A local favorite renewed Centerville’s Paci’s Lounge nearly ready to take flight again
After several months of renovations, Paci’s Lounge & Dining Room will soon reopen. Todd and Diana Fisher are owners of the restaurant, following in the footsteps of Todd’s grandfather, who opened it in 1962.
Diana and Todd Fisher are the owners of Paci’s Lounge & Dining Room in Centerville. The restaurant, which has been closed since March 20 to undergo renovations is expected to reopen in mid-August.
One of the new additions to Paci’s is a new beer system with 10 taps for craft beers.
Paci’s Lounge has gotten a makeover at 79, and is poised to take wing again.
“It’s been a huge undertaking,” said Todd Fisher, third-generation owner of the Depression-era restaurant that he and his wife, Diana, have been renovating on Old National Pike in Centerville.
“Everything is new: plumbing, electrical, the kitchen, the floor. We took out the old crawl space and filled it with gravel and concrete. The kitchen was shot. We ran it until the wheels fell off.
“We dug down to the original stable and did it all over.”
The cost is daunting – about $340,000. And the work has been grueling, especially for Todd, an experienced construction contractor who has handled much of the labor himself.
But after four months of blood, sweat and fears, the co-owners are nearly finished and plan a mid-August reopening.
In a week or so, the Fishers will unveil the new-look Paci’s Lounge & Dining Room they have fashioned inside their rustic stone structure, originally a horse stable from the 19th century. Features include a brightly remodeled dining area with refinished wooden chairs and tables, a bar with 10 craft beers on tap, seating for 100, a larger, more modern kitchen and a modified menu that remains loyal to its loyal customers.
“We’ll keep old favorites, but we’re adding,” Diana said of the dining options. “We’ll never get rid of flippers.”
Flippers are chicken wings, a half-century tradition at this gathering spot in the village of Malden. Tony Paci, Todd’s grandfather, introduced deep-fried wings within a year of buying the place in 1962. They were not a popular dining option then – if an option at all. Restaurateurs generally tossed them out.
“Albert Giles always threw wings away,” Todd said, referring to a Malden grocer from that time. “He asked my grandfather if he could do anything with them and he said ‘yes.’
“I swear, Paci’s was the first place in the area to have wings.”
The Paci-Giles link endures. Giles went on to launch Fredericktown Butcher Shop in 1976, and according to Todd, “We still buy wings from Albert.”
Paci’s now prepares the little appendages with 11 sauce options, including ghost pepper – which is appropriate, considering the building is reputed to be haunted. That has never been proven, of course, but the restaurant has become a favored haunt of regulars.
“Wings and salads – that why Paci’s has pulsed,” Diana said.
Pizza, sandwiches and pasta dishes will be available as well. The expanded kitchen capabilities also have enabled the Fishers to add steak to their offerings. Paci’s used to have a Steak Night, but that was a painstaking endeavor for the cooks, who could make only a couple at a time.
The most revolutionary change, however, may be the addition of lunch to what had been a dinner-only venue. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 to 11 Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday, as always.
When it reopens, Paci’s will be continuing a 79-year restaurant tradition on this site.
Jack Kupp, a major landowner in the region, bought the stable in 1937 and flipped it into a dining spot called Cuppie’s. The place went from flip to flippers 25 years later, when Tony Paci bought it. Years later, he transferred ownership to his four children – Rose, Corinne, Michele and Tony.
Diana and Todd, Rose’s son, started managing the facility in 2010 and became owners three years after that. They are thrilled to be on the verge of reopening, and not only because the heavy lifting is almost over.
They have two sons – Todd, 14, and Tyler 12, students in Bethlehem-Center School District. Bills have to be paid and four people have to eat.
“We haven’t had income or a paycheck since March 27,” Diana said. “This is the riskiest thing we’ve ever done.”
The rehab was perhaps the most difficult, grimy undertaking of their lives too.
“We were down to dirt floors and stone walls when we started rebuilding,” Todd said. “There was grease in the electrical system. I took four layers of wiring out of the building.”
“Not one inch of the place wasn’t filthy,” Diana said.
The Fishers, who live in Centerville and met as Beth-Center students two decades ago, have posted construction photos and videos on the restaurant’s Facebook page to attest to their labors. At least one former owner appreciates their toil and trouble.
“I’m very proud that they’ve done this,” said Corinne Miller, one of Todd’s aunts.
The couple had planned to reopen a little sooner, by the end of July, but delays in acquiring equipment set them back. Todd and Diana scheduled a family reunion there July 24 and had to hire a caterer.
Their restaurant is in an interesting location, less than a quarter-mile off Route 40 and a short pop from the Mon-Fayette Expressway. A stone structure, dating to 1822, sits on the property next door. It is an old stagecoach stop that is currently Rose Paci’s home and was Todd’s residence in the 1990s. He moved in at age 16 to rehab the place and, in the process, developed the skills that enabled him to head his own local construction firm for more than a dozen years.
Now he and his wife have rebuilt the family business. They still have a lot ahead: finishing the project, opening, fine-tuning plans to expand the parking lot and relocate the restrooms to the front. Their current focus, though, is on satisfying their clientele, many of whom have been asking: Are you going to open soon?
Yes, the owners assure.
“We have a lot of faithful customers and we don’t want to disappoint them,” Diana said. “They have waited a long time.”