Pit Stop Restaurant to get a new identity
Racing memorabilia will be sold in an auction
Racing memorablilia from the landmark Boyertown eatery will be auctioned off today.
A landmark Boyertown restaurant is about to get a new identity.
The Pit Stop Tavern and Restaurant, which has been associated with racing throughout its history, will soon become Decades Speakeasy and Restaurant.
To make the transition, The Pit Stop will close for two weeks, according to owner Mike Rohrbach. During the closure, the restaurant will be transformed to highlight the people and events of the decades since 1900.
Before it closes Saturday night, March 23, Rohrbach will host an auction to sell the restaurant’s racing memorabilia from noon to 3 p.m. March 23, with a special lunch menu available.
“We’ll be selling everything on the walls, plus what was stored in two attics filled with memorabilia from the past that was part of the décor over the years,” Rohrbach said.
More than 100 items will be for sale, including photos of NASCAR and Grandview Speedway drivers; autographed memorabilia; a trophy from Grandview Speedway; and vintage restaurant equipment like trays, glasses, vintage signs, lights and furniture.
“We also have a huge photo from 1962 that has the original owner and his pit crew with a race car and we actually have two of the tires from the race car to be auctioned off,” Rohrbach said.
Following dinner and live music Saturday night, The Pit Stop will close. Rohrbach said the sign will come down starting
Monday, with a newly redesigned sign going up in its place.
Inside, the space will be painted and the dining area turned into a speakeasy with a specially designed door that patrons will need a special code to open.
“If you think of a bookshelf that isn’t really a bookshelf, where you press a button and it’s an entranceway into a different area — that will be where we’ll have our theme,” Rohrbach said.
Once in the dining area of Decades Speakeasy and Restaurant, the decór will reflect the new theme, as will the names of some items on the menu.
“We’ll use names of songs from throughout the decades to go along with some of our dishes. For example — ‘Simply Irresistible’ Scallops or ‘Jailhouse Rock’ Lobster Tails,” Rohrbach said.
The menu will be more of a “family-type menu, rather than just a strict steakhouse,” according to Rohrbach, something he said the community needs.
Rohrbach re-opened the Pit Stop in May 2018, continuing both its racing and steakhouse traditions. That model has runs its course, he said.
“This town really needs a restaurant that people can afford to go to and don’t have to leave town to go out to eat,” he said.
In addition, Rohrbach, a Boyertown native, said customers have told him that while the Pit Stop was a place for good steaks, they couldn’t afford to eat there often.
“We want that idea to change. We want people to be able to come here more frequently and we want to be known as a place to get a good meal at a good price and have some fun,” he said. “We’re starting fresh.”
The Pit Stop, 961 N. Reading Ave. in Boyertown, was founded in 1964 by Indy car driver Mario Andretti’s crew chief. Throughout its history and subsequent owners, the racing theme was maintained.
The initial transformation will apply to the dining area of Decades Speakeasy and Restaurant; plans for the bar are still to be determined, according to Rohrbach.
After painting the interior and making the menu changes, Decades Speakeasy and Restaurant is scheduled to reopen to the public April 5.
“We want people to be able to come here more frequently and we want to be known as a place to get a good meal at a good price and have some fun. We’re starting fresh.”