Jonathans Restaurant leaving Wilkes-Barre, returning to Harveys Lake

Some of my finest memories in current years were produced at Jonathans Cafe in downtown Wilkes-Barre. When I uncovered out they ended up moving back to Harveys Lake, to the quite spot where by they very first started back in 2014, my coronary heart sank.

When the entrepreneurs of Jonathans, Jonathan Grimes and George DuMont, ended up approached with an opportunity to invest in the making of their initial spot, they made a decision it was the suitable transfer for them.

My inner thoughts are blended about this alter in spot. Selfishly, I hate to see them depart the town. It is truly a person of my favorite area meal locations and it is a hassle-free travel from Bear Creek. A put wherever I could normally locate the pretty most effective crab cakes, a great cocktail, and an out-of-this earth dessert. Most importantly, Jonathans has genuine character. From a lovable, but often curmudgeonly staff, to the eclectic décor, it is actually a a person-of-a-type location. A person that I am glad is continuing, even if I have to travel additional to get there.

Only at Jonathans could you see a bottle from “I Desire of Jeannie,” a existence-sized knight’s armor, and a leg lamp from “A Xmas Tale,” among a mix of so lots of other collectibles. The employees was as special as the décor, and I appreciate each and every a single of them. George is likely 1 of the nicest people I know in a extremely calm way. Nik Hughes on the other hand has a much larger-than-lifetime personality, stuffed with a fiery enthusiasm that I hope never ever dims. Chef Wendy Fritz is the most unassuming and talented chef I have ever had the satisfaction of meeting. Her food items speaks for by itself. It is thoughtful, special, and finest of all, tasty. Even though Jonathan is quiet, he is always there at the rear of the scenes serving to to make certain all the things operates smoothly. What speaks volumes about this business enterprise is that this similar workforce has been jointly since approximately the commencing.

As I write this, I sit and marvel why they selected to go away Wilkes-Barre. I know from becoming a loyal client that they had some extremely fast paced evenings and also some painfully slow evenings. Obtaining been in the company myself, I know how challenging it is to turn a financial gain, even on a active night time.

George told me that when they first made a decision to shift to Wilkes-Barre they imagined a much more town-centered, centralized place would allow them to increase their catering enterprise and grow. What they found was that whilst numerous of their loyal prospects adopted, it was really hard to seize a clientele from the Wilkes-Barre location. He explained to me that the extensive greater part of his clientele still arrived from the Again Mountain area. This astonished me considering that the restaurant has been located in downtown Wilkes-Barre for the earlier 5 decades, and I’m absolutely sure portion of the reason they are transferring. Although he explained they just did not get the buyer progress they envisioned, the City of Wilkes-Barre and the Diamond Town Partnership had been supportive.

I come to feel like Jonathans just bought off the ground in the Wilkes-Barre area when the pandemic hit and the struggles for dining establishments began. George credits a pretty supportive buyer base, along with a loyal staff, for enabling the cafe to endure by way of the rough times. I know after my spouse and I identified it, we became faithful followers, together with a lot of other people who I saw there fairly normally, which include Susan and Ray Irvin, Lissa and Dick Smith, Candice and Mark Miscavage, Jennifer Starr, and the incomparable Patty Hughes, amongst so a lot of other individuals.

What they are gaining by purchasing the Harveys Lake house is a 2nd degree with a significant outside deck. Outdoor dining has received in attractiveness in modern a long time and is some thing that they were missing in their present location. George stated that the second level is geared up with its individual kitchen area, producing it best for private functions, as properly as additional dining area. Jonathans designs to feature the present-day menu favorites, as effectively as introducing compact plates and lighter fare geared much more in direction of the new lakeside locale. They will be closing the present spot at the conclusion of August and strategy to be open up for the beginning of November in their new spot.

While I will overlook the heat smiles of the Jonathans workforce in downtown Wilkes-Barre, I desire them the quite very best of luck on their new experience on Lakeside Travel on Harvey’s Lake. Cheers to new beginnings!

***

Ruth Corcoran is a expert marketer, previous cafe proprietor, and local community advocate. She resides in Bear Creek. Audience can attain Ruth by emailing [email protected]