Sat, Nov 07 2009
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Published July 08, 2009 12:46 am - Debbie and Vincent Gildone, of Conneaut, visit Lakeway Restaurant, 729 Lake Ave., at least three times a month; and they have never been disappointed. Lakeway Restaurant celebrating 55 years of serving-up customers BUSINESSES DOING WELL DURING BAD TIMES - An ongoing series By ELLEN KOLMAN - Staff Writer - ekolman@starbeacon.com Star Beacon ASHTABULA – Debbie and Vincent Gildone, of Conneaut, visit Lakeway Restaurant, 729 Lake Ave., at least three times a month; and they have never been disappointed.
“I cannot remember a time that I got anything here that wasn’t good,” Vincent Gildone said, while finishing up his meal recently at Lakeway. “We keep coming back because the food is great, service is excellent and it is always very clean.” At least once a day, Stephanie Moody, of Ashtabula, makes herself at home at Lakeway’s counter. “I eat my breakfast here every morning,” Moody said. “I enjoy the friendly atmosphere and visiting with the other people who come in.” In 1952, Gerri and the late Lawrence “Bruno” DeGeorge had a dream of opening their own restaurant serving all homemade food in a friendly, family atmosphere. “Bruno always wanted to own his own business, when the property across the street, which was the old Lakeway property, came up for sale we bought it and started the restaurant,” Gerri DeGeorge said. In 1975, the DeGeorge’s built the present Lakeway Restaurant building, and in 1978, their son Dave, then a new graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde-Park, N. Y., joined his parents as head chef. In 1995, Bruno died, but the restaurant and the dream has continued in the talented hands of Gerri, Dave and their dedicated staff. “Many times Dad’s advice will come to my mind; his presence is still felt here,” Dave said. “Our key to our 55-year success is our customers always come first,” Gerri said. “A lot of our customers have special diet needs and we try to accommodate that with a special dietary needs section on the menu.” “We treat all of our customers with the same friendly courtesy no matter how much or how little they order,” Dave said. In fact, Lakeway Restaurant is committed to serving healthy, kind-to-the-heart entrees and offer special selections for special diets. Through a consultation with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, The Ashtabula County Medical Center and the American Heart Association, Lakeway has implemented a series of guidelines for their food preparation. All of the foods are prepared with all-vegetable, no cholesterol cooking oils and margarine. They fry fat-free and add very little salt to their cooking, Dave said. Another key to our success is we treat our employees like family,” Gerri said. “Some of our employees have been with us for more than 20 and 30 years.” Tom Kelly has been employed at Lakeway for 34 years and does all of their buying and meat cutting. “Tom started here as a teen performing general maintenance duties,” Gerri said. “All of our employees are good and dependable; we have always stressed teamwork.” 
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