Pandemic claims a landmark restaurant
RADNOR » Would you want the World Series umpired by men who have never seen a baseball game? That is the question longtime business owner Martin Costello has for the continued restrictions on business that helped him decide to permanently close his breakfast and lunch shop, originally started by his father 75 years ago.
“Politicians and regulatory commissions who have never owned a business, who have never run a business, are telling us how to run and operate our businesses, from the time we open to the time we close,” said Costello, the owner of Joe’s Place, located at 236 E. Lancaster Ave. in Wayne. “These are the rules and they don’t make any sense. Listen to what some restaurants are trying to do, disposable menus, tables 6 feet apart- it’s not how we as human beings act that way. It doesn’t work. You’re going to get fined if you violate this code.”
Divided into three rooms, with a classic lunch counter, Joe’s Place is certainly not large enough to have tables 6 feet apart. Its walls are covered in the history of the area and the many veterans Costello champions.
Costello, a Vietnam veteran himself, past commander of the local Gallagher-Bateman American Legion post and now district leader, is responsible for numerous recognitions to township veterans, including the wall of honor at Radnor High School, the banner programs that posted pictures of area veterans throughout the township and his work with area schools to recognize and record the history of the 118 veterans on the Township Memorial who gave the ultimate sacrifice to the nation.
Costello said he learned his respect for veterans from his father and from working in the shop early on.
“When I was younger, I would sit with the World War II vets at this very end of the counter, and they would talk about the guys who didn’t come back Jame Whiteman, Raymond Ballone, just to name a few,” said Costello. “Then came the Korean War vets, and I listened to their stories. Then I went to Vietnam, then (Lawrence) Mersche was killed, different guys I knew weren’t coming back.”
In Vietnam, Costello served on the flight deck aboard the USS Coral Sea but he doesn’t dwell on his stories, following the example he learned from a World
War II veteran who once told him, ‘We participated in the war; the heroes are still over there.”
His respect for veterans and the freedoms they fought for leads him back to the issue that has caused him to close.
“It’s not right. You can’t take our rights, freedoms and liberties under the guise of we’re protecting our health,” said Costello as he talked with a number of well-wishers who stopped to say hello. “I’m not going to play the game if I don’t know what the rules are.”
On Friday, Gov. Tom Wolf announced the loosening of some restrictions but continued closures of indoor seating at restaurants and bars. Costello never attempted to run a take-out operation and has been closed since March.
“Am I angry at anybody? No, but I want people to understand that their rights, freedoms and liberties are being taken away in businesses like Joe’s Place, which are basically the same as when our country was founded in the in taverns and restaurants in the 17th century. They are being taken away,” said Costello.
“There is no scientific proof. To shut down the entire nation and the world for
.0003 percent (fatality rate), most of which died in the nursing homes, and it’s tragic - I’m old, I’m 71,” he added. “I would have preferred they said everybody over age 65 stay home, but they didn’t. You can’t make these rules up on the fly, these experts - time and time again, they are wrong.”
One thing is for certain: Joe’s Place will be missed.
“The allure doesn’t end with the quaint home town diner decor, the fridge full of classic beverages, or the incredible food, but extends far deeper, to the smiling face of a hometown friend you haven’t seen in a while, the regulars “wrote Mark McGee-Pasceri, who started a petition, which has over
1,200 names, to have the business declared a local landmark. “Marty’s parables preached down as he slides the bacon topping on your favorite sandwich; the smile he gives as he says ‘so long’ when you walk out the door; Dotty telling you to be good as you pay on your way out or rolling her eyes when you laugh at one of Marty’s jokes you have heard a thousand times and the countless memories made in that place.”
“Joe’s place was a center of the community, reminiscent of the small town barbershop. Because of its history (Marty is the second generation) there is a broad age range of customers. It was a place to go to find out the scuttlebutt, to hear about issues and even put out some ideas for the community. Occasionally, I would get advance notice of problems brewing in the community which would give me time to work on solutions,” said former Radnor commissioner John Nagle.
Marty’s father, Joseph Patrick Costello, started the lunch counter after returning from the battlefields of Europe.
“He was a World War II vet, involved in the D-Day invasion. In the Battle of the Bulge, he never talked about it, then they thought they were going home because of V-E Day. But no, they were out on troop ships for Japan,” said Costello. “They thought they were doomed. Then as they were sailing in the Indian Ocean, came the
A-bombs.
“Up until that moment in time, none of those soldiers had a future and they knew it. They had been following the war and they knew they were going to die,” said Costello. “He decided he was going to open up a sandwich shop and nine months to the day that he got off that ship, it happened. (it happened to be nine months because on June 10th 1946, the day he opened the store was also the day my brother was born). It became Joe’s Hoagie Ranch.”
After one year, he moved to Strafford and stayed until 1960 when he moved the business to West Avenue, down the street from the new AT&T building. In January of ‘71, the elder Costello bought the building where the shop stands today, and opened up a few months later… and it’s been here ever since.
After coming out of the military, Martin Costello went into insurance but was drawn back to the family business when his father suffered health problems. Martin never looked back. He has enjoyed serving customers six days a week.
Over the years, Costello has had many famous customers from Happy the Clown to all the Villanova players and coaches, including Bobby Lambert and Jay Wright. But he also learned a lesson from his father about catering to just the famous.
“Everybody who comes in the door is special. Don’t treat anybody any different than anyone else, and that is what I have done through the years, whether it was Jay Wright or Bobby Lambert or the guys who work at the township, who are exceptional people, or people we call Mister Main Line because they are so proper… we have fun with people. But that is over now - that is what I am going to miss the most.”
“I wish I could have said, ‘We’re going to close in six months but it didn’t work that way,” said Costello. “In the words of Yogi Berra, ‘The last time you were here was the last time you were here.’”