daughter, Stephanie Holland, is still employed after 16 years. Janet Bockstoce, with 26 years, has the most experience among employees.
“Our children have been very, very supportive,” Sherry said, even though two sons “can’t figure out why we didn’t retire sooner.”
She laughed, reflecting again on how she appreciates the customers, employees and family members who have made Rudnick’s what it has been and continues to be. One memory that resonates is how some customers, when the restaurant has been especially busy, have helped out by cleaning up.
“I just hope everyone understands why we are closing,” Sherry said.
They probably do.