Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It has been a longtime staple in the City of Buffalo, and come Friday, Chef's Restaurant on the corner of Seneca Street and Chicago Street will celebrate 100 years in business, serving the Western New York community.
"We live it every day, so it's just another day it feels like. But when you think about the longevity, it's mind blowing. It really is," said co-owner of Chef's, Lou Billittier Jr. ahead of Friday's historic milestone. "The same spot, everything's been the same. Nothing's changed."
It was in 1923 when Chef's Restaurant originally opened its doors under the ownership of Virginio and Enrica Chiari. Then in 1954, Lou Billittier Sr. bought Chef's and became the sole owner of the restaurant after having started working as a dishwasher in 1941.
"We were here before there was City Hall, before the Peace Bridge. That's how long we've been here," Billittier said. "My dad lived a street over, and he started being a dishwasher when he was 12-years-old, and he worked here ever since. He worked his way up, became sole owner, and it's been in the family ever since then until now."
Like his father before him, Billittier started working the family business at the age of 12 as, you've guessed it, a dishwasher. And also like his father, Billittier worked his way up the ranks where he eventually became co-owner of Chef's with his sister, Mary Beth, when his mother passed away in 2013.
Over the years spending many of his days at the restaurant, seeing a number of different faces come in-and-out of its doors, Billittier never really envisioned the possibility of Chef's standing the test of time and celebrating 100 years in Buffalo.
"To get to the 100-year mark, we never even thought it," he said. "We had a 75th anniversary party, and we thought, 'Oh my God, we made it to 75!' We never thought we'd make it to 100, and here we are."
While Billittier has always been involved with operations at the restaurant, he was also served as a police officer for 24 years. He never thought he'd one day take over as an owner of Chef's, as he figured it would eventually be his sister being in charge.
Although Billittier will admit from time-to-time he and his sister will butt heads on some issues, as a sibling rivalry typical does, he says it's been their upbringing that has helped them put aside any differences and work so closely together for the good of the business.
"My parents did a great job raising us and instilling in us what was the proper thing to do. So we're on the same page, as far as giving back, charity, quality of food, treating our employees like family," Billittier said. "Very rarely do we ever really have a disagreement. We're pretty much on the same pages, which is why we're so successful, I think."
Over the course of a week, from Tuesday through Saturday, it often seems like there's never a slow day at the restaurant with the amount of business that flows in. Whether it's for a concert or hockey game at KeyBank Center, a popular show at Shea's Buffalo Theatre, or just an afternoon or evening affair, Chef's has, time-and-time again, been the spot in Buffalo to stop and sit for some quality food.
With its massive popularity in Western New York, Billittier is humbled that it's been a destination for those within the community, as well as others from around the world.
"We just wanted to be able to do consistent good food, and if we could give back, we gave back. That's where we thought it would end," he said. "It just kind of morphed itself, and we are so honored that it did. At one table, you'll have the Governor, and at the next table, you'll have a truck driver. That's the way it is here. It's a mix of everybody. It's not a high-end place, it's not a diner. It's everything."
And with popularity comes a reputation, especially when it comes to the selection of the menu. For many throughout the region, it comes down to two staples at Chef's: The world famous spaghetti parm and the chicken parm.
"People know, they come in, 'Nah, I don't need a menu. I'm just gonna get the spaghetti parm.' We've tried specials, and this week we're featuring this, and it never goes," Billittier said. "We'll sell a couple of them, but I guess when they go to Chef's, you know what you're gonna get before you get here, 9-out-of-10 times."
Billittier says still to this day, spaghetti parm is probably 80% of business at Chef's, making it the big seller. The dish became popular in 1962 when Lou Sr. and his good friend Dave Thomas (WKBW-TV) invented it in the restaurant’s small open kitchen.
Another staple of the restaurant are the several hundred photos hanging around the business of famous celebrities visiting Buffalo and sporting a jar of the world famous Chef's pasta sauce. As Billittier explained, the tradition started back in 1997 with the late Jerry Springer when he stopped by to promote a show in town.
"They brought him here after the show and he loved the food. I said, 'Well here, you can have a jar of sauce,' and he's like, 'Oh, take my picture and put it on the wall!' We were kidding around and I said, 'Yeah, why not? That'd be kind of neat, right?'," Billittier said. "We put Jerry Springer up and then about a week later, Congressman Jack Quinn came in and he goes, 'Can I get my picture on the wall?' I thought he was joking and I said, 'Sure, Congressman, no problem!' And about a week later, I get a photo in the mail. He had gotten a professional photographer, got on the steps to the U.S. Capitol with the jar of sauce and sent it. That's how it started, and as people came in, a lot of the celebrities, they'll ask us. It's gotten kind of funny now. They'll come in and they'll go, 'Oh, my gosh, can I do that?'"
Billittier constantly tells people that every picture at the restaurant has got a story behind it. For him, personally, he has a couple of photos and stories that he cherishes to this day.
"I was a huge Keanu Reeves fan, and to be able to meet him - we actually did some catering on one of his movies - and he and I have a friendship. That was probably the biggest deal for me," Billittier said.
Another story that Billittier shared that holds a great deal of significance to him was when he hosted President Bill Clinton and the First Lady, Hillary Clinton, when the 42nd President of the United States was still in office.
"It was funny, because we got into an argument actually. I wanted to treat him for lunch, and he's like, 'No, I gotta pay,' and I'm like, 'No, you're not paying.' We went back-and-forth and he's like, 'No, I gotta pay,' and I go, 'You're not paying. You're in my restaurant, I'm going to treat you.' And he says, 'No, I have to by law.' Here I'm telling him, 'Look, I don't tell you how to run the country. Don't tell me how to run my restaurant!' He was really good spirited, but he couldn't hold a jar, obviously, from being the President. So he says, 'Come on, let's take a picture with all your staff. We'll do that.' And we did, and we all laughed about it," Billittier recalled.
Billittier admits he hasn't thought about having the former President back to the restaurant so he could finally get a picture of him with the jar of Chef's sauce.
In all the years of being in business at Chef's, Billittier says there have been many life lessons learned on the job, but if there's one particular lesson learned that he will carry to his grave, it's the principle of giving back.
"The community comes in to support us, and we have to support the community. My dad always said, 'If you have a loaf of bread, always cut it in half and give half to someone that needs it.' That's what we live by," he said. "I believe in karma: You take care of people, they'll take care of you. I think that and consistency, obviously, you have to have a consistent product, which we do. Those are the two big things: Consistency and charity. That's, I think, the winning ticket."
In a perfect world, Billittier would love to be able to carry on his family's legacy and keep the restaurant open another 100 years. He admits, though, it's getting more-and-more difficult.
"I didn't think we'd make it through COVID, to be honest, and we did. It's just labor-wise and food cost-wise, it's getting so difficult to run a [restaurant]," Billittier said. "To keep that quality, that's our main thing. I'm not going to buy an inferior product, I'm going to buy the best tomatoes and the best of what I need to do. Unfortunately, that comes at a cost, and hopefully, cost won't put us out of business. That's my only fear at this point."
So what's to come in the short-term future that fans and patrons of Chef's can look forward to?
"We're looking actually [at] purchasing that plot of land [across the street], and we're going to open up a USDA facility. We're gonna do frozen foods and try to go national with it, if we can. So frozen foods are our next big hurdle, as well as we're looking at maybe franchising a very small footprint of Chef's. It'd be like a 40-50 seat restaurant, if someone wanted to open it up. Those are the two things that are on the horizon that we're going to give a shot to," Billittier said.
Chef's will be closed on Thursday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the restaurant, but will re-open on Friday during its regular hours of business.
