Yum Yum, Tommy Boys to share building
Several Waynesburg businesses will be relocating in the coming months. The building containing Tommy Boys Tavern will soon host more than one institution, as Yum Yum Tasty Diner has worked out a lease deal to share the building with the bar.
Yum Yum is currently operating in Central Plaza just off Roy E. Furman Highway and will move across the street to its rear to join Tommy Boys.
The move is one that excites Yum Yum owner Annette Phillip, who said she’s ready for the change.
The change comes five months after Phillip, who also leased the restaurant’s current building, received word that the land her restaurant sits on was purchased by Sheetz, which is right next door to the diner. Phillip wasn’t initially sure if Sheetz would buy the land when she agreed to lease her current building, but always considered it to be a route for the gas station.
“You know how Waynesburg is, there is always talk, but I knew that was an option,” said Phillip. “About five months ago, I got the word [that Sheetz bought the land].”
Finding a building in Waynesburg became a priority for Phillip, who has been in the restaurant business since she was 17 years old and is currently living her dream of owning her own business. Phillip said she initially wanted to buy, but finding a building that could accommodate a restaurant was hard for her to do. That’s when the owner of Tommy Boys made Phillip a lease offer.
“Out of the blue, the owner of Tommy Boys asked me to call him,” said Phillip.
Phillip says her customers are excited about the transition to the new building. Manager of Tommy Boys Lida Orbash said the lease offer was made because Yum Yum was looking for a place to continue their business.
“I think they were looking for a place to do it,” said Orbash, “and we just don’t utilize our kitchen equipment during the day.”
As it is now, the bar opens at 3 p.m, explained Orbash, and the kitchen itself does not open until 4 p.m. After the shift, while the bar is shut down, Yum Yum will be open in the building on its own. Then, when the bar opens, Phillip will continue to handle the food until 10 p.m., keeping both Yum Yum’s and Tommy Boys’ food options available at various points in the day. Orbash said Tommy Boys will still have all the food it is known for.
“We will have our steak night, our wing night, like we do now,” said Orbash. “It will be the same food you normally get at Tommy Boys, and the same food you normally get at Yum Yum.”
Both businesses are looking forward to the opportunity to share customers.
“I’ll have an excellent supper clientele, and I’ll keep most of my patrons from Yum Yum,” said Phillip.
Phillip plans to open in the new building by March 1, 2017. Operating hours will be extended and run from 5 a.m.-10 p.m, eliminating the restaurant’s previous closing time of 2 p.m. Tommy Boys will stay open until 2 a.m. after the diner is officially closed. Both Phillip and Orbash are looking forward to the opportunity to work with each other.
“It’s in the hands of the attorneys to put together the lease agreement, we are just waiting on that,” said Orbash. “I hope it works out for both of us.”