Clark Powell’s legacy: Patrons line up at 88-year-old Ebensburg mainstay
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EBENSBURG -- The namesake has been gone for 65 years, but his thin-crust pizza recipe lives on and has weekend patrons waiting in line to eat at Clark Powell's Restaurant & Bar in downtown here.
"You can make reservations and, if you're in a hurry on a Friday or Saturday night, you better," said manager Nicki Fulton. "Sometimes the wait for pizza can be over an hour. … I wish we had more room. It's a good problem to have."
Clark Leroy Powell founded the restaurant here in 1928, and twice it was shut down by fire, most recently in 2004 when it was owned by Don Bachota. Local businessman Joe Becquet bought it, renovated it and re-opened it in 2008. Part of the deal has always included the pizza recipe.
"The pizza recipe has been handed down from owner to owner," Fulton said. "You can't get it anywhere else."
Bachota still comes in on weekends to make pizza, and only a few other employees know the secret, she said.
"People come here for the pizza, definitely," said Amy Patterson, who has been a server here since 1994. "I see customers who have been coming from way back when. They come from Altoona, Johnstown, Windber. People who have moved away and they're home for the holidays or to see family and they come in."
Many customers will order a half-baked pizza, which they'll freeze and keep for later, Fulton said. Others will drive to the five-mile delivery radius of the restaurant and pick up a take-out pizza.
But Clark Powell's offers a lot more than pizza and has a full bar where six flat-screen televisions might broadcast sporting events.
"Today's Specials" change on the chalkboard out front. One day, you could get an Italian hoagie for $4.95, the next day, chicken stir fry with rice for $7.95 or two slices of pizza and a cup of soup for $3.99. Every day, you can get all-you-can-eat soup and salad bar for $5.99.
Regular daily specials include a pizza and wing special on Monday, pizza by the slice on Tuesday, a sandwich buffet and soup and salad on Wednesday, and a pizza buffet for lunch and dinner on Thursday.
Friday features a fish dinner of haddock for $9.49 or crab cake for $10.49, complete with homemade sides that can include macaroni and cheese and pierogi lasagna. A regular Saturday night special is the prime-rib dinner for $19.95.
"Everything mostly is homemade, a lot from scratch," Fulton said.
The signature soup collection is and includes potato, cream of mushroom, roasted red pepper and Italian wedding.
Clark Powell's gets a lot of ingredients from local farmers, including cabbage for its cole slaw, peppers for its pizza and potatoes for French fries and soups from Benshoff Farms in New Germany.
"We get 10 50-pound bags every two weeks from there," Fulton said.
On a recent Tuesday, friends Marilyn Passanita and Nancy Seliga of Ebensburg stopped in for an early lunch after their fitness workout. They sometimes come in twice a week.
"It's quiet right now, but it won't be in a few minutes" when the crowd from the courthouse across Center Street starts coming in for lunch, Passanita said. "This is a great place with excellent food for a good price."
She likes the cheese quesadilla, as well as the haddock.
"They have the best fish on Friday, but you have to make a reservation because there's usually a line," Passanita said.
Seliga said she likes the grilled-chicken salad. But quickly added: "I like it all."
Mirror Staff Writer Cherie Hicks is at 949-7030.
Behind the Plates
Clark Powell's Restaurant & Bar
Address: 125 S. Center St., Ebensburg
Phone number: (814) 472-8899
Online: www.ClarkPowells.com
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Closed Sunday.
Prices: Burgers and pizzas start at $3.99; Specialties rotate daily and weekly
Atmosphere: Casual