Landmark Charleroi restaurant up for sale
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Rego’s Restaurant, a Charleroi landmark, is up for sale.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
From left, Jo Anderson, owner Evonne Henderson and Kathy Collins, Evonne’s mother, pose for a photo in front of a mural inside Rego’s Resturant.
CHARLEROI – For quite some time, Evonne Henderson dreamed of opening a restaurant or diner. When the landmark Rego’s Restaurant went up for sale, she and her husband, Eric, bought the building that also holds 22 long-term rental units on the upper floors in November 2012.
The Fallowfield Township residents thought it best to keep the restaurant, already in business for 48 years when they bought it, as is. Especially sacrosanct was the menu, renowned for its Old World recipes like meat ravioli, meat and tomato sauce, veal cutlet, gnocci and bagna calda, an olive oil dipping sauce served with garlic toast.
“We kept the original recipes,” Evonne said. “When people ask about them we pull out the old recipe book from the 1940s and they laugh. We’re so well-known for our sauce that people come in to buy several quarts at a time.”
Two additions to the decor included new draperies and a vineyard scene in the main dining room hand-painted by artist Joe Stringhill of Belle Vernon. Downstairs, they also started a catering service and put in a new party room that holds 50 to 60 people, complete with a private bar.
“Local organizations use the party room for special fundraisers,” Evonne said. “It’s also good for events like rehearsal dinners and anniversary parties.”
A year after buying Rego’s, they also installed a point-of-sale computerized system that helps the kitchen keep tabs on the inventory and tracks items that sell and don’t sell. They also tweaked the menu, adding jumbo lump crab cakes, roast beef and hot sausage bread bowls and homemade pierogis and cheese raviolis.
Ever since the restaurant began serving “breakfasts from scratch” in August, Rego’s is now open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Along with Evonne, the staff includes her mother, Kathy Collins, who has worked at the restaurant for the past 14 years.
But since October, the building that holds the restaurant has been listed with eXpRealty. The asking price is $329,900.
The 117-year old building at 601 McKean Ave. was first built as the Wellington Hotel and was once owned by former Washington County Commissioner Ed Paluso.
Rego’s first got its start across the street, when two brothers, Orlando “Tito” and Rego Giorgi opened an Italian eatery in the small, 10-booth establishment formerly known as Sam’s in 1948. Orlando’s mother-in-law, Julia Nesti, created all the recipes that went on to make Rego’s a popular dining spot.
Shortly after Christmas in 1969, a fire destroyed the original restaurant. Three months later it reopened in its present location across the street.
Besides drawing innumerable locals, Rego’s has served a list of celebrity guests that include Liberace, former Steelers linebacker Jack Ham and team founder Art Rooney.
If someone steps forward to buy the venerable building and keeps the Rego legacy going into the future, the Hendersons plan to relocate north to Clarion County, where they’ve maintained a camp for the last 10 years. Evonne said her children are at ages that make it a good time to make the move.
“My kids are 10 and 12, but they’re willing to change school districts, which is icing on the cake,” Evonne said. “They just love it up there.”