Last call: Pagano's in New Stanton closes doors, items up for auction

When Rhonda Davis began working as a cook at Pagano’s Restaurant & Lounge in 1980, she was missing a relevant skill.

“I started here, I didn’t know how to cook anything,” she said.

She learned as time went on, eventually turning out batches of Sicilian pasta sauce and homemade raviolis, both Pagano family recipes. They were staples on the New Stanton Italian eatery’s menu until May 11 when it closed after 69 years in business.

But there’s still one more chance take home something other than a full belly or leftovers — a liquidation auction sale is set for June 3 at 10 a.m. Up for bidding through Mark Ferry Auctioneers will be kitchen equipment, tables and chairs, silverware, signs, televisions, barware and numerous other items.

The closing and auction are bittersweet for Davis, who has owned Pagano’s Family Restaurant & Catering with her husband Ray since 2011.

“It was like family,” she said.

An agreement to sell the building and three parcels to BJT Byers LLC for $260,000 is in the works, said Don Tarosky Jr., developer and partner with Colony Holding Companies. The Colony Agency is representing investors Joseph Eori and Jon Turik and plans to work on finding a new tenant. The liquor license is being transferred.

Tarosky said he hopes to find a local investor to open a business at the property, but he’s looking at potential opportunities.

Nino and Rose Pagano started Pagano’s Bar & Grill in 1955 on Otterman Street in Greensburg. It moved to New Stanton in the early 1960s before opening at its current home on East Byers Avenue in 1962, Davis said. A motel was next to the restaurant and bar.

“It was a brand new building,” she said.

Lee Pagano, Nino’s brother, bought it in 1972 with his wife Carol. The catering business started in 1980, as did Davis.

The pasta sauce recipe came from Elena Pagano, Lee’s sister, and the ravioli recipe was from Carol’s mother, Davis said.

The motel was torn down in 1994 and restaurant area expanded. Davis said she worked her way up from cook to running the six-pack shop and placing alcohol orders. She worked closely with Marianne Firestone and Jeannie Corwin over the years.

“They were here for a long, long time,” she said.

Many youngsters in the Pagano family grew up at the restaurant — including Carol and Lee Pagano’s daughters Rina and Sandi, and niece Katie Moore — and later worked there, Davis said.

When the opportunity to buy the business surfaced, Davis said she was excited and nervous to take on the new responsibility. She continued to run it as a family business, just with a different family — her three children, Ashley, Melinda and Nathan, helped out over the years, as have a couple of her grandchildren.

Plus, regular customers, some that have been visiting Pagano’s since Davis started working there, have become family, she said. Davis said she still loves the business, but it’s been getting harder to find help. She and her husband are looking forward to retirement.

“It hasn’t hit me yet,” she said. “This was my life.”