HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003 Mar 16 - Cape Cod Times ArticleHype for Pentium M
leaves out the details
Editor Susan Moeller
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Ross and Barbara Pazakis, above, were the second generation to own The Riverway Lobster House in South Yarmouth. He sold it last
month to David and Ann Carboneau of Mashpee. They plan to reopen it in May as a restaurant.
After 59 years of traditional dinners served by a welcoming staff,
The Riverway Lobster House ends an era in South Yarmouth
By CYNTHIA McCORMICK
STAFF WRITER
OUTHYARMOUTH - After 59
years in business, The Riverway
Lobster House on Route 28 had
acquired something of a land-
mark status.
Senior citizen groups stopped
at the Riverway on road trips to Cape Cod.
The late Thomas P."Tip"O'Neill was
known for favoring the Riverway's
Wednesday turkey dinners. And a variety
of Cape clubs met regularly at the white -
cloth covered tables in the restaurant's
Chart Room.
The abrupt closing of the restaurant last
month came as a shock to staff, as well as
some regulars.
"I'm really surprised,"said Jean Brady
of Centerville, who has attended about
four annual Simmons College Club meet-
ings at the Riverway."We had lunch and
they always prepared turkey. The service
was very well organized and it was a rea-
sonable cost."
Even owner Ross Pazakis said the sale
of the restaurant happened much faster
than he had anticipated.
"I didn't have time to prepare,"he said.
One day he had to tell the staff that the
restaurant- run by his family since 1944 -
would be closing in a few days, on Feb. 23.
Pazakis sold the business for $680,000
to David and Ann Carboneau of Mashpee,
who used to own Carbo's restaurant at
Deer Crossing.
David Carboneau said he hopes to re-
open as a restaurant in early May. He and
his wife haven't decided what to name it.
"The cuisine will be similar to what was
there previously,"he said. The Carboneaus
will keep on as many staffers "as we can."
In an industry where restaurants
change ownership as frequently as the in-
gredients in the soup du jour, the six -
decade Pazakis ownership of the River -
way stands out. There are only a few other
Cape restaurants that have been in one
"I don't believe we ever
put an ad in the Yellow
Pages. I don't think we
advertised until the
1980s. Its basics. Lobster.
Stuffed shrimp. Fresh
seafood. "
ROSS PAZAKIS
Former owner of the Riverway
Lobster House
family for as long as Riverway, including
the Mayflower Cafe in Provincetown,
Mezza Luna in Buzzards Bay and the
Lighthouse Inn in West Dennis.
"The restaurant business is a challeng-
ing business, particularly on the Cape,"
said Bob DuBois, executive director of the
Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce."For a
family to own a restaurant for just shy of ,
60 years is remarkable, it really is."
■ ■ ■
Ross Pazakis' parents, Michael and
Mary, bought the 35-seat Riverway in 1944
and quickly converted it from a barroom
to a restaurant.
Even though Michael, who was born in
Greece, had gone to law school, he and
other family members got into the restau-
rant business. Michael's brother James
owned restaurants in Harwich, Hyannis
and Falmouth. Mary, who came from an
Irish family in Newfoundland, also helped
Michael at the Riverway when she could
spare the time from raising their seven
children.
Ross Pazakis said all his siblings
worked in the restaurant at one time or
another, but he was the only one interest-
ed in it as a career.
When his dad had a disabling heart at- ;
tack in 1962, Ross hurried home from the
University of Massachusetts to take his
place in the business. He was 19. ,
Please see RIVERWAY IE-2
KEVIN MINGORA/Cape Cod Times
When
Pazakis'
father '
bought
the
Riverway,
it was a
35-seat
bar. The
restaurant
now seats
300.