A Return to My Hometown

The Black Widow

Burger Lovers Wanted: A Louie's Story

A Story By Jim Rutolo

Gracie and I started in the restaurant business together back in 2013 in a little town outside of Lancaster called Leola. Over the ten plus years we have built Gracie's into a 220 seat successful restaurant but my journey starts in Reading much before Gracie's. I was born at the Reading Hospital, and until I moved to Lancaster in my late 20's, I lived all around Berks County. I've called Birbsboro, Sinking Spring, West Lawn, Robesonia, Reading, Wyomissing, West Lawn and Kenhorst home. I'm a Wilson and Berks Career and Technical Institutes grad. It was at B.C.T.C. that I learned a lot of my cooking skills. I started in the restaurant business at Ken Grill Pool, in the concession stand. At the ripe age of eleven, I was flipping burgers and dunking fries and loving every minute of it. Until the mangers found out. See, I was only allowed to sell ice cream and sodas, but the teenage kids were more than willing to let me do the cooking. I got into fine dining working at places like Boulevard Cafe, The Old Apple Inn and, yes, here in Flying Hills when it was Bistro on the Green! In fact, as a head strong 16 year old, Jim at Bistro on the Green was fired after butting heads with the chef.

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Jim & Gracie would like to personally welcome you to our restaurant. It’s our entire team’s hope that you have a great experience here with us today. We make everything fresh, from scratch and to-order, and source as many ingredients locally when possible. We smoke our own meats, make our own jams, sauces, and dressings. Our full-time baker bakes all our sweet treats and decadent desserts in house as well- so save room or plan on taking something home!

I wasn't always in the restaurant business. In fact, I actually have a degree in Latin and History. My first love was that of the past. I loved museums, and artifacts, and anything vintage (especially clothes and music). I fell into the restaurant business by happy accident, and it quickly became my second love.

But just like the Barbie collection under your bed, I never threw away my love for history. And so when I met Jim and we were able to bond over our shared love of history, imagine my delight when he introduced me to the World War II Weekend held by the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading. My first time there was truly magical! Who knew such a special place existed in little old Reading PA?

As planes, cars, motorcycles, and tanks from a time gone by drove past me, history was alive. And then I was able to meet men who had fought in World War II and read their stories, and I was reminded of why I loved history. It wasn't just something dead, it was the stories of people who lived, and died.

The planes that come to that World War II Weekend show are truly something amazing. Some do flips and twists in the air, some you can actually climb in and see up close and personal, and some you can even fly in. Front and center of them all is a towering night fighter called the P-61, the "Black Widow."

This fighter plane was introduced in 1943, and was produced through 1945. Of the 241 P-61 planes ever made, only 4 remain today. Two that were made towards the end of war and never saw combat sit now in the permanent collections of the USAF Museum and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

One made in 1944 sits in the Beijing Air and Space Museum. And the last one left sits at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) in Reading PA. The story of this plane is truly like something out of a movie.

The MAAM was founded in 1980 by a WWII vet for the purpose of acquiring the rights to the last surviving P-61 Black Widow plane. Its rescue from a jungle on the side of a mountain in New Guinea is riveting.

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A Story By gracie volker

When history nerds open a restaurant... their burger challenge needed a historical ingredient .

“We’re passionate about making your food fresh to order, from scratch, and locally sourced when possible.”

The story of Louie’s starts long before March 2022. As

a college graduate in 2009, with the recession raging, job prospects were slim. With a degree in history and latin, well realistically it qualified Gracie

to become a barista! LOL, no really!

After months of struggling to find meaningful work in museums, a cafe in Strasburg was hiring. Being only 2 doors down from our new apartment, Gracie applied. Armed with a piece of freshly baked cherry

pie she nailed her interview! That started a three year journey of learning and falling in love with the craziness of the restaurant business.

As for me, well I've wanted to own a restaurant since I was 9. I was cooking burgers &

fries standing on a milk crate

at the pool concession stand at age 11 at the Ken Grill Pool. Went to culinary school at 15. I ran my first kitchen at 16. At 18, I was given my first Head Chef job. After some turmoil in fine dining I gave

the pizza business a try. I

started delivering, then making pizza. At 20 years old, I became one of the youngest store managers in the country for

that company, managing a store that did over a million in sales annually. After a year, I was 21

and burnt out! I’d been in the restaurant business for almost ten years and needed a break.

I really didn’t cook for a while.

I did sales for a few years and then an opportunity seemed

to drop in my lap to open my own pizza shop at 25. I did

and 2 years later I was toast.

I sold out and promised myself

I was done with the restaurant business forever!

As I watched Gracie fall

in love with the cafe she was working at, it reignited some

of those long dormant feelings. We started doing some cooking together. We started catering some events. She was and always will be my Sous Chef!

It was fun and we worked well together.

