Dominick’s Diner in Erie, PA, is closing after 68 years.The Ferraros are not disclosing the buyers or their plans for the property.
Tina Ferraro, co-owner for the last eight years of Dominick’s Diner at 123 E. 12th St., didn’t want to leave anyone to crave one more meatball omelet.
Bracing for a rush, she made 30 pounds of meatballs and five gallons of homemade sauce. And then she made more when that sauce ran low.
She expects the sauce and meatballs, along with most everything else, will be gone by the time Dominick’s closes its doors for the last time Friday afternoon, ending a 68-year chapter in Erie restaurant history.
“We are just slammed,” she said. “It’s been more than a little crazy.”
Patrons have been filling the dining room, stopping by for one more meal or to soak up the atmosphere of a restaurant that had once been a 24-hour destination.
“It’s lovely. We have really shared a lot of memories with our customers,” said Ferraro, 51, who went to work there as a waitress in her 20s.
The sale has been a long time coming
After putting the restaurant on the market in June of 2022, the couple announced in February that they had found a buyer. Tina Ferraro said the property is under contract, but that an official closing is still a few weeks away.
She said she’s not authorized to disclose the names of the building’s prospective owners.
“They are local business owners and lovely people,” she said.
She doesn’t know what their plans are for the building, but she’s guessing they have no intention of continuing to operate as Dominick’s.
“It’s just a guess on my part, but I think if they were going to keep it as Dominick’s they would have wanted to get the recipes,” she said.
The restaurant’s inventory is disappearing, one item at a time
The restaurant, which has been posting inventory updates on its Facebook page, has been running out of food by design.
Those updates warn that there’s no brown gravy left for the fries, no mushrooms for omelets, a small supply of homemade sausage patties and that the supply of bacon won’t last until the restaurant closes at 2 p.m. Friday.
Dominick’s has been busy and it might have been tempting to order more food. Tina Ferraro resisted the urge, however.
“There is no point in putting a $1,500 order in for two days and having product left over,” she said.
Before the sale: Owners of Dominick’s in Erie looking for a buyer after slashing price by $100,000Owner says they’re leaving on their own terms
The restaurant business is notoriously challenging and Tina Ferraro is proud to have been a part of one that lasted so long.
“I think it’s the end of a 68-year-old restaurant that’s a big piece of Erie history. That is not lost on me,” she said.
Ferraro, who said she has needed to get out of the business to tend to some health problems, says she’s happy that they weren’t forced out and gratified that business has picked up in recent months.
From 2022: Is Dominick’s closing? Downtown Erie fixture’s owners can’t make ends meet
“We are not closing because of a global pandemic shutting us down,” she said. “We persevered. This is Dominick’s and our overall tenacity and our will.”
She admits to mixed feelings.
“It is a little bittersweet,” she said. “But I am not going to miss the daily grind and I am 100% ready to pass the baton.”
Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.