Despite challenges of location and history, owner Rich Forkey says business is fine at Racer's Tavern.
Technically, the eatery is in Derry Township, but it's right behind Carpenter Technologies (the former Latrobe Specialty Steel) at Lincoln Avenue and Route 982 in Latrobe — which Forkey says is a little off the beaten path.
And the building has a history as a smoky biker bar/pool hall called the L.A. Lounge, a place you might have gone to make a shady deal, but not to have a good meal.
When he bought the place about 13 years ago, Forkey says, “We cleaned it up. It was still a bar, because I bought it as a bar, but after about five years we started doing food, like fresh-made burgers, pizzas and wings. And the food was awesome, so then we expanded the menu.”
Though the exterior still has a simple, neighborhood bar look, the interior has been expanded and updated for a modern, semi-industrial vibe.
Forkey's food philosophy is simple:
“I wanted homemade food, home cooking. I'm divorced, single, and I wanted to come down and have a good home-cooked meal,” he says.
Burgers, pizza and wings still predominate, but chefs Lee Rydle and Joe Swierkosz have added their stamps on an expanded menu of appetizers, sandwiches, dinners and specials.
“Basically what this town is, is a meat-and-potatoes town. And they like the homestyle cooking,” Rydle says.
From spaghetti with a meatball at $10.99 to Delmonico steak at $19.99, dinners include fettuccine Alfredo and other pastas, chicken Marsala and chicken parmesan, shrimp scampi and more.
So, while the dishes themselves might be familiar, everything from the burger patties to the soups, sauces and salad dressings are made in-house.
“I'm very adamant about quality and using nothing but the best ingredients,” Forkey says. He's also adamant about serving a hearty meal at a reasonable price.
On a recent visit, we took Forkey's advice for our choices.
Knowing that portion sizes would be large, we started with what we thought would be a light appetizer, the zucchini planks ($6.99).
“Plank” was an apt description for the massive slabs of lightly breaded, deep-fried zucchini, dusted with parmesan cheese and accompanied by ranch dressing and a very fresh-tasting marinara sauce.
My companion chose the Clubhouse Grill sandwich with homemade chippers ($10.99). A mound of black oak ham, deep-fried turkey breast, bacon and American and provolone cheeses more than an inch thick appeared between slices of grilled wheatberry bread, perfectly complemented by a honey barbecue sauce. The chippers were the best we'd ever had — not a greasy or soggy bite in the pile.
We visited on a Wednesday, when the weekly specials are a stuffed cabbage plate ($12.99) and a Polish platter ($15.99) with the cabbage, haluski, kielbasa, sauerkraut and pierogies.
“I grew up eating stuffed cabbage, so I wanted to have that once a week, so I got a true Polish guy (Swierkosz) to make that and our Polish platter,” Forkey says. “Joe makes a fantastic stuffed cabbage.”
That was recommendation enough for me, so I tried the cabbage, two plump rolls served with mashed potatoes and corn, looking, smelling and tasting just like they come out of kitchens and church basements all around Western Pennsylvania.
Not that there was room for dessert, but I still had to ask.
There's not much emphasis on sweets because of portion size, Rydle says.
“If they ate one of our meals, a lot of people can't eat dessert. They're full,” he says.
Any desserts on hand come from Restaurant Depot in Pittsburgh's Strip District, one of Racer's regular food suppliers, although Rydle might make coconut cream or peanut butter pie on occasion.
Forkey says he took a roundabout route into restaurant ownership.
The Unity resident spent years as a professional darts player, traveling to bars across the country to do tournaments and set up leagues. That led to him becoming a vendor of bar equipment, including pool tables and juke boxes.
“This place (was one of my stops and the owner) was getting ready to retire. I knew it was a good location, so I ended up buying it,” he says. “A couple years later I ended up selling my vending route to focus on this 100 percent. It was all because I was good at darts that I ended up in this.”
As a young man, he also worked as a server at Applebee's, which he says gave him a good understanding of the business. He also credits his chefs and other employees, especially manager Robin Jellison, for working hard — and working together — to keep the place running smoothly.
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-836-5750, smcmarlin@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shirley_trib.