Gracie loved the cafe she worked in so much that, when she overheard the owner

talking about possibly selling, we approached her. It ended

up she wasn’t really ready to sell. So after a few weeks of dreaming what a cafe of our own would be like we decided to check Craigslist. Where else do you find your future? But there it was, the 3rd listing on Craigslist.

I called on a Wednesday night in May of 2013 at 8:30pm, got some basic info and set up an appointment to see it on Sunday at 3pm. Then...

I totally forgot about it! It had been one of those fleeting thoughts of “what if we buy a restaurant? HOW much could

it cost?” P.S. No dumber words about the restaurant business have ever been uttered.

The truth was it didn’t matter, we didn’t have two nickels to rub together. So I forgot about our appointment. But as they say, God moves in mysterious ways. See, Gracie’s mom had been working at Zion Lutheran Church right across

the street from the cafe we were supposed to look at. She knew we were broke. Freeze & Frizz was having a banana split sale that Sunday because it was Mother’s Day. So we found ourselves a mile up the road when the old owner called and asked if we were still good to meet up.

I can honestly tell you if we weren’t just up the road we wouldn’t have gone. I said sure,

it can’t hurt to look! Well we looked, and fell in love with

this quirky little cafe with 18 seats, a tiny bar sink, a single sandwich panini press, a hot plate and a half oven.

We loved it so much we looked at all the possibilities,

all the things we could do.

In the end, we had to tell the current owner NO! We don’t have the money.

Again, God moved in our lives (whatever you want to call it in yours), and He laid out a path. One we couldn’t pass up.

Thank God we did! It’s made all the difference in our lives. We expanded 10 times, going from 18 to 40, 60, 80, 110, 130 and now 200 seats. We have renovated the restaurant too many times to count, the biggest in 2019 that included moving the kitchen and bakery. The menus and the faces change often. Great food done right is still our goal! The Pandemic has taught us a lot, so much it's a whole other story. We came out of it a better restaurant, a different one for sure, but better.

In the winter of 2022, the opportunity here at Louie's kind of fell into our lap. The opportunity to purchase this location came at the right time, and with all the experience of the last 10+ years at Gracie's, we are so thrilled at this new adventure. Berks county always has and always will hold a special pace in our hearts. ■

Sun - Thur: 8am - 10pm

Fri - Sat: 8am - 11pm

Vol. 1 Issue I

12 Village Center Dr Reading Pa 19607

www.louieskitchenandbar.com

Louie's Kitchen and Bar

Page 8

OPEN 7 Days a Week!

Breakfast, Lunch &

Dinner!!!

Kitchen shuts down

1 hour before close

Louie's Kitchen and Bar

Page 6

Entrees, Sides, Other than beef BURGERS & handhelds

BACON & Early Bird Breakfast

Page 3

Louie's Kitchen & Bar

entrees

Our selection is always changing.

Check out our bakery case for our monthly flavors

Consumer Advisory: Consumption of undercooked meat, poultry, or eggs may increase the risk of food-borne illnesses. This applies to all eggs and steaks on the menu..

Consumer Advisory: Consumption of undercooked meat, poultry, or eggs may increase the risk of food-borne illnesses. This applies to all eggs and steaks on the menu.

All served with Goods Chips, upgrade to with fries or side salad for $3.32

Check out our reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor. Like us on Facebook.

Post a photo on Instagram!

Handhelds

Now I didn't come back to buy the place years later because I was fired, but it is a good story. Louie's isn't the first business I've owned in the area either. In my mid twenties I partnered up with a few guys to open two pizza places at the time called Big Cheese Pizza. Today they are both owned by Ramon as Mama's Pizzas. I owned a location at the Kenhorst Shopping Center and Route 61. After the pizza business I personally needed a break and spent a few years in sales. It was during that time that Gracie started working in the restaurant business and pulled me back in. After several years of success at Gracie's we were looking at options of expanding to another location. Over several years we actually looked at several locations in Reading. Our plans to open a place in Reading back in 2020 were interrupted by Covid. Christmas 2021 was when we heard that Divots may be for sale. I told the person that suggested we take a look I was highly skeptical, but we found a place with good bones and a great community. It was that day on the way home we formed an idea for Louie's. There have been ups and downs for sure but we are super excited about what 2024 and beyond has to offer■

A Return to my Hometown, continued from page 1

Black Widow continued from page 1

Sides

served after 4pm

Louie's Kitchen & Bar

Page 4

Breakfast

Apps, Chili & SALADS

Page 5

Louie's Kitchen and Bar

Our selection is always changing.

Check out our bakery case for our monthly flavors

Consumer Advisory: Consumption of undercooked meat, poultry, or eggs may increase the risk of food-borne illnesses. This applies to all eggs and steaks on the menu.

Consumer Advisory: Consumption of undercooked meat, poultry, or eggs may increase the risk of food-borne illnesses. This applies to all eggs and steaks on the menu.

Salads