Banking on homemade appeal
A metallic octopus gazes over a booth at Boomtown Grill.
A mechanical man made of salvaged items greets visitors as they enter Boomtown Grill.
(Boomtown Logo)
Ed Barish of Bentleyville looks over the menu in the vault room at the Boomtown Grill in Bentleyville.
Banks of Edison bulbs cast a glow over the main dining room at the Boomtown Grill, where table tops are supported by antique metal legs that once supported shop tables.
BENTLEYVILLE – Since opening their restaurant Boomtown Grill last fall, Curt and Bonita Thompson have been banking on a fresh approach to their menu to bring in customers.
The Rostraver Township couple, who purchased a former bank branch on Bentleyville’s Main Street in February 2016, wanted to add a restaurant in the town that featured burgers, fries and shakes along with other lunch and dinner specials, but with a creative touch.
The Boomtown name comes from the optimism that former mining and industrial towns like many of those in the Mon Valley will see a resurgence.
“We live here,” Bonita said. “We thought it would be nice to have another dining option in town.”
Setting up shop in a former bank may help to promote that kind of economic optimism. While there are plenty of booths and tables that can seat about 50 customers at a time, patrons can also opt to sit in the bank’s vault, which was left intact – with all of its deposit boxes – in the dining area and whose walls are now decorated with thousands of shiny pennies.
Bonita also wanted to pay homage to the area’s industrial past. In addition to Boomtown’s saw-tooth logo with a crossed fork and hammer, the dining area displays an array of industrial remanants under the glow of Edison bulbs that have been recreated into objets d’art.
The décor is in “Steampunk” style. a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.
The objects were created for the space by 56 Salvage in Perryopolis, and include a whimsical mechanical “man” who greets diners at the entrance and is composed of an old movie projector, gooseneck lamp and flat-edge coal shovel mounted on an old analog gauge.
Walls are lined with various gauges, including a Davy Jones’ Locker-style metal octopus whose red bejeweled eyes gaze out over a booth.
“It’s all reclaimed,” Bonita said of the decor, adding that she wanted to take a whimsical approach to the dining area.
The menu also takes a more creative approach.
“We wanted to do something different, we didn’t want to do just fries and burgers,” Bonita said.
So the Thompsons and their staff of 15 grind top quality beef daily for the burgers and hand-cut the potatoes for the fries. The restaurant also makes its own corned beef and features pulled pork for sandwiches.
But the personal touch doesn’t stop with the custom grind for burgers
“All of our soups and sauces and salad dressings are made from scratch,” Bonita said.
“We’re as good as you can be with burgers and dogs,” added Curtis, whose regular job is as a district judge for numerous Mon Valley communities.
The Boomtown Classic burger comes on a pretzel bun. Other menu items include a burger made of half beef and half sausage, another of beef, bacon and pork belly, and a mac and cheese and chili burger.
Hot dogs are all-beef of natural casing, with one version that comes with the addition of sliced corned beef.
The restaurant also features soft-freeze ice cream made daily with 10 percent butterfat. In addition to being used in milkshakes, the ice cream is ladled onto homemade chocolate-chip cookies and frozen into ice cream sandwiches.
“We try to make everything,” Bonita said. “It’s something you’re not going to get anywhere. We want to give customers a little bit of a different taste.”
While the décor gives a nod to an earlier industrial time, the business side of the restaurant is decidedly modern.
Bonita, an attorney for 25 years who worked as a consultant to the legal profession in the Pittsburgh area helping firms make the transition to digital technology, has taken the same approach to Boomtown.
She purchased a state-of-the-art point-of-sale software system that keeps her up to date on purchases, costs and labor.
“It’s probably much more sophisticated than it needs to be,” she said, “but I can crunch the numbers any way I want to.”
The business also uses social media to promote itself, with Bonita paying attention to the feedback customers put on the site to make adjustments to the menu.
She also benefits from the fact that Curt also had earlier experience running another restaurant in Bentleyville with another business partner.
“Now I have the best partner,” Curt said, winking at Bonita.
Boomtown Grill, 704 Main St., Bentleyville, is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; and noon to 8 p.m. Sundays. Closed Mondays. The restaurant does not serve alcohol, but BYOB is welcome. For more information, call 724-669-2130, or visit www.boomtown-grill.com