Customers line up to say goodbye to Dravosburg's Mr. Hoagie sandwich shop
DRAVOSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- For 57 years, Mr. Hoagie has remained a staple in Dravosburg off Lebanon Church Road. On Wednesday, the owner closed up shop as customers lined up to say goodbye.
Early in the morning, Andy Boriello Jr. was making hoagies one last time in the kitchen he's worked in for 55 years.
"I've probably done a few million of these," Boriello Jr. said. "It's been a part of my life, my whole entire life."
His dad opened Mr. Hoagie in 1967, one of the first places in the area to make the famous sandwich. It became known as the 'Home of the Original Hoagie.'
"People come from all over. Even the people that moved away, when they come back to visit, they said, 'We can't get an Italian hoagie anywhere like us,'" Boriello Jr. said.
Thirty-five years after he took over the shop, he's turning a page and shutting the doors to focus on his family and father, now 90 years old.
"I have two kids, and I didn't want them to be [in a similar situation]. You're married to it, you know? It's a lot of work," Boriello Jr. said.
For the past two days, the restaurant has run out of hoagies in three to four hours. That's why Lisa Hawkins of Duquesne got there bright and early, her last chance to come to a place that's meant a lot to her family over the years. She held back tears as she talked about the shop.
"The food, the dedication, all that," Hawkins said. "I'm going to miss them."
It's that personal connection customers love, something you can only get at a family business.
Jennifer Vinay also made sure to stop by and pick up her last meal from the spot.
"You just got to love the mom-and-pop shops, and as opposed to the chains that you can go to any time, so this is just a really special place and you want to support local," Vinay said. "It's a shame to see it go."
For Boriello Jr., it was bittersweet.
"It's a sad time now, but it's time. It's time to move on," Boriello Jr. said.
As he left, he hoped to send this message.
"I hoped I left some kind of impression on the community that, you know, a small business can survive, you know, a small business can survive if you put the time in, and you put out a good, quality product," Boriello Jr. said.
Boriello Jr. eventually plans to sell the property, but said he's in no rush.