PJ BROWNS A BRIEF HISTORY
What do Dan Marino, Mark May,
Jimbo Covert, Bill Fralic, Jerry Vale, Jill Corey, David Diamond, Dick Hoak, David Conrad, Tom Atkins & Joe Paterno have
in common? On at least one occasion, they have all enjoyed a savory meal & the star struck ambience of Saltsburg's P J
Brown's Restaurant & Cafe. Chef Ed Peffer & his wife Joyce, wanted to create a place that was their passion-a world
of dreams & the land of imagination-a place full of the movies, & serious jazz & big band swing. A romantic place
that could take you away from the every day realities if only for a few hours. A place with history & charm-ceiling fans
& smoky lily lamps recalling all those wonderful black & white films from the 40's. A place that could become your
favorite secret ...bringing only
your best, most trusted friends to dine & enjoy.
For 20 years Ed & Joyce have
kept a keen eye for style & a true sense of comfort where customers seem to want to stay long after the dessert &
coffee.
The menu is an eclectic &
extensive one. PJ Brown’s is a little Northern Italian, a little French, some Mediterranean & a dash of American.
Selections range from Filet Mignon, Fresh Tuna, Salmon, Wild Red Snapper to Italian countryside ... Veal & Chicken, Pizza,
sandwiches & creative soups & salads. Chef Peffer’s high standards for freshness & quality keep loyal customers
coming back again & again. PJBrown's caters to people from all walks of life-from the suit & tie crowd to the casual
shabby chic to the just want to be comfortable crowd. All are welcome & all are very much appreciated.
It was sixty years ago when Clark
Emerson Brown thought it might be a good idea to open a small magazine store. Hazel, his wife agreed. A woman who loved to
cook for her family & friends soon began bringing in pies, stews & baked beans. 1938-1940 The trade kept growing.
Soon World War 1 had begun. More & more women working long hours in area defense plants, started coming into the store
asking for more variety of home-prepared foods for their families. Clark, seeing the potential market for a business catering
to their needs, decided to buy a large, former turn of the century Hotel. Clark moved into the space where a Mercantile Store
& Plumbing Shop were housed. Brown's Restaurant was born. With its short-order foods requiring little time to eat on the
premise or carry home a warm over, Brownies became a very popular eatery.
THE RATHSKELLAR
Clark had to petition Borough
Council to obtain a Beer License. Saltsburg, at the time, was a dry town, & council had a make a special provision in
the ordinances to allow the selling of beer at the present location. However they suggested that he keep the Beer Garden separate
from the restaurant.
What to do? Clean out the
basement & put in a Rathskellar. After extensive
renovation; wooden booths were
purchased from a small drug store on Salt that was going out of business, a large U shaped bar was installed, wooden mats
were installed on the concrete basement floor, atmospheric lamps were attached to the walls & Clark turned on the draft
beer system. In the days before television & properly bottle beer, draft beer was the freshest best beer you could buy.
After the war with the men returning to their jobs in the local mines & steel factories the beer business flourished.
In a typical week the Rathskellar would go through 30-40 kegs with Iron City, Carlings Black Label & Duquesne Pilsnerbeing
the King of Beers in Saltsburg.
During the construction of the
Loyalhanna & Conemaugh Dams Brown's packed over a hundred lunches a day & when the 5 o'clock whistle blow nearly half
that amount came to have dinner & drink beer.
W. D."Don" Peffer, married to
Clark's only daughter, Valera, began managing
the Beer Garden, tending bar
& keeping the peace when the hard drinking men got out of hand. The bar was open almost 24/7, closing only when the law
required. In 1950, Clark began to phase himself out of the business-his three sons helped out with Restaurant whenever they
could but it was the oldest, Ward Brown who became the cook & manager of the restaurant along with W D Peffer running
the beer end. Hazel Brown died in 1958 & just 2 years later Clark passed away. W D & Valera
decided to buyout the brothers
interest & bring the Rathskellar upstairs joining forces with the Restaurant. Don thought it might be a good idea to add
Pizza to the menu. After a lot of research & testing different sauces & cheeses Don & Valera came up with the
right combination. Their pizza become well known through out the region much to the dining pleasure of a new generation of
short order food fanatics. To this day, even the most discriminate palate cannot figure out the blend of cheese & spices
on that famous pie (Hint-its not mozzarella or provolone).
Don & Valera ran the establishment
until 1967. In the summer of 1967 Don Peffer died at the age of 52. Valera had some hard decisions to make: sell, lease or
continue running the business. She decided to continue. With the help of her loyal bartender, Paul Ercole and several employees
she was determined to prosper.
Ed Peffer grew up in the restaurant
business. As a small boy he put together the Sunday Papers on Saturday afternoons for $.50 cents & rode with his father
delivery them on Sundays. He helped out in the kitchen peeling potatoes for French fries, cleaning up & keeping the sidewalks
clear of ice & snow. The frantic pace & oft times zany behavior of the wait staff & his Uncle kept his attention.
The ratting of dishes, the sizzle of large iron skillets& the heat & aromas all became part of hisdaily life for a
couple hours a week. He had no idea then that it would become a much bigger part when he reached his thirties.......
TOO BE CONTINUED.........
