Building the Valley: Family-owned Massart's Restaurant celebrates 100 years in Tarentum

In its third generation of family leadership, Massart’s Restaurant in Tarentum remains a community-based eatery that is passionate about making its customers feel at home.

Massart’s is celebrating 100 years of serving guests from Tarentum and beyond.

Established in 1923 by Jake Massart, the restaurant began as a hub for local business owners in Tarentum to enjoy a meal with their families.

Now, 100 years later, Jake’s grandson and current owner, Kirk Massart, is at the helm.

The restaurant is well known for its delicious homestyle breakfast; fresh, daily pies; and traditional menu items, some of which have been available since the restaurant’s opening.

But the menu items aren’t the only things that have been there since the start. Several of the stools in the restaurant were used when some of the current customers were children, Massart said. Their children’s children still use the stools today.

Eating at Massart’s is like eating at home, Massert said, and the atmosphere is what keeps people coming back. All of their food is homestyle, and everything is made from scratch.

The loyalty between the customers and Massart runs deep, which means a lot to him and his employees.

Judy Faas, the oldest staff member, has been working at Massart’s for 34 years.

“You just like the people,” she said. “You be nice to the people, and they’re nice to you.”

Massart’s upholds an old-town feel, where everybody knows everybody and customers are treated like family.

Massart stressed the importance of relationships he has made over the years. He said he tries not to treat people as numbers but, rather, wants to get to know everyone who walks through the door.

“My steady customers are what keep me going,” he said. “There’s very few people that come in here and I don’t know who they are.”

When the restaurant first started, everybody knew everybody, Massart said. Local business owners were the bulk of the town’s population.

Now, those businesses are gone but Massart’s is still standing.

“It’s different, but it’s still the same,” he said.

That was proven when Dee Holt recently came in for lunch after 10 years of being away from the restaurant. According to Holt, the restaurant was exactly the same as when she last visited.

Before coming in for lunch, her main thought was, “I hope it’s still here,” she said.

She said Massart’s holds a special place in her heart because she and her late husband used to come to the restaurant for lunch a couple of times a month.

According to Massart, it wasn’t easy keeping the restaurant up and running for so many years. He said that most generational businesses crumble by the third generation of owners.

“My dad told me up front, it’s a lot of work,” Massart said.

His father, Harold Massart, and uncle, Joseph Massart, taught him how to run the business.

Even though his teachers are gone, he is proud that the business is still running the same as it always has.

“I’m probably most proud,” Massart said, “that I stuck with it.”