I don’t feel like cooking. Lets go to Emo’s!
A suggestion that may be spoken quite frequently. Emo’s Restaurant is our local family restaurant where you can go and the staff are familiar faces that a lot of the times, know what you want before you sit down. It is the restaurant where it fits the bill for all family members, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and of course the kids. It is also the place where when a little one gets a little testy, they understand, they all have kids too!
Emo’s Restaurant has been in Revelstoke a lot longer than 20 years, in fact, it was originally owned by Emo Joakimids, which is where the name came from. Emo sold it to two brothers; Brad and Sheldon Magnus who in turn sold it to the Spataro’s March 1st, 1998.
20 years later, the staple still stands and is busier than ever. Mass Spataro is the acting General Manager while Paola is the Front of House Manager (FOH) and Serge is the Kitchen Manager. Together they make the wheels go around, and anyone who has ever worked in or owned a restaurant knows it is no small task.
“The hard part is the hours you have to put in. It’s locally owned which means locally loved and that comes at a cost; your time.” The calm and collected Serge Spataro said in reference to time missed with his kids.
Time is sacrifice in all walks of life and in all jobs, and restaurants are fast paced and can burn you off of your feet. The great thing about going to a friendly local restaurant is if you are a regular, you may not even have to say a word. Paolo shares how she has a full restaurant virtually every lunch filled with locals.
“We have buttons programmed into our Micros system that has a customers name on it, if Serge sees it, he just knows.”
“The Taylors.” Serge quietly agreed to himself.
When asked what the most popular food item was, there was no disagreement among any of them.
“Fries!”
Every restaurant has a focus, a concept of a theme. That theme usually revolves around who the target audience is. What do the patrons want to eat? What fits the lifestyle or those the frequent the business. 20 years of success is no small task. It takes a lot of hard work, patience and passion.
“Take care of the locals and the tourists will follow. Our main focus is who lives here, that is why the menu is the way it is; its what they tell us they want.”
Of course, working side by side can grow tiresome with anyone. How do family members work together and separate work and the ties that bind? Naturally, when you work with a sibling, an good old fashion disagreement is bound to happen. When asked who argues with who, Serge smiled and pointed at Mass and Paola who in turn laughed in agreement.
“We fight but we forget. The love is always there.” stated Paola.
“It is not long before we are long over it. Serge is usually the tie breaker.” Mass supported.
It is also important to note the lovely couple you will see cleaning up the front, painting the trim, shovelling the snow or sweeping the leaves. Gino and Maria Spataro are always around maintaining the family name and bringing an element of authenticity you can’t find anywhere else. When you see an entire family under the banner of one locally owned restaurant where the sauces are homemade, you are always in for good comfort food.
