One of the eatery’s famous Rossiburgers. (Photo by Albert Rende.)
Siblings Michael Rossi and Sharon Rossi Jemison stand in front of the long-time Chambersburg home of their business, Rossi’s Bar and Grill Dec. 17, 2013. (Photo by Albert Rende.)
By Jessica Oates
Rossi’s Bar and Grill—the home of the Rossiburger—celebrated its 80th anniversary in November. The restaurant’s 81st year will bring perhaps the largest change in Rossi’s three-generation history.
Located in the Chambersburg section of Trenton for all of its existence, Rossi’s opened in 1933 at 501 Morris Ave. with the grandparents of current owners Michael and Sharon Rossi first opening the doors. But, as part of the 80th anniversary celebration, Rossi’s Bar and Grill has announced its plan to move to a newer and more spacious location in Hamilton Township this spring.
Though Michael Rossi confirmed that the restaurant will be moving to a location that currently has another restaurant in operation, he declined to disclose the name of the establishment destined to be Rossi’s new home for confidential and legal purposes.
“I wouldn’t want to compromise the business that they are doing now,” he said. “People have seen Alan [Meinster] and me visiting lots of different restaurants in Hamilton, and have been making their guesses based on that. I can tell you that it will be one of the ones we visited, but we have seen many locations. It will probably come out sometime in the new year.”
The new restaurant will mark a partnership between Mike Rossi