Bar’s Black Friday sandwich is treat throughout year
The Black Friday sandwich at the Handle Bar & Grille in Canonsburg features turkey, stuffing, corn and cranberry sauce on a Mancini roll. It’s served with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy.
Tom and Donna Staaf, owners of Handle Bar & Grille in Canonsburg, feature a Black Friday sandwich in their restaurant.
Looking for a different dining experience the day after Thanksgiving? How about turkey and all the trimmings?
Handle Bar & Grille makes it a different meal. Its specialty is the Black Friday sandwich, an enigmatic entree featuring warm turkey, stuffing and corn topped with a layer of cranberries, stuffed inside a Mancini’s roll and complemented with a side of mashed potatoes and dipping gravy.
All traditional Thanksgiving fare for $8. The enigma is that, despite expectations to the contrary, the dish apparently is dee-lish.
“The cranberry slice we top it with holds the flavors together,” said Donna Staaf, co-owner of the Canonsburg establishment with her husband, Tom. “You could definitely say it is one of our top sellers.”
And for anyone already weary and wary of turkey, you don’t have to order the Black Friday on Black Friday. The Staafs and their staff serve this sandwich year-round, not just on this day of wretched retail-hopping excess.
“We wanted a sandwich we could call our signature sandwich,” Donna said. “We wanted one with turkey and thought this would be a great idea.”
That idea was launched the day the couple’s bar/restaurant opened at 342 W. Pike St. in July 2012. Their first Black Friday in business was not kind to its namesake menu item.
“People were all stuffed from the day before, so there was not a big push on that,” Donna said.
Just as the real Black Friday is but one day on the calendar, the Staafs’ sandwich is one element on an expansive menu. It includes appetizers that, adhering to the motorcycle motif, are listed under Kickstarters & Sidecars. There are four other sandwiches plus soups, salads, wings, burgers, sliders and other dishes.
Though their family has a restaurant background, Tom and Donna are in that business for the first time. “Some seasons are busy, some slower,” said Donna, who lives in Hickory with her spouse. They employ eight.
Saturday evenings are busy times for Handle Bar & Grille. Donna said St. Patrick Roman Catholic Parish is across the street, and that “a lot of people come over after Mass.”
The Staafs hope more people this year come in for a Black Friday on Black Friday.
Hours at their bar and restaurant are 11 a.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday; and 4 p.m. to midnight Sunday. Handle Bar is closed Mondays.