OWNER HOPES TAVERN LIVES ON

Germantown restaurant’s closing leaves its ‘family’ searching for a place to go

Stella Strong, Come back Inn regular for about a decade

The last night at Come Back Inn began with a group of dumbfounded, devastated regulars hugging at the bar.

It ended with tears and many shots of Sambuca.

When a social media post announced the iconic Germantown restaurant at 909 Swan St. was closing after dinner on Oct. 3, fans flooded into the Chicago-style Italian pub for one last meal. As I sat in a high-top near the door, I saw the same crushed look on every face, while the phone rang nonstop with takeout orders. Even though owner Cathy Zachari had known for a while that Come Back Inn would have to close, she thought she’d have more time with the customers and staff, who had become like family to her over the past 20 years.

But challenges piled up. This was it. Even if none of us were ready for it. I’ve known Cathy since my husband and I bought our home in Germantown last year, but her legacy in the community goes back much deeper than that. She first started working at Come Back Inn as a server in 2001 and then took over the business in 2012. She’s raised four daughters and served multiple generations of families in the cozy, dimly lit restaurant. She greets guests herself, and most nights you can find her slinging drinks behind the bar surrounded by customers she’s known for years.

She left quite an impression on us the first evening we sat there. When we went to pay our check, she didn’t let us. Instead, she pulled it from the cash register, crumpled it

“We’ll still all be family outside of here, we’ll just have to find a place to go.”

up, and threw it over her head.

“Welcome to the neighborhood,” she told us. “Come back later this week.”

We did, and we have continued to do so again, and again, and again.

I quickly discovered that friendly gesture wasn’t a play on the restaurant’s name. That’s just how Cathy is. Her personality is catching. Over the past 18 months, I’ve heard countless other uniquely Cathy stories from other barflies in between sips of wine that she imports from Italy and bites of house-made pasta. Germantown is losing an institution.

But ask anyone who has frequented those bar stools, and they will tell you this isn’t about saying goodbye to the restaurant’s signature Italian beef sandwich or even the shots of Sambuca that flow as naturally as a conversation does with an old friend.

This is about the people.

“We’ll still all be family outside of here, we’ll just have to find a place to go,” said Stella Strong, who’s been a regular for about a decade.

People like Charlie and Wendy Sommer have eaten at the pub at least once a week for more than 20 years. They’ve known Cathy since she was a waitress, and back then, they always asked to sit in her section. Even if there were open tables elsewhere, they’d wait at the bar until she had a spot for them.

Cathy has an undeniable generosity about her. When Wendy was diagnosed with cancer, Cathy sent her a huge care package. There was another time, too, when Charlie’s children were on their way into town for a funeral. Before the Sommers left the restaurant, Cathy took the initiative to box up several to-go meals, so that his kids would have something to eat once they arrived.

“Over the years, we have met so many friends here,” Charlie told me. “She’s special. The place is special, and these friendships are family.”

There wasn’t just one thing that led to this decision, Cathy told me during a farewell party for regulars on Sunday evening. The building’s owner has plans to sell. COVID-19 has obliterated the restaurant’s catering arm, which relied heavily on corporate office lunches. The restaurant had a strong, dedicated team when she first took it over in 2012, but in recent years, staffing has become more difficult. Come Back Inn has a made-fromscratch kitchen, and operating it takes skilled cooks. Sourcing some ingredients has become troublesome, which has created consistency issues with her menu. The building is old, and the equipment requires expensive upkeep.

She wanted to keep quality high and prices low, and that just wasn’t possible anymore.

Saying goodbye is incredibly hard, but keeping the restaurant afloat has been extremely difficult, too. If she’d held on to it any longer, she suspects there would have been angry guests and anxious staff. She wanted to go out on a good note.

So, it’s time.

Come Back Inn first opened at 909 Swan St. in 1996, but Cathy says its legacy as a bar dates back to the 1800s. It’s been a watering hole as long as anyone in the neighborhood can remember. She’s hopeful that the business and the building will sell together. At the very least, she’d like to see whoever buys the property keep it as a restaurant.

When she first started working there, older people would come in and tell her that the building was once a place called Jim’s Tavern.

“Thirty or 40 years from now, maybe someone will come in and say ‘This used to be Cathy’s Tavern,’” she told me. “I hope it happens.”

I smiled. I couldn’t help but think that, of course, we’ll call it “Cathy’s,” because so many of her regulars already do.

PHOTOS SAM UPSHAW JR./COURIER JOURNAL Janette Mercer joins regular patrons at the Come Back Inn as they toast owner Cathy Zachari during a private party Sunday. The restaurant closed after Zachari had operated it for over a decade.

Owner Cathy Zachari shares a laugh with some regular patrons. She started working at Come Back Inn as a server in 2001 and then took over the business in 2012.

SAM UPSHAW JR./COURIER JOURNAL Regular patrons of the Come Back Inn were invited to a private party at the restaurant before it closed.