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Thursday, November 11, 2010 Dedham Transcript wickedlocaldedham.com

OUR TOWN

DEDHAM TOWN HALL, 26 Bryant St. Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Q&A WITH JOHN GRASSO

DEDHAM CELEBRATING 20 YEARS TRANSCRIPT

Occupation: Owner of the Halfway Cafe By Andrea Salisbury
STAFF WRITER

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About John
Age: 57 Children: Two daughters, Jennifer, 24, and Melissa, 20. They both worked for the Halfway Cafe and they were treated like everyone else. Fun Fact Number 1: Before entering the restaurant business, John Grasso taught in the Boston public schools. Website: www.thehalfwaycafe.com

Twenty years ago John Grasso and David Steen saw an opportunity on Washington Street. The two friends purchased the Halfway Cafe in Dedham and from there the business grew to six other locations in Canton, Holbrook, Watertown, Marlborough, Marshfield and Maynard. Grasso recently stat down with the Dedham Transcript to talk about the last 20 years, the death his business partner and his plans for the future. : What was Qbought it 20your vision for the Halfway Cafe when you years ago? : I needed a job (laughs) AI hadup on the restau-Shore owned a rant/bar North and I had sold it. Then my plan was to be Mr. Mom for a while and then get a job outside the industry. At that point in time, my second child was on the way and I needed a job. Then David Steen, he and I had been the best of friends for years, and I knew that this place was for sale and I was familiar with this location because I grew up in Roslindale. I remember there used to be lines going out the door. (Grasso explained that after Tom ORiordan sold the Halfway in the 70s there had been a number of owners that couldnt maintain the Washington Street restaurant). But, we saw the potential and we saw what was there and we went about our business. How did Q::Halfway? you reinvent the We was a institution, but the Aham knew itoff the Dedluster had come pumpkin. I can remember when we were kids, my parents taking us here and it was the red-checkered tablecloths, pizza, pitchers of beer and soda. I think the main thing that David and I looked at first off was to clean

COURTESY PHOTO

John Grasso and David Steen, owners of the Halfway Caf. The Dedham location is marking its 20th anniversary.

the facility up and we opened for a couple of weeks to establish ourselves. Then we closed it down and we made, at that point in time, what was $35,000 of cosmetic cleanups Even to this day, we are not fancy but we are all about value and service It has been an interesting road in the 20 years. One thing that we have tried to do is maintain that personal touch. We have seven locations and we have close to 300 employees. What Q::the lastis the high point of 20 years? The combination of the Aroad constructionup and out front, Legacy Place opening the economy it has been the perfect storm of negative factors. But we are going forward Whats the high point? Someone told me a long time ago that when things are good, they are never as good as you think they are, when they are bad, they are never really bad. Instead of asking whats the high point, I am going to say: I consider it more of a journey. A journey from the perspective of, we opened up and we hit the ground running. What your vision for Q::the nextis20foremost, we years? First and Awant to survive this economic tsunami. We want to survive and we want to prosper

and we still want to grow We have a viable product to sell. I am a firm believer that people make a difference. People dont work for us, people work with us. As much as my role has evolved through the years, through the growth of our company and through the death of my business partner, I am still a restaurant guy at heart. How Q::your 20will you be8marking year anniversary? Next week (Nov. to 11), Awe are rolling back our core menu to 1990s prices. Which basically you can get a burger for under $5 and you can get steak tips for around $7. We are going roll everything back for those four days. What are the different Q::roles can take itheld? when you have You from opened up Awethe kitchen,the doors. I was in I was working the line Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. David and I were in the kitchen the first 2 years we were open and working the front door. Then when we opened in Watertown (in 1995), I was pretty much running the Watertown store the first 1 to 2 years that we were there. Running one store was something David and I could do in our sleep. Running two stores was easy. For me, expanding to three, when we opened up Marlborough and

the growing pains where you cant be on top of every detail of everything, that goes on in every store. Tell us about David. Q::David was diagnosed with Astage IV lung cancer thethe day before we were taking over Holbrook location in 2006. He never really came back to work after that; he passed four months to the day. David was the consummate restaurant professional. David was the face of the Halfway. I was sort of the behind-thescenes guy who ran the business. Jokingly, David never knew what bank we used, he was more concerned with the people ... One of the things we believed in was the people that work for us. One of the things we have, is on Nov. 14 we have the Halfway hall of fame. Any employee that has been with the company for five years is inducted into the hall of fame. is next for Q::IWhatalways haveyou?finger will this industry somehow, AIinwant to teach hotelmy but and restaurant management. I want to get back to my roots. Being in this industry, it keeps you young, you have to stay current I will always be involved in the business in some way, shape or form.

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