The OLD MAN RIVER STORY Charles Miano was 34 and thought he was to old for rock and roll! He loved hanging around the kitchens as he traveled the country entertaining and loved to cook so in 1978 when Chuck/s band “The New Era” broke up, he asked his brother Sam Miano to partner- the crazy idea, to turn a tiny corner Sub-shop on the Niagara River in his home town Tonawanda into the perfect hot dog stand. Old Man River was originally going to be a little clam bar and hot dog stand. For the first year or two it was, but soon many more people started to come. This gave the Miano’s more confidence to create new, fun dishes to put on the menu. Chuck always loved New England, and he incorporated things he saw on the road into the decor and theme of Old Man River. The restaurant received national and international attention for some of its creations: Old Man River introduced Sweet Potato French Fries to western new york when it first opened back in 1978 and the Bunny Dog (An entire grilled carrot on a hot dog bun), made it into the national mag. Vegetarian News. The Ollie ” sandwich garnered the attention of Newsweek, Time magazine, Stars and Stripes, Washington Post and even Paul Harvey. Chuck and Sam’s photo featuring the boys holding their creation, a Beef and Balogna sandwich which was named after Oliver North, a newsmaker of the day, received international media attention. It began as little more than a shack but each year as business got better the restaurant added more. For example, one year it built a 17th century sailing vessel with full sails, and rigging, in the parking lot, for customers to dine on while listening to the sound of the waves smashing into the hull. The ship was named the “Samanchuk” of course. In one particular summer, their seafood supplier claimed he delivered OMR more whole live lobsters than the local Red Lobster restaurant. The restaurant was voted one of the top 20 restaurants in western New York by the Buffalo News year after year usually doing 80% of their business in the months from March to October. Chuck was in charge of the decor, most of the menu and theme at the restaurant. Sam Miano handled the staff, hiring, and training of the staff as well as the equipment. What began with Sam, Chuck, and their wives working the grill, grew into a famous 78 employee icon. One of the ideas which solidified their popularity and endeared Old Man River to the lines and lines of people they served was: The Fallserator.” It was a flying machine, made from wine barrels and a wood canoe amongst other things. Supposedly created by Old Man River and Sully (The Restaurant’s mascots), it was designed to fly over the edge of Niagara falls, but which really housed cash registers and 2 Cashiers, who yelled the orders into an old funnel connected to a vacuum cleaner hose. Which somehow, miraculously, made it to the cooking crew, which gleefully prepared the viddles. The background music was from 1950 and older. Just before the rock and roll era. It was perfect. The tables were those old porcelain top kitchen tables from the same era. Many fans of the restaurant donated them to OMR since they still were in many folks basements. Family Affair Sam came up with the now famous name. He suggested “Old Man Rivers”. Chuck said, “How about “Old Man River?” The layout of the place was handled by Sam including such necessities as the design of the charcoal grill, The fryers, the refrigeration, etc.. It was important to know exactly how far the flames should be from the hotdog and what is the perfect oil for frying rings and sweets and taters and frickles? He was the key to finding good crewmembers too. Sam would visit the local high schools and conduct a class on “How to get a summer job.” Usually that did the trick. He always found the cream of the crop of the youngsters that applied. Chuck’s son David created the restaurant mascots. “Old man River” is a skinny ship captain, who loved to sail the Great Lakes and loved gadgets. The place was full of them, hanging precariously from every nook and cranny in the place. “Sully”, the lovable, chubby, short, sidekick always added his two cents to the many Radio and Television Commercials, which chuck wrote. Of course every good Restaurant needs a jingle, so one day he wrote a catchy tune, which his then 12 year old Daughter Stephanie, recorded. It was used, through out the years, on Radio, and Television. Chucks Son David was the voice of Sully, and Chuck was the voice of Old man River. The tee shirt art changed every season with Charlie Miano, Chucks youngest son handling the designs. Sam and Chucks kids grew up working the line and eventually became managers of course. Sam’s son Tony ran the original location with David. Trey, Sam’s youngest, was a hard worker too. He also was instrumental in organizing and building the floatation devise for the “Yagotta Regatta”, a Western New York festival put on by a radio station which drew thousands to the Niagara River. They would take the huge whale, which was perched on the roof and plop it on pontoons. Securing it with lots of ropes. When it was their turn the whole staff would help put it in the river at the entry point and swim with it to the finish line down river. It was a ton of work but well worth the effort. It was one of the best advertising programs they ever did. The whale was named “Dopey Mick”. Trey also came to manage one of the restaurants as he matured. Charlie is now the director of the Southern Atelier, an art school in Sarasota Florida. David is teaching ancient history in San Diego. Trey and Tony are still in the food service industry. Of course the wives did more than any body and were instrumental in the success of the place. Margie, Chuck’s wife, did the bookkeeping and JoAnne, Sam’s, baked the famous omr chocolate chip and walnut cookies, worked ice cream and did just about everything we needed done. Our Crew: Put simply, there would be no Old Man River if not for each and every crewmembers hard work. They are the ones that made the place operate. They expressed Sam and Chuck’s core principles to all with wonderful enthusiasm and perspiration. We are proud to say our crewmembers were of the highest caliber. Many have gone on to successful careers on their own. We hope we