EXETER -- The owner of a longtime restaurant in Luzerne County has sold it after decades of success and some struggle.
The struggle involved a fire that knocked Grico's in Exeter out for quite a while a few years ago, but the owner selling the place is focused more on all the happy years and loyal customers.
It's a moment that will be hard for Pat Greenfield to forget: the reopening of her restaurant in 2013, a year and a half after it was gutted by flames.
The fire at Grico's on Wyoming Avenue in Exeter is a tough memory, but as she prepares to sell the place after 25 years, all the customer support stands out so much more.
"What have the customers meant to you?"
"Everything," Greenfield replied. "God bless them every minute they walk in the door. That's why we're here."
Greenfield thought about giving up after that fire, but she restored the 80-year-old restaurant because so many customers begged her to. She said then she'd stay for a couple more years. Now that time has come.
"I know it's time to go and I'm really happy to go to the next phase of my life, but I'm really sad and I'm really going to miss everything."
Greenfield sold Grico's to Rob Friedman, the owner of the Beaumont Inn near Dallas, which he restored several years ago.
"I think if they don't know now, they'll learn over the next couple weeks how important it is to keep this place the little haven that it is," Greenfield said.
A signature at Grico's in Exeter are private booths for dining. They will remain under the new owner and, of course, the tradition for quality will too.
"We just walk right into the booth when we go there, we have our own," said Brian Powers.
"We had our first dinner date there. That's going back 42 years, actually 43 years and it's very special to us," added Bobbie Powers.
Brian and Bobbie Powers go almost every Saturday night and said they were sick when they heard Grico's was being sold, but will continue going, even without Pat.
"I'm sorry to see her go, but I'm happy for her," said Brian. "She's about my age; she deserves a break."
"I have to find a place to live, that's the first thing, because I live upstairs. I'm going to sleep for six months then I'll decide what I'm going to do," said Greenfield.
Greenfield says the new owner plans to keep all the staff and has pledged to do his best to keep Gricos the same. She expects the sale to be finalized by the end of March.
