Brockway — Travelers along Route 28 between Brookville and Brockway may have noticed that the long-empty parking lot was filled to capacity on Friday and Saturday.
After an extended absence, Take-A-Break Restaurant has reopened under new management that respects the heritage of the place.
“I grew up back on the road. I rode my bike here as a kid. The Take-A-Break Restaurant has always been here,” says Rosemond Raybuck. “Old people like my grandpa used to sit here and drink coffee all day. There are a lot of home businesses and workers here who come here for lunch. It changed owners and closed, nothing here since.”
Layback is the new name Rosie. Everyone calls her “Rose”.
“It was always Take-A-Break,” she said. “I miss it so much.
Mr. Layback loves to bake bread and often makes large trays and cakes for birthday parties and family events. When she drove past the empty Take-a-Break restaurant, she wanted to open a bakery in its place. She said opening a restaurant and bakery had been on her mind for 20 years, but it was never feasible, she said. Ultimately, her circumstances combined with her family ended up behind the counter in her own restaurant.
“I had a good job, but I lost it two years ago,” Layback said. “It was a great job that I found at Dan Smith, but when I was laid off in May, they were doing it for the summer, so there were no other jobs, I couldn’t collect unemployment, and four had no connection: ‘Why don’t you open a bakery?
Take-A-Break is more than just a bakery. Serves pizza, burgers, chicken strips, fries and ice cream. While not a full bakery, Layback offers selections daily. Her Bakery Her style is less like a child’s birthday party and more like her layered cake. Burger rolls and pizza dough are handcrafted to layback recipes. She brought palumbo meat so her food is fresh.In the future Layback hopes to add hoagie, steak her sandwiches and salads. Ultimately, we want to offer daily specials so that people who stop by for lunch can try something different each time.
The interior of the restaurant is very similar to what patrons from years ago remember. There’s the modernization that had to happen and the additions to allow her to run a bakery and serve pizza, but the overall feel of the restaurant remains the same.However, the iconic element of her did not survive over the years. It’s a deer mural on the wall. That image is now a picture hung on the wall by the chalkboard that replaced the mural.
“I didn’t want to lose the deer photo,” Layback said. “People asked, ‘Do you still have the deer on the wall?’
The opening of Rosie’s Take-A-Break Restaurant didn’t go well for the most part. Her building owner agreed to work with her and her family supported her. Raybuck contacted her Small Business Development Center at her PennWest Clarion to find out how to start and run a business. The biggest hurdle was Environmental Protection Agency regulations regarding new wells.
After a lot of work, the restaurant opened the day after Layback got permission from the inspector.
“We opened on Friday and it was phenomenal,” says Raybuck. “I didn’t expect my reaction. People came up and said, ‘I used to come here when I was a kid.’ Another said, “I met his wife here.” The previous owner, George Cook, had moved to Florida and had to come over for dinner with his family before he left. ”
Layback is now the only employee, but she opened with the help of her family. She plans to add some employees in the future. Her idea of success is to stay in place and be stable enough to find employees who want to stay.
Rosie’s Take-A-Break is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but Raybuck began baking long before the restaurant opened, and after the last order was placed later that night, We will be closed. She values her lunchtime hours to support local businesses, including garages around her that previously had to drive to Brockway and Brookville for lunch.
Many patrons requested breakfast and Layback said she would like to add it to her time, but that is not possible as long as she is a solo employee. It may be added in the future once it’s established and she can help. But she has no intention of reopening her meat market. Now she’s focused on building a restaurant focused on her family-run community.
“It’s not just a greasy diner. I bake at home as much as I can to provide home cooking,” she said. I am thinking.”
For more information, including hours and menus, search Rosie’s Take-A-Break Restaurant on Facebook.
