Betty Lou’s Cookin’ Out Tonite opens in Fayette City
Betty Lou’s Cookin’ Out Tonite is located at 225 Gillespie Hollow Road, Fayette City. The restaurant opened on Sept. 9.
Courtesy of Paula O’Connell
Betty Lou and Chris Grguric take a break at their new restaurant to discuss future plans that include hosting outdoor bands in the restaurant parking lot.
Courtesy of Paula O’Connell
Owner Chris Grguric is ready to serve up his ribs and cabbage rolls at Betty Lou’s Cookin’ Out Tonite Restaurant in Fayette City.
Courtesy of Paula O’Connell
Barbecued ribs, macaroni and cheese and warm, spiced apples are some of the many menu items at the newly-opened Betty Lou’s Cookin’ Out Tonite Restaurant near Fayette City.
Courtesy of Paula O’Connell
A bicycle belonging to the late Mickey Grguric, former coal miner and brother of owner Chris Grguric, adorns the wall of Betty Lou’s Cookin’ Out Tonite Restaurant.
Courtesy of Paula O’Connell
Justin and Kelly Buterbaugh of Fayette City pose with their children, Ashten, Raveyn and Graysen, before deciding what to order at Betty Lou’s Cookin’ Out Tonite.
Courtesy of Paula O’Connell
Miner’s memorabilia adorns the wall at Betty Lou’s Cookin’ Out Tonite, a new restaurant near Fayette City.
What happens when a nice Polish girl marries a nice Italian boy and they start sharing family recipes and a lifelong passion for cooking?
They open a restaurant, of course.
Owned by Chris Grguric, Betty Lou’s Cookin’ Out Tonite in Fayette City showcases the love of homemade-from-scratch food he and his wife, Betty Lou, share.
“So much food comes frozen or made with chemical preservatives,” said Betty Lou. “We are proud that we use no preservatives and nothing frozen.”
Offerings include local favorites like stuffed cabbage rolls, pierogies, lasagna and barbecued ribs, chicken and pulled pork, along with sandwiches, bread bowls and a variety of daily specials and desserts. Their popular macaroni and cheese is also offered daily.
All food is made fresh daily and served a la carte, cafeteria-style.
The specials, said Betty Lou, are based on what she and her husband are in the mood to make.
“Chris and I are home cookers,” she explained. “So we wake up each morning and say ‘What are we going to cook today?’ Sometimes it’s Polish, sometimes Italian. Sometimes it’s Italian pork, beef and garlic meatballs. Our menu will rotate weekly, depending on what we feel like cooking.”
The restaurant, at 225 Gillespie Hollow Road, opened Sept. 9, but before Betty Lou’s had a brick-and-mortar location, Chris said, they operated as a food truck for a year, “to test the waters.”
The response to the restaurant, he said, has been stellar.
“We were so busy last weekend that we went through a week and a half’s food in just three days,” he said.
Diners at the restaurant will find a down-home atmosphere with a children’s picnic table and a collection of coal mining items and first responder helmets honoring all those who served. A bulletin board for miners to post their photos is also displayed.
“We want to honor all our veterans and service members,” said Chris.
A motorized bicycle owned by his late brother Mickey hangs in a place of honor on the wall.
Betty Lou’s is a family affair, with daughter Kalina and daughter-in-law Lyndsey creating the Facebook page, and sons Tommy and Mike working at the restaurant.
An appropriate nod, since it was Chris and Betty Lou Grgurics’ families who started them down the path of loving to cook.
“We want you to feel like you’re at home when you come. Food like your mothers and grandmothers made,” said Betty Lou. “I can’t think of anything more comforting.”
Betty Lou’s is open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. For daily menu options, call 724-279-8020 or visit the Betty Lou’s Cookin’ Out Tonite Facebook page.