Julian's
in
the news
OBSERVER-REPORTER
Newspaper
February 12, 2002
BY CORTNEY
BRYANT
FOR THE OBSERVER-REPORTER
When life
didn't go as planned, Joseph Pintola took a hobby and created a new
career.
Twenty five
years ago, like many Pennsylvanians, Pintola was laid off from a local
steel mill.
Pintola had
always loved to cook. While he was working at the steel mill, cooking
was only a hobby. Now, he needed a new career. He decided to open a
small tavern that served food.
His Mexican
dishes were the most popular, so he opened Hungry Jose's, a local
restaurant specializing in Mexican cuisine. The name incorporated his
nickname - Jose.
At the time,
there were no Mexican restaurants in the area, so Pintola seized the
opening in the market.
As demand for
his food increased, he began offering catering services. Eventually, he
opened Julian's Catering and Banquet Facility, which is named for his
son. This allowed him to provide onsite and offsite catering.
Pintola's
company provides a variety of services. He provides the food and also
the facility for events such as weddings and office luncheons and
parties.
"Food
service is the second largest employer in the state of
Pennsylvania," Pintola said. Therefore, there are plenty of
employment opportunities from waiter to caterer to chef.
Catering is
not a 9-to-5 job. Caterers must work unusual hours. Pintola works
whenever the clients are holding their events. Many times, that includes
evenings and weekends.
There are
also many benefits to being a successful caterer, such as getting to eat
really good food.
Pintola
points out that many entrepreneurs who enter the food service industry
as catering service or restaurant owners expect things to happen
quickly. They spend large sums of money to expand their businesses.
Pintola sees this as the main reason so many food service companies go
out of business.
Pintola has
avoided this pitfall by slowly expanding his businesses. It has taken
him 25 years to get where he is today.
Flexibility
is also key.
Referring to
his restaurant, Pintola said, "If Mexican food hadn't worked, I
would have tried Italian." He handles most of the catering and chef
duties and only enlists the help of his staff for large jobs.
"If you
do it yourself then you know it is done right since no one knows how to
do things the way you like it better than you," Pintola said.
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