had a small part in that. One employee, over the years of the many, many, stands out from the rest. She lived a few blocks from OMR and worked there for 20 years. She ran the kitchen, made the soups, roasted the chicken breasts, made the tartar sauce, made the potato salad, cut the coleslaw, And so it goes. She did it all and without complaining most of the time. Her name is Beverly Browning. She is the best. We all loved her and miss her. She was family to us. She still lives on Clinton Street and loves to reminisce. The Competition It was just down the street- Mississippi Muds. It opened a few years after OMR’s success. Imitation is said to be the best form of flattery. Mudds flattered a lot. It appears they copied or shall we say “flattered” many of the original menu and design ideas of Chuck and Sam, which sometimes upset the boys. Even the name was a “take” since Old Man River was a song about the Mississippi. OMR loved and deeply appreciated the community support over the years though the boys occasionally felt that some of Tonawandas’ politicians over time showed favoritism to Mudds. One example is: both restaurants are located on the Niagara river. Both are on corners. Both had traffic stops and crossing markers to the park right across the street. One year the city removed the traffic light, and entrance to the park at the old man river corner, and installed, new parking spaces, and restrooms directly in front of Mudds. Of course that was without notificaton whatsoever with the boys. Since the Miano Family was born and raised in Tonawanda, and the Mud folks weren’t, it was disappointing to say the least. The Folk Art The restaurant concept was a total rejection of the modern, fast-food cinderblock and plastic places. More than anything else it could be described as “real.” The Ice Cream Shed, a former guard shack, was trucked in from the historic Wurlitzer Organ plant. After getting your cone you’d slide down to the VW bug which was mounted into the side of the shed. The cashier, whose head was eye to eye with the customers, sat in what would have been the back seat. The railings that guided the long lines of ice creamers was fabricated from hundreds of galvanized pipe fittings. It was a Rube Goldburg creation with twists and turns that all somehow fit together thanks to local plumber Yogi Burg. All the signs at OMR were hand painted. Many by ? No plastic embossed lettering was allowed on premises. The main sign out front was the type typical of those of the past. Not a backlite vinyl monstrosity but a handpainted over planking hanging sign more reminiscent of an inn in New England. Real canvas awnings rather than vinyl, colorful umbrellas, brightly painted handmade picnic tables, picket fence, lots of flowers and of course Mopey Dick the whale on the real shake shingled roof and the “Sam&Chuck” sailing ship docked on the side. OMR was honored to be chosen as an outstanding example of Folk Art in Western New York with it’s images preserved in the permanent collection of the Burchfield Society Gallery at the State University at Buffalo. Of course not all were impressed. Who could ever forget the immortal words of the city building inspector commenting on the “Plumbers Nightmare” pipe railing, He exclaimed, why don’t you get rid of some of this Sh**! The Food OMR became famous because of the quality of the food pure and simple. The décor helped but the creative, unique menu was the mainstay. Some of the unusual food choices that they introduced were: The Bunny Dog A whole grilled carrot served on a hot dog roll with your choice of condiments. It made the National Vegetarian News and other print publications. Sweet Potato Fries Old Man River introduced them way back in 1978. They served them with a plop of brown sugar sweetened whipped butter on top. The Sweet Potatoes came from Louisiana and they would cut 3 garbage cans full of them a day. They were delicious. (Mudd’s recently said they invented them. Not true.) What made these so good was the cut. OMR had special dyes made for the custom size cut of their french fry and sweet potato fry. No one else in the area had it. The Old Man River Hot Dog Most hotdog stands in Buffalo served the Sahlen hotdog. It was the dog of dogs for many years. Since the boys liked to be different they chose different brands of locally produced wieners that were better tasting in their opinion. Eventually they stuck with the best of the best, The Wardynski hotdog. The secret of a good wiener amongst other things for charcoal roasting, is that it be made with a natural casing. Originally the Sahlen wiener had a natural casing but in the last several years in order to cut costs they switched to a collagen casing wiener. W.N.Yers don’t know it but that’s what they’re eating now at that other famous hot dog stand. Since the fake casing doesn’t let the filling smoke as well when it is run through the smoke house at the plant, it just doesn’t make it flavor wise. To compensate for the flavor loss they added more salt. Chuck and Sam continued to serve the natural casing Wardynski hotdog right up until they sold the place. (Another identifying mark of a man-made casing wiener is its “machined uniformity.” Good for portion control, bad for authenticity) Other Stuff that made for success: OMR used real crabmeat in their Seafood Salad Pocket. OMR cut their fries from fresh potatoes rather than pulling them from the freezer. OMR made their potato salad fresh rather than buying it bulk from the purveyor. OMR made the salad dressings OMR made the tartar sauce OMR breaded their own onion rings OMR kept the little packets of who-knows-what out of the restaurant OMR was the first fast fooder to serve a large variety of carbonated beverages and bottled drinks. OMR was the first fast fooder to feature healthy choices like the veggie burger, the bunny dog, the veggie burrito and the bison burger. Occasonally even Ostrich! Though Chuck and Sam sold the restaurant in 99, it continues to operate on the same corner they began. The new owners have changed things to their tastes so sadly most of what made OMR famous is gone. If you can think of some of the other things we did that set us apart. Tell us!
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 20:19:33 +0000