Sometimes You Can Go Home

The Black Widow

Burger Lovers Wanted: A Louie's Story

A Story By Jimmie Rutolo

Gracie and I started in the restaurant business together back in 2013 in a little town outside of Lancaster called Leola. Over the next ten plus years we have built Gracie's on West Main into a 220 seat successful restaurant. My journey starts in Reading long before Gracie's. I was born in Reading, and until I moved to Lancaster in my late 20's, I lived all around Berks County. I've called Birbsboro, Sinking Spring, West Lawn, Robesonia, Reading, Wyomissing, West Lawn and Kenhorst home. I'm a Wilson and Berks Career and Technical Institutes grad. It was at B.C.T.C. that I learned a lot of my cooking skills. I started in the restaurant business at Ken Grill Pool, in the concession stand. At the ripe age of eleven, I was flipping burgers and dunking fries and loving every minute of it. That is until mangers found out. See, I was only allowed to sell ice cream and sodas, but the teenagers working were more than willing to let me do the cooking. I cooked fine dining later, working at places like Boulevard Cafe, The Old Apple Inn and, yes, here in Flying Hills what was Bistro on the Green! In fact, as a head strong 16 year old, Jim at Bistro on the Green was fired after butting heads with the chef.

Now I didn't come back to buy the place years later because I was fired, but hey it's a good story. Louie's isn't the first business I've owned in Berks County.

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Jim & Gracie would like to personally welcome you to Louie's. It’s our team’s hope that you have a great experience here with us today. We make everything fresh, from scratch and to-order, and source as many ingredients locally when possible. One thing people always ask us is what we recommend, we have added a bold L next to the items we personally think you should give a try!

I wasn't always in the restaurant business. In fact, I actually have a degree in Latin and History. My first love was that of the past. I loved museums, and artifacts, and anything vintage (especially clothes and music). I fell into the restaurant business by happy accident, and it quickly became my second love.

But just like the Barbie collection under your bed, I never threw away my love for history. And so when I met Jim and we were able to bond over our shared love of history, imagine my delight when he introduced me to the World War II Weekend held by the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading. My first time there was truly magical! Who knew such a special place existed in little old Reading PA?

As planes, cars, motorcycles, and tanks from a time gone by drove past me, history was alive.

I was able to meet men who had fought in World War II, read their stories, and I was reminded of why I loved history. It wasn't just something dead, it was the stories of people who lived, and died.

The planes that come to that World War II Weekend show are truly something amazing. Some do flips and twists in the air, some you can actually climb in and see up close and personal, and some you can even fly in. Front and center of them all is a towering night fighter called the P-61, the "Black Widow."

This fighter plane was introduced in 1943, and was produced through 1945. Of the 241 P-61 planes ever made, only 4 remain today. Two that were made towards the end of war and never saw combat sit now in the permanent collections of the USAF Museum and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

One made in 1944 sits in the Beijing Air and Space Museum. And the last one left sits at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) in Reading PA. The story of this plane is truly like something out of a movie.

The MAAM was founded in 1980 by a WWII vet for the purpose of acquiring the rights to the last surviving P-61 Black Widow plane. Its rescue from a jungle on the side of a mountain in New Guinea is riveting.

In the morning of January 10, 1945, the Black Widow that now sits in the MAAM crashed just a few hundred feet shy of the top of Mt. Cyclops in New Guinea.

It was two days before rescue teams could climb the 6,500+ feet and reach the crew and rescue them. The Black Widow was left in the jungle that day, waiting for someone to rescue her. It took 5 years for the MAAM to be granted rights to the plane by the Indonesian government. And even more time to raise the money for the recovery. They had to fight alongside the Indonesian military against a local tribal leader who had staked a claim to the mountain and the plane.

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A story by Gracie Rutolo

When history nerds open a restaurant... their burger challenge needed a historical ingredient .

“We’re passionate about making your food fresh to order, from scratch, and locally sourced when possible.”

The story of Louie’s starts long before March 2022. As a college graduate in 2009, with the recession raging, job prospects were slim. A degree in history and latin, realistically it qualified Gracie to become, well a barista! LOL, no really!

After months of struggling to find meaningful work in museums, a cafe in Strasburg was hiring. Being only 2 doors down from our new apartment, Gracie applied. Armed with a piece of freshly baked cherry

pie she nailed her interview! That started a three year journey of learning and falling in love with the craziness of the restaurant business.

As for me, well I've wanted to own a restaurant since I was 9. I was cooking burgers &

fries standing on a milk crate

at the pool concession stand at age 11 at the Ken Grill Pool. Went to culinary school at 15. I ran my first kitchen at 16. At 18, I was given my first Head Chef job. After some turmoil in fine dining I gave the pizza business a try. I started delivering, then making pizza. At 20 years old, I became one of the youngest store managers in the country for that company, managing a store that did over a million in sales annually. After a year, I was 21 and burnt out!

I’d been in the restaurant business for almost ten years and needed a break. I really didn’t cook for a while. I did sales for a few years and then an opportunity seemed to drop in my lap to open my own pizza shop at 25. I did and 2 years later I was toast. I sold out and promised myself I was done with the restaurant business forever!

Until, I watched Gracie fall

in love with the cafe she was working at, it reignited some

of those long feelings about the restaurant business I had loved so much. We started doing some cooking together. We started catering some events. She was and always will be my Sous Chef! It was fun and we worked well together.

Gracie loved the cafe she worked in so much that, when she overheard the owner

talking about possibly selling, we approached her. It ended

up she wasn’t really ready to sell. So after a few weeks of dreaming what a cafe of our own would be like we decided to check Craigslist. Where else do you find your future? But there it was, the 3rd listing on Craigslist.

I called on a Wednesday night in May of 2013 at 8:30pm, got some basic info and set up an appointment to see it on Sunday at 3pm.

Then... I totally forgot about it! It had been a fleeting thought of “what if we buy a restaurant how much could it cost?”

P.S. No dumber words about the restaurant business have ever been uttered.

It didn’t matter, we didn’t have two nickels to rub together. So I forgot about our appointment. But, God moves in mysterious ways. See, Gracie’s mom was working at Zion Lutheran Church across the street from the cafe we were supposed to look at. She knew we were broke. That Sunday was Mother Day and a local place was having a banana split sale. So we found ourselves a mile up the road when the cafe owner called and asked if we were still good to meet up.

I can honestly tell you if we weren’t just up the road we would have never gone. It can’t hurt to look! Well we looked, and fell in love with this quirky little 18 seats cafe.

We loved it so much we looked at all the possibilities,

all the things we could do.

In the end, we had to tell the current owner NO! We don’t have the money. Again, God moved in our lives (whatever you want to call it in yours), and He laid out a path. One we couldn’t pass up.

Thank God we did! It's made all the difference in our lives.

We expanded and renovated too many time to count. With a new kitchen and looking at new things during covid we added burgers. What better burger to start with than the one I leaned as a head strong 16 year old at Bistro on the Green. A caramel burger. We had been playing with versions of this burger for years. Gracie working on a simpler more consistent caramel bacon, me on a bacon jam and different burger cooking methods.

When the Caramel Burger was introduced to Gracie's menu in 2021 it was a hit. Becoming one of most popular items. Winning best of burgers in Central PA 2022 and Gracie's being voted Best Burgers in Lancaster in 2024.

What better item to bring back Louie's and the first kitchen it was cooked in then the Caramel Burger. It quickly became as popular in Reading as it has been in Lancaster. Culminating in our wins at the 2024 Hamburg Hamburger fest as Best in Taste & Grand Champion ■

Fri & Sat : 11am - 11pm

Vol. V Issue III www.louieskitchenandbar.com

12 Village Center Dr

Reading Pa 19607

610-775-6575

Louie's Kitchen and Bar

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Kitchen shuts down

1 hour before close

Sun - Thurs: 11am - 10pm

Welcome

Louie's Kitchen and Bar

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Handhelds & Salads

Apps, Chili & Wings

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Louie's Kitchen & Bar

Our selection is always changing.

Check out our bakery case for our monthly flavors

Salads

Orange Sesame 🔥

Sweet Chili Teriyaki 🔥

Classic Hot Sauce🔥🔥🔥

Broad St. Burn: Calabrian Chili 🔥🔥🔥

Voted Best Breakfast in Lancaster 12 years running!

Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday 8-8

Sunday 8-2

www.gracieslancaster.com

Tom Sturges Pretzels, Reading Pa

Silver Spring Farms: Harleysville, Pa

Fountainhead Soda: Huntingdon, Pa

Collective Coffee: Morgantown, Pa

Dart Container Company: Leola, Pa

Le Bus Bakery: King of Prussia, Pa

L & S Sweeteners: Leola, Pa

Berks Meats, Reading Pa

Liscio's Bakery: Sicklerville, Nj

John F Martin: Stevens, Pa

Clark Associates: Lancaster, Pa

Louie’s love to support LOCAL!

Some of

Our local partners:

Classic Mild Sauce

Honey Mustard

Bourbon BBQ

Ranch

In all, it took over 10 years to negotiate, calculate, and navigate the dense jungles of New Guinea, disassemble and lift via helicopter the mangled pieces of the plane off the side of the mountain. Finally, in 1991, they were able to crate up the pieces of the P-61 and ship her home to Reading.

There are no parts stores for 1940's fighter planes, so every piece that is restored or replaced on the Black Widow is hand made. It is time consuming, but so worth it. We are honored to witness and contribute to the preservation of this piece of history. For more information on the Black Widow, visit www.maam.org ■

Black Widow continued from page 1

Louie's Kitchen & Bar

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Louie's Kitchen and Bar

Our selection is always changing.

Check out our bakery case for our monthly flavors

Smash Burgers

All burgers are made with twin 4oz USDA Choice Angus ground beef patties.

All Smash Burgers are cook throughout for that perfect juicy bit.

Served on a toasted local Le Bus brioche bun with fresh french fries

*make any burger a bird burger chicken patty at no cost*

Smash Burgers

Philly & Black Window

$5 of every burger challenge go to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum to help restore the P-61 Black Widow airplane they are working on restoring. When the restoration is complete it will be the only flying P-61 in the world. The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum is an aviation museum and aircraft restoration facility located at Reading Regional Airport in Reading.

The P-61 Black Widow