High Point Restaurant up for sale
For 28 years, Bob and Loretta Sepesy have been selling quality food, local history and an overlook that cannot be overlooked.
Now, they are selling High Point restaurant.
“I want to retire,” Bob said Monday morning. “But I enjoy this business and will miss it if we sell.”
That business is listed for $1.5 million. Actually, the listing price is for the restaurant plus the 7.9-acre tract on which it sits in Coal Center – from the popular dining spot way atop Route 88, to the meandering Monongahela River below.
Bob Sepesy, 69, said he listed the property about six weeks ago.
The High Point’s signature menu items are deep-fried pickles and homemade sausages, but its trademark is its location. It is perched, almost literally, on a cliff, affording diners exhilarating views of the Mon, the village of Newell and California – borough and university.
Nighttime vistas are impressive, especially of snow-covered Newell during the holiday season. It’s an under-the-Christmas-tree scene come to life.
“I don’t think there’s a more spectacular view in Pennsylvania,” Sepesy said.
Indeed, on especially clear days, diners have reported seeing the Jumonville cross, outside Uniontown. There also have been numerous sightings of a bald eagle in recent months.
Sepesy, who lives in California, said that since purchasing High Point in 1986, he and his wife have done a lot of renovating. That includes the addition of a lounge and deck and space for coolers.
High Point opened as a roadhouse and service station, circa 1932, according to Sepesy. It was refurbished several times by owners who preceded them.
High Point went on the national radar in 1983, when the movie “Maria’s Lovers” was released. It was shot at the restaurant and starred Nastassja Kinski, Robert Mitchum and John Savage.
The Sepesys don’t plan to leave the region. Bob said they love Southwestern Pennsylvania, and that most of their five children and 11 grandchildren live nearby. There would be a lot of family time.
He emphasized the point that he will miss High Point, but hopes it endures.
“Let’s hope that whoever buys this is interested in keeping the traditions alive.”