Mike Mandzak III, 64, who ran the restaurant for more than four decades, said Thursday he is selling the restaurant.
“Forty years and change is enough,” he said. “Plus, other reasons, too. (Employees) were stealing from me all the time and I thought ‘enough’s enough.’”
Mandzak said he has been considering the decision for “a couple of years.”
Mandzak’s father and original owner Mike Mandzak Jr. built the restaurant from the ground up in 1934. Decorated with a rustic pine-paneled interior, plaid curtains, high-back booths and historic prints from the old Sorg Mansion, the establishment initially attracted not only area residents, but executives from Armco and other companies who conducted business deals over home-cooked fare made from the recipes of Mandzak’s mother, Leonarda. By the time it closed, the crowd mostly consisted of residents, doctors, lawyers and politicians, including House Speaker John Boehner.
Dick Slagle, who served as vice president of administration for Armco, said he had an appointment to meet an old friend for lunch Wednesday and Mandzak met him in the parking lot to let him know of the restaurant’s closing.
“It’s a sad day,” said Slagle, a customer for the past 52 years. “End of an era. A lot of my friends have really enjoyed The Meadows.
“It’s just part of old Middletown that’s fading away.”
Longtime customer Ann Mort, a Middletown city council member, said she regularly met a friend at the restaurant for lunch.
“I really mourn the loss,” Mort said. “It has a long history and it’s a place you knew that you were going to get quality food and friendly service.”
Denise Hamet, Middletown’s economic development director, said Thursday she had not heard about the closing.
“Anytime you lose something that’s been around for a long time, it’s difficult,” Hamet said. “Maybe we could open that under different ownership if they would be willing to do that.”
That seems to be a likely scenario because of recent redevelopment of all types throughout the city, Hamet said.
“Our probability of getting another person interested is a lot higher at this point than it would have been a year ago,” she said. “The market’s growing … If we can do some marketing and then more rehabilitating of the area around it through our land banking program, that will also help.
“It’s a wonderful, wonderful restaurant and we’ll do our best to work with him and help him re-market it.”
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