“I said, ‘What am I going to do with a restaurant?’ He said, ‘It’s only Texas Wieners & Hamburgers & Root beer & Ice Cream,’ Mrs. Johnson said. “He said, ‘You know what you like to eat, You’re a good organizer. And you like people.’”
Mr. Johnson’s powers of persuasion worked, and on the couple’s first day at the helm the place was packed, thanks to a huge contingent of out-of-towners coming through the area to buy lottery tickets. Mr. Johnson, who was as a teen had been a short-order cook at his family’s motel, was on the grill, while Mrs. Johnson worked the front of the house.
They were helped by the fact that there weren’t many other restaurants in the area at the time, and that Bill Johnson, who passed away in 1995, was a “social butterfly” who knew everybody,” Mrs. Johnson said.
“We were the only place you could go and sit down and eat and the owner would sit down and eat off your plate,” Mrs. Johnson said with a laugh. Before long the Johnsons added breakfast hours, significantly expanded the minuscule kitchen and converted the Bogarts’ old living quarters into four air conditioned dining rooms. They even opened up the porch for dinners.
Meanwhile, The Barrel’s menu kept growing and growing. In addition to root beer, burgers & Texas wieners(the secret sauce for the Texas weiners was created by Mr. Bogart), there’s now an extensive list of dinners, from oven-roasted turkey with stuffing to chicken & biscuits to Gail’s Favorite, a Mrs. Johnson inspired concoction consisting of grilled chicken, bacon, swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms and honey mustard dressing served over a bed of lettuce & tomato. There’s also a number of daily specials, like pork & sauerkraut & stuffed pork chops.
Like any good family restaurant, everything at The Barrel is made from scratch...........
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The Barrel Family Restaurant
881 State Route
Spring Brook Twp., PA 18444
(570)842-1415
