A stop for a burger 20 years ago ended up changing Alan Bolton\u2019s life.\n<\/p>\n
On Aug. 1, Bolton celebrated 20 years as the owner of Pete\u2019s Diner, a neighborhood staple that has been serving the community for 44 years. Bolton took over Pete\u2019s on Aug. 1, 2006, but buying a diner was not what he had planned when he first walked through the door.<\/p>\n
He had been invited by a client to grab a burger for lunch when he met Mr. Tasso, who owned Pete\u2019s at the time.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t look particularly happy to be there, so I asked him, \u2018Why is it that you don\u2019t look happy?\u2019\u201d Bolton recalled. Tasso told him that he had bought the coffee shop for his son, but his son had since gotten married and moved to Connecticut. He was ready to sell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked at my client and asked, \u2018Is he for real?\u2019\u201d Bolton said.\n<\/p>\n
Two weeks later, Bolton owned Pete\u2019s.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat started as an invitation to grab a burger completely changed my life,\u201d Bolton said. \u201cTwenty years later, I\u2019m still incredibly grateful that I walked through those doors that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pete\u2019s had already been part of the neighborhood for more than two decades when Bolton took over. Today, 44 years after it first opened, much of what has made the small diner special can still be found inside.<\/p>\n
Customers sitting at the counter can watch their food being cooked right in front of them on the open cooktop. The walls are covered with photos of longtime customers, neighborhood regulars and familiar faces who have stopped in over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it comes down to the people,\u201d Bolton said. \u201cFrom the very beginning, we\u2019ve tried to make Pete\u2019s a place where everyone feels welcome and where customers are treated like family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bolton has watched generations come through the diner. Some customers who first came into Pete\u2019s as children now bring their own children there. That tradition continues with regulars like Tim Hayden, who brings his son to Pete\u2019s every weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a neighborhood institution,\u201d Hayden said. \u201cYou see everyone you know there.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
For years, Pete\u2019s was also one of the neighborhood spots that made its own donuts. As the business grew and the dining room expanded, Bolton eventually made the decision to have the donuts and pastries made by a longtime local bakery. The donuts remain part of what regular customers have come to expect from Pete\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cA diner is more than just a place to eat. It becomes part of the fabric of the neighborhood,\u201d Bolton said.\n<\/p>\n
For Bolton, the last 20 years have also been a family effort. He credits his wife, Vicky, and their three daughters, Sofia, Lucia and Abigail, for supporting him along the way.\n<\/p>\n
As for what comes next, Bolton hopes Pete\u2019s can continue doing what it has been doing for another 20 years.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI want us to continue serving good food and donuts, welcoming our regulars, meeting new customers, and being a place where people feel comfortable and at home,\u201d Bolton said.\n<\/p>\n
Twenty years after Bolton walked in for a burger and 44 years after Pete\u2019s first opened, the small diner continues to be a familiar part of the neighborhood.\n<\/p>\n
For Bolton, it all goes back to that first lunch.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking back, it feels like one of those moments in life that was simply meant to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A stop for a burger 20 years ago ended up changing Alan Bolton\u2019s life. On Aug. 1, Bolton…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[132928,128,47696,94935,9,24,63,132929,132930,56453,132931,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-356727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-alan-bolton","tag-bronx","tag-bronx-things-to-do","tag-diner","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-diner","tag-petes-diner","tag-places-to-eat-in-the-bronx","tag-tasso","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}