Family-friendly Carol & Dave's offers diverse menu

The story is a familiar one: after years in the restaurant business, Dave and Carol Cassler got tired of working for other people and decided to open their own place.

Their plans got a boost about 13 years ago when Dave won a car in a football pool. He sold it and used the money to purchase a small building north of Ligonier that became Carol & Dave's Roadhouse Restaurant.

“We thought we'd start small and stay small, with him cooking and me serving,” Carol says.

“But that didn't work,” Dave adds.

They outgrew the 60-seat place about four years ago and moved into the former Casa Chapala about a block north of the Ligonier Diamond. The move added a banquet room and more than doubled their seating. Their daughter, Lauren, 27, also has come on board as a manager.

The recipe for success is pretty simple, Dave says: Give the people what they want at a reasonable price.

“One of the things I'm proud of is that our menu is very diverse and our prices aren't high, so we've got everything that anybody would like,” he says.

The Roadhouse is open daily for lunch and dinner and for breakfast on Sundays. The menu is “standard American,” and the vibe is kid-friendly, Carol says, with toys, coloring books and a willing pair of arms always available to hold a little one while the parents eat.

The star of the appetizer menu is Dave's spinach and artichoke dip with tortilla chips ($8), which was featured in Bon Appetit in November 2001.

Lunch choices include salads, wings, burgers, wraps and sandwiches. If you're tired of the classic Philly cheesesteak, try Carol's take: the artichoke chicken Philly, with diced grilled chicken, mozzarella and the aforementioned dip (both $9, served with fries).

Dinner favorites include crab cakes ($19) and a fettuccine Alfredo ($13) that Carol says made her fall in love with Dave in the first place. Carol's meatloaf ($10), from her mother's recipe, is another big seller and was published in the winter 2009 issue of PA Pursuit magazine.

There's a dinner special every night except Sunday: burgers on Monday, spaghetti or chicken Romano on Tuesday, a variety of country-fried meats on Wednesday, risottos on Thursday, seafood on Friday and surf and turf on Saturday.

The star of the Sunday breakfast menu is the Roadhouse Disaster: buttermilk biscuits with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, hash browns and sausage gravy. Skip the biscuits and gravy and add pepperoni and Italian sausage or veggies, and you have the Roadhouse Mess ($8 each).

From the full bar, Carol suggests a Smooth Criminal ($8), a mix of six liqueurs concocted by one of the servers. Tap beers come from local brewers, including a Scottish ale and an IPA from Rivertowne Brewing and, for fall, the seasonal Block House Brewing pumpkin ale.

Carol & Dave's Roadhouse Restaurant, 122 N. Market St., Ligonier, is open from 11:30 am . to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. Details: 724-238-2296 or carolanddavesroadhouse.com

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-836-5750 or smcmarlin@tribweb.com.