KETTERING — Sunday, March 15, 2020, was the last day anyone ate at the Golden Nugget Pancake House in Kettering.
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One day later, Governor DeWine shut down Ohio because of what COVID-19 was doing to our communities, our state, and the country.
The Nugget’s owner said they hoped to be back open in a couple of weeks after COVID passed.
However, a couple of weeks turned into more than a couple of years.
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Co-owner Stacey Frangomichalos said that Sunday in 2020 was the slowest Sunday ever. The dining room was not even half full.
Now, in 2022 is as if parts of the Nugget’s lobby and restaurant have been frozen in time.
Tables are still set and the list of the next business day’s specials, including the Nugget’s popular bacon and cheese omelet for $9.00.
Steve and Bessie Thomas opened the Nugget on west Dorothy Lane in 1962.
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Over the years, the Thomas family opened two more Golden Nuggets, one on Salem Avenue and the other on Keowee Street.
John Thomas, one of their grandchildren, has wonderful memories of the time he spent sitting in the restaurant’s corner booth with his grandfather.
“I always felt like the most important person in the world because I was beside him,” said John.
He said his first job was at the Golden Nugget.
The family eventually sold their restaurant on Salem Ave.
When his grandfather passed away, John’s aunts took over the restaurants.
Then in 2005, an overnight fire destroyed decades of work, but the Thomas family rebuilt on the very same spot.
They then sold the restaurant on Keowee to focus on Kettering.
Never did they think, they would face something that challenging again, but then came COVID.
“The only logical thing to do was to close down and try to make the best of what you could,” John said.
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Even before the pandemic, the Thomas sisters wanted to sell the building which seats almost 300, and open a smaller nugget.
With the pandemic, people stayed home, did not eat out, and businesses struggled to find workers.
The Thomas sisters kept the doors closed, as they contemplated what to do next.
Now, the commercial real estate market resembled a bad “chef’s recipe,” hardly anyone was willing to mix up a new restaurant business model.
“Businesses like this lost countless amounts of money, you can’t understand,” John continued. “And the struggles of the last couple of years people would not believe.”
The restaurant business is in Thomas’ blood, and this is what they do. So, they started having family meetings.
John explained, “my family would get together and talk, the more we felt like we needed to open it, not only for our family but for the community. My family would get together and talk, the more we felt like we needed to open it, not only for our family but for the community.”
The Thomas family said what helped them make this decision to reopen, is the $1.4 million the Golden Nugget got from the small business administration restaurant revitalization fund.
Crews are now working to get the kitchen back up and running.
They are clearing away all the dust, upgrading equipment, painting the kitchen, and soon the dining room.
When asked what people should feel when they come back to the restaurant, John said, “Family. Always most important thing in the world.”
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