After 75 years, tavern still pours on the charm

By Ashley Luthern

aluthern@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

As the Boulevard Tavern celebrates its 75th year, its owner says the restaurant’s soul is the people who dine and work there.

“It isn’t the building, it isn’t me; it’s the people who come here that make it The Boulevard Tavern,” said Nick Petrella, who took over for his father, Angelo Petrella, in 1989. Angelo co-owned the bar with his brother Joe Petrella, Nick’s uncle.

The tavern opened its doors in 1937 at the corner of Southern Boulevard and Ravenwood Avenue on the city’s South Side. Before that, the Petrella family operated a grocery store on the site since 1926. The grocery store and tavern originally were founded by Nick’s grandfather Mateo Petrella, who immigrated to Ohio from Italy near the turn of the century.

Although the building has added a large back room and many decorations, including a scull used by the 1928 U.S. Olympic crew team, the food has remained largely the same.

Homemade meatballs, sausage, ravioli and fried fish are staples, as is the house salad, which until recently could only be served with an oil-based house dressing.

“People come in and they say, ‘It’s just like I remember it,’” Petrella said.

Now, Petrella, 65, is savoring the restaurant’s successful anniversary and contemplating a future for the business without him.

Petrella said he has no intention of closing the restaurant, but he would like to retire at some point and sell it to someone who would keep it the same.

“A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this. I would like to see it carried on,” he said.

His wife, Francie Petrella, said a buyer likely would be someone who grew up at The Boulevard or wants to learn about it.

“How often can someone buy something like this? This is totally different from a building that was this, then that, then this. This is 75 years of history,” Francie said.

This year, the Petrellas said they are planning several events to celebrate the 75th anniversary. The events will be after Lent, the restaurant’s busiest time of year when people gather for fish dinners.

They also are collecting notes from customers to compile in a commemorative book. Those who now live outside the Mahoning Valley and want to contribute can send an email to blvd60@aol.com or mail it to 3503 Southern Boulevard, Youngstown, OH 44507.

Francie said many customers who met at The Boulevard have become lifelong friends.

“People linger at the Boulevard because they think, ‘I know for sure I’ll run into someone I know tonight,’” Francie said.

The same bond applies to the staff, Nick added.

“My initial crew, every year they go to a Major League Baseball stadium on Memorial Day weekend. This is their 20th year,” he said.

The restaurant’s servers are all male, which began when Angelo Petrella was hiring staff for the tavern and wanted to give young men a way to work their way through school. As current staff members recommended their friends and relatives for job openings, it became an informal tradition.

Now when people come to The Boulevard, they know what to expect: food, friends and family.

“It’s more than a restaurant to a lot of people,” Nick said.