Iconic restaurant closes after 49 years
April 8 was last day for the Ranch House in West Lawn
When Sue Frymoyer found out that the Circle S Ranch House was closing, she said to her husband Tim: “It’s like ‘Cheers’ is going off the air for a second time.”
“That’s the way this place was,” Tim Frymoyer said as he and his wife sat down to eat at the Ranch House Friday, April 8. “Everybody knew everybody.”
The Ranch House, the 2738 Penn Ave. dining institution famed for its “old-fashioned ice cream” and Old West decor, announced its closure in a March 30 Facebook post. Friday was its last day of operation, and staff and customers alike all said the same thing; the Ranch House was the go-to place for food and friendship.
Carl Riedler of Wernersville stopped by the restaurant to give red roses to the waitstaff.
“We’ve been packed ever since we made the announcement that we’re closing,” said co-owner Scott Schell. “The response from the community has been incredible. We’ll miss that. They’ve kept us here for 49 years.”
Schell, 68, founded the Ranch House in 1973 with his brother Dennis and father Paul.
“It’s been my whole life,” he said. “Every nook, every cranny, everything that’s happened.”
Scott Schell said that he and his brother are not retiring, but downsizing. They will still own Schell’s Restaurant and the Dairy Swirl in Temple, but are stepping away from the Ranch House to spend time with their grandchildren.
“The stories I heard the past week are incredible,” Schell said Friday. “Grandchildren, great grandchildren. People that have come from far away to be here this week. It’s incredible. Everyone has a story. I may not know their names but I know them. There’s a lot of hugging, a lot of tears.”
Like many who were having dinner at the Ranch House for the last time, the Frymoyers were regular customers. They ate with Barbara Shunk and her husband Terry, dining under a mounted pistol labeled “The legendary arm of Wyatt Earp.”
“I feel sad for the people who have worked here for so long,” Barbara Shunk said.
She will miss the Ranch House’s fried chicken. Sue Frymoyer will miss the grilled pretzel bun.
Dennis Schell, who turned 70 on Saturday, said that in recent days the Ranch House sometimes felt like a funeral.
“It’s been overwhelming,” he said. “People saying ‘We’re so sorry’ and ‘It’s such a loss for the community.’ We have a lot of elderly couples who have eaten here for 25-30 years, and they’re losing their place to go. It pulls at your heart, a little bit.”
Dennis Schell said that the closure of the Ranch House will give him more time to focus on “typical old person stuff.”
“It’s been our life,” he said. “Scott and I started it from scratch, and with the help of Beth, ran it for many, many years.”
Beth Raven has been the Ranch House’s manager for 39 years.
“It’ll probably hit me next week,” she said about the restaurant’s closure. “I’m happy to see that we had people come out to support us for our last shift.”
Raven isn’t sure what’s next for her. She said she has been so busy, she hasn’t had time to think about it.
“I met a lot of the people in the community,” she said, “made a lot of friends, had some of the best staff a restaurant could ever want.”
Jordan Adam, who worked on and off at the Ranch House for five years, started to cry as she remembered her time there.
“It was like a family,” she said. “I felt comfortable coming back here after I moved. I knew I would feel welcome. This has been a humbling experience, seeing it close.”
“We brought her here when she was a baby,” her mother Suzanne Adam said.
“It was a part of growing up,” said her father Ronnie Adam. “Milestones were spent here, football games were celebrated here.”
“I have to say it’s been a great run,” Dennis Schell said. “Every business has its ups and downs, but when we had tough times our employees stood by us and so did our customers.”
Scott Schell thanked the people of Berks County for supporting the Ranch House throughout its history, including after the devastating fire of 1996.
“It’s been very sad,” he said. “There’s been some tears shed, but it’s been such a good ride, 49 years. I certainly have no regrets. It’s gonna be hard to walk out of here tonight.”