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COALPORT -- JoAnn Wagner likes to update the menu at her Josie's Family Restaurant on Main Street here every six months or so. She adds a new item and sees how it sells. The problem is that "everything is going well and we're just adding," she said with a laugh.
One of her latest hits is her deep-fried green beans served with her own recipe of Mexican ranch sauce, which is "awesome," said regular customer Tyler Holes.
Another new item that has caught on is her coconut shrimp dinner, served with a sweet and spicy citrus sauce, the recipe for which she found online and tweaked.
Home of the all-day breakfast, Wagner said you can order almost anything off the menu at any time, including sandwiches, hamburgers, salads, and a range of dinners, and more.
One of the most popular items is the big breakfast that includes two hot cakes, two eggs, a choice of meat, homefries and toast for $7.99. If you eat the whole thing, you get a
T-shirt. It's a big deal because the hot cakes hang over the sides of a 12-inch plate.
"Not very many people can do it," said Wagner.
She said it is particularly popular among campers visiting the area at the nearby Prince Gallitzin State Park and Glendale Yearound.
Dan and Jenny Kozaz of Williamsport, along with their 2-year-old daughter, Amelia, visit their vacation spot at Glendale Yearound and make it to Josie's about three times a summer.
"We come here for the Big Breakfast," he said.
Josie's has drawn attention from as far away as Altoona, Martinsburg and Ebensburg, where a number of regulars live.
"One lady saw my mushroom soup on my Facebook page and came from Altoona just for it," she said. "Our customers are so loyal."
The soup of the day is homemade and changes almost daily, but chili is available all the time because it's part of the loaded fries, Wagner said.
Salads include steak, taco, Cobb and chef, and sandwiches range from a Philly cheese-steak to a Reuben. A list of hot sandwiches -- country-fried steak, roast beef, meatloaf and turkey -- can come with your choice of potatoes, including mashed.
Hamburgers are made from Black Angus beef, and one customer drives two hours from McConnellsburg just for the hamburgers, Wagner said. The Black and Blue Burger is a delicious 6-ounce patty blackened with Cajun seasoning and topped with blue cheese.
A substantial dinner menu lists nearly 20 items, including pierogies, roast beef, chicken and pasta, fried shrimp and fried haddock -- most with two sides. And, most of those can be ordered on certain days as the dinner feature, such as liver and onions, which is 50 cents off on Tuesdays.
"We have one of the best liver cooks available of all time," Wagner bragged.
She said the chicken wings are jumbo size and quite popular. One seasoning, called Gary's Sweet Kickin' Cajun, has won a blue ribbon for the chef at the Clearfield County Fair, Wagner noted.
"Our Blazin' Hot is very blazing hot," she said. "We sell a lot of wings."
Desserts, too.
Stephen Nevling, who lives just north of here in Blain City, sometimes comes in three times a day. He likes the peanut butter pie -- and most everything else on the menu.
"The breakfast is good, so is the grilled chicken," he said. "I like their French toast for breakfast. It's good or I wouldn't be eating here. It's excellent and the service, too."
Wagner said other popular desserts are the Gob Cake and the coconut cream pie.
"The food here is good," said Russell Karlheim, who lives about five miles away and comes in almost every day. "That's what I come in for."
Holes, who lives a half-block away, brings his wife, Brittany, and their five children in at least once a week "to eat and see everybody."
"Anything I've ever gotten here has been excellent," Holes said. "And, it's very family affordable."
One of his sons was eating the Teddy Bear Pancake.
"Where can you get a kid's breakfast for $1.99?" said Wagner.
She bought the restaurant -- a house converted to a cafe in the 1990s -- five years ago with her then-husband, whom she credited for helping her make the leap.
"I always wanted to do something like this, but was too scared to take the plunge," she said. "I love to bake, but I don't have time anymore."
Wagner grew up two miles up Route 53 in Irvona -- her parents still live there -- and she decided to use the pet name that her father -- but no one else -- always called her, Josie.
"I love the people here," she said. "This is a lot of work, but the rewards outweigh it. I love meeting and talking to the people."
Mirror Staff Writer Cherie Hicks is at 949-7030.