Valley Dairy Restaurant's opening date set in Allegheny Township
Calling all ice cream lovers.
Promising the “best banana split of your life,” Valley Dairy Restaurant training manager Joe Wyant took a few minutes out of his increasingly busy schedule Thursday to provide details on the upcoming May 1 grand opening in Allegheny Township.
“It’s original strawberry and vanilla hand-dipped ice cream, chocolate, pineapple, strawberry topping, two cherries, nuts and an American flag — that’s the All-American Banana Split,” Wyant said of the sweet treat served up at the family-owned chain known for its ice cream and headquartered in Latrobe. “We sell a lot of those.”
Valley Dairy President Melissa Blystone confirmed the restaurant will open at 7 a.m.
The Allegheny Township restaurant is the 12th Valley Dairy owned by Fairview Dairy Inc.
Known for its “You Never Had It So Good” slogan, Valley Dairy has 11 restaurants in eight counties throughout Western Pennsylvania.
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Valley Dairy offers a variety of affordably priced classic food items, including all-you-can-eat-fish as a Friday special.
There is a kid’s menu, full breakfast lineup, salads, entrees, ice-cream cartons for takeout, appetizers, sandwiches, fresh soups, Belgian waffles, haystacks and hotcakes.
Its founder, Joseph Fleming Greubel, aka “Ice Cream Joe,” is memorialized inside the new eatery with a portrait that hangs above a fireplace in the main dining room.
The Greubel family were the first to make commercially manufactured ice cream in 1884 in Derry.
The building was previously a Kings Family Restaurant until it closed unexpectedly in February 2022.
Valley Dairy has been family owned for more than 80 years.
“We’ve had such a great warm welcome here from the community. People are stopping by, running through the parking lot and coming in to ask when we’re opening,” Wyant said.
The Allegheny Township location will employ about 70 employees, many of them former Kings employees.
An employee orientation event was held Thursday.
Manager Ashley Capiross said she is excited to be a “Valley” girl.
“I’m excited to do a new startup. It’s a super cool experience,” she said.
Renovations to the interior include new tables, booths and lighting.
Seating is available for 140 customers.
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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