Eileen and Ed Zacherl pose for a portrait inside Zacherl's Tavern & Restaurant on Tuesday in Saxonburg. The restaurant closed Saturday after being owned by the family for nearly 57 years. "It was a good run, but it's over," said Ed. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle

SAXONBURG — When Ed Zacherl started a restaurant with his brother, Leroy, in June 1965, he had no idea how far the business would go.

“It started mainly as a bar,” Zacherl said. “We then added a kitchen, and as it grew, we had to build a new kitchen, then it was more of a restaurant than a bar.”

Zacherl, 83, has been running Zacherl’s Tavern & Restaurant in Saxonburg with his wife, Eileen. His brother left the business about a year after they opened their doors.

The couple officially closed down Saturday after nearly 57 years of business. Zacherl says its time to enjoy retirement and spend time with the rest of his family.

“The business has been mostly family,” Ed said. “I’ve had a good amount of people working for me over the years. At the height I had I think 18 people on the payroll.”

Eddy Zacherl, Cindy Zacherl, Elaine Korbeck, Eileen Zacherl, and Ed Zacherl pose for a portrait inside Zacherl's Tavern & Restaurant on Tuesday in Saxonburg. The restaurant closed last Saturday after being owned by the family for nearly 57 years. "Special thanks to all the employees over the years who stuck with us," said Cindy. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle 5/10/22

In the early going, Zacherl and his family were not sure what type of restaurant they wanted it to be. It started out as a bar setting he said, but Ed knew he wanted to focus on food.

“We had to learn a lot as we went,” Ed said. “First few years we had DJs in there on the weekends. But we gave that up so we could focus more on the restaurant.”

Eileen looks forward to spending more time with the family away from the business, but will miss the people and food she said.

“We had a pretty full menu,” Ed said. “Hot roast beef sandwiches, fish, ribs, chicken, steak.

“Oh it’s more than bar food. More a sit-down restaurant I think.”

Zacherl’s granddaughter, Sara Urik, who helped with the restaurant’s Facebook page, explained her grandfather doesn’t like the label “bar food.”

Cindy Zacherl turns on a lamp decorated with the names of patrons at Zacherl's Tavern & Restaurant on Tuesday in Saxonburg. "(We are) thankful for the patronage of everyone all the years, and the friendship, and the fun times," said Zacherl. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle 5/10/22

“His fish had the best reputation,” Urik said. “He hated the term bar food, but he had good bar food. He wanted people to think more of them because they had full dinner specials as well.”

Urik is a surgical technician at Butler Memorial Hospital and worked at the restaurant in college, but has since moved on with her career.

“I feel like my grandfather taught me so much,” Urik said. “His work ethic, how to be kind to people. In the hospitality industry, you have to be kind to people, even when they are not to you.

In a small town such as Saxonburg, Urik said they had a lot of repeat customers, and it had a lot to do with how Ed interacted with the customers, Urik said.

“They went there religiously,” Urik said. “It was a very friendly environment, down to earth. Everyone knew my grandparents, and he would always go table to table and ask how they were doing.”

Retirement was the main reason behind the closing of the restaurant, but lack of workers did factor into the decision Eileen said.

The exterior of Zacherl's Tavern & Restaurant is pictured on Tuesday in Saxonburg. The restaurant closed last Saturday after nearly 57 years. Joseph Ressler/Butler Eagle 5/10/22

“Problem was we couldn’t get anybody to work,” Eileen said. “Back in the day we could jump in and help out, but we can’t do that anymore.”

Ed and Eileen will continue to live in their house that sits behind the restaurant and they hope someone will eventually buy the property.

“We sold the liquor license, but we still own the business,” Eileen said. “It would make a nice restaurant for somebody.”