The Halfway Cafe History

Longtime friends and colleagues David Steen and John Grasso purchased the Halfway Cafe in September of 1990. The Halfway was originally founded by Tom O’Riordan in 1964. Tom built a very successful restaurant which became a tradition in the Dedham-Roslindale-West Roxbury area. All one would have to say is… Halfway Cafe and the response would be steamers, pizza and pitchers of beer. Tom was so successful that on Friday and Saturday evenings he had lines of people out the door onto Washington Street with people waiting to be seated for dinner. Eventually Tom moved on to his other multiple business ventures and in 1978 he sold the restaurant. The next thirteen years saw three different owners and a loss of the reputation that Tom had built over the years.

Along come Dave and John… These two had met years before while tending bar at the popular Callahan’s Steak House in Newton. Never had two individuals been so opposite yet clicked both professionally and personally. From the very first day that David showed up at Callahan’s, with his 70’s swagger and his “Rooster Do,” and started working bar shifts together with John, through the ups and downs of their friendship, these two were bonded and loyal to one another through all. David, originally from Ohio, moved on from Callahan’s onto a General Manager and equity position at Lord Bunbury in Fanueil Hall. John, originally from Roslindale, moved onto the Bull & Finch, to ownership of a bar in Lynn, to trying to get out of the restaurant business and find a “real job.” While trying to find that ‘real job” John had heard that the Halfway Cafe in Dedham was for sale. He went to take a look at the restaurant in November of 1989. It wasn’t pretty but he thought that it was a diamond in the rough ready to be brought back. He asked David to go take a look at it and let him know what he thought. David came back with twelve different renovation ideas written on bar napkins and from there all that was left was to go make the deal. The deal was eventually made with a big assist from an “old bartending friend,” Michael Drescher. Then came a renovation of the premises and along with their combined restaurant expertise, the Halfway took off faster than they ever anticipated. A major portion of their success is attributed to a formula that’s still adhere to today: “to serve quality food at inexpensive prices while offering friendly attentive service in a clean comfortable atmosphere.”

Having seen the success of Dedham and wanting new challenges, the former DaVinci’s on Main Street in Watertown was purchased in November of 1995. This project was different from Dedham in that it was a complete renovation that took five weeks and was outfitted from knives and forks all the way out. The Watertown location proved to be a success even through the “Footloose” experience and all the while Dave and John started to learn the ins and outs of managing multiple locations. After going through those growing pains they were then ready to expand even further and in January of 1999 they purchased the former Pelican Bay Restaurant on Route 20 in Marlborough. The layout and type of location was different than that of Dedham and Watertown as the dining room was separate from the bar area thus presenting different challenges. Over time it evolved into a “Halfway” and became part of the family.

Opportunity knocked again and in March of 2005 the Halfway Cafe in Cobb’s Corner in Canton, at the site of the former Bordwin & Sons Restaurant was opened. This would be the largest location to date (2,500 sq ft) with an outside patio in a mall location.

At this point, with four locations and over one hundred employees, Dave and John decided that the plan would be to add two to three more locations over the next five years. The next location that crossed their desk was D’Anns on Route 37 in Holbrook in August of 2006. This would be the greatest challenge yet with a restaurant of almost six thousand square feet and in need of an extensive Halfway makeover. Prior to the takeover, David became ill and was unable to take his customary role as “Halfway Makeover Guru” In an unbelievable tribute to him, everyone throughout the company rose to the challenge and in a sign of company wide solidarity filled the massive void and as a result business ran smoother than usual. As a result, the Holbrook location opened up on schedule and was the easiest opening of any of the Halfway locations. David passed on November 27, 2006 and with him went a large part of who we are. However, the beliefs that he held will always be part of what we do every day.

David believed that the Halfway Cafe is about its people. People don’t work for the Halfway Cafe… People work with the Halfway Cafe. Once people prove themselves and work their way into the Halfway family… They are part of our family. A person’s individuality is respected however, that individual accepts the reality of “the machine is bigger than any of its parts.” In trying to keep it simple as possible the thought process of “Know your role and perform your job because we all are accountable is practiced daily.” It’s not always perfect and it can be dysfunctional like any family but all family members bleed Halfway Green. There is a tremendous amount of pride that there are almost twenty five members of our family who have been working with us for over five years. There are almost ten who have been with us for ten years and there are two individuals, Sean Finn and Tom Taylor who have been with the Halfway from Day One… seventeen years plus years!! We have our system; however, we try to let our people be themselves within the system. As long as the job gets done correctly and our guests leave happy, let people be people.

As a result of an outstanding staff made up of tremendous people, the Halfway Cafe has been cited for numerous awards over the years. Among them have been multiple Phantom Gourmet Great 8 Awards, Boston Globe Cheap Eats, Calendar Magazine Awards, multiple Community Newspaper Readers Choice Awards and finally Channel 7’s Cheap Eats Award.

A belief also embedded in the Halfway philosophy is being an active member of the community. Over the seventeen years the various Halfway locations have raised and donated over $250,000 to local charities. It is a belief that we should give something back to the communities that we service.

As David always would say… “Our guests can get a cold beer and a burger at many places. It’s all about quality and the people who serve it.”

That is always what the Halfway Cafe will always be about…