809 Fifth Avenue
Coraopolis, PA 15108
Phone: 412-264-9721
LoBello's History
Lo Bello's has had quite an exciting history.
Let's investigate it, shall we?...
The Start of It All
During the Depression, Ross and Katie Rowe took up their residence in the town of
Boomer, West Virginia, where Ross' love for West Virginia's unique brand of hot dogs
took off. When he and his family moved back to Coraopolis, Pennsylvannia, where
they had originally lived in 1941 he found a shocking revelation awaiting him - no
special hot dog stores in sight!
Several years later, when an appropriate area became available, Ross sold his
house and moved into another abode along with his family near a beautiful patch
of uninhabited grass.
In 1944, Ross and Katie Rowe, built the structure that would one day be known
as none other than LoBello's Restaurant.
At the time, though, it was called the Fifth Avenue Restaurant, though people
nicknamed it the "Spaghetti House." By the time the restaurant was opened,
the menu was so big... gnocci... pizza... steak... shrimp... For this reason,
hot dogs actually weren't asked for that much. Ironic, huh?
The entire Rowe family - Ross, Katie, and their children - all worked at the
restaurant. This is when Rose, at the age of 14, left school to begin work at
the Restaurant. At age 19, her name changed to LoBello when she married Tony LoBello.
To this day, Rosie LoBello still works at the restaurant - though, now she owns and
runs it - almost 64 years later.
It was the time of World War II, a patriotic time when the news couldn't
nearly keep up with the goings-on fast enough as it can today. The
people wanted music, and the juke box at the Spaghetti House
could provide it - that, coupled with the Italian food, couldn't stop
attracting enormous crowds of patrons. Ross immediately realized
that the restaurant's small kitchen, which was then
only the small area by the swinging doors, wasn't nearly large enough to
take care of the multitude of customers, who came day-in and day-out, as
the restaurant was open 24-7.
A new kitchen had to be built... and quick!
Renovations
Construction on the new kitchen went on even as customers came in.
In came more big refridgerators, dishwashers, and all sorts of
"new-fangled" appliances. Later on, as the customer population
continued to incline, they built a new room to the side and filled it with
boothes to accomodate even more people at one time.
A change in business hours occurred when Ross saw that he would
need a day to work and prepare for more specialized items. He took
Monday as the store's closed day, and as time passed, businesses
evolved, and the town changed; the hours of operation
once again underwent modification.
The Fifth Avenue Restaurant, now known as "LoBello's", was always the restaurants where
kids came with their parents... then came with their friends, then with
their boyfriends and girlfriends, then with their husband or wife, then
with their own kids. From near and far, in town and out, in state or
out of state, the restaurant always received a generous amount of
customers... and a few more famous ones, at that!
As years progressed, as they usually do, diligent Rosie eventually
bought the restaurant from her father and mother; names were
changed, and the little eatery came to be known as LoBello's
Restaurant. Even still, it's always been affectionately known as
the Spaghetti House by restaurant regulars.
Now, nearly 38 years later, Rosie continues to run the restaurant,
still as capable at running it as she was then: as Rosie herself says,
"I'm 78 years old, and I'm too young to be old!"
Now in the new century, LoBello's continues to flourish, with
Rose LoBello still at the Restaurant's helm. But you've gotta
hand it to her, she's got a great business plan: she loves her
customers, and, from the looks of it, her customers love her,
too.
Recent Happenings
Celebrities are not a new thing to LoBello's Spaghetti House... of course,
the celebrities were mostly cigar mascots, TV personel, and the like. Now,
LoBello's can add another name to that list - the name of Guy Fieri, Food Network
star! He recently paid a visit to LoBello's Restaurant to film an episode of his
show, "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," which has an air date of November 17,
2008, at 10:00 EST. It promises to be a great episode. Rosie will be watching!
Take a trip down our Memory Lane with our LoBello Cam!
Take a trip down our Memory Lane with our LoBello Cam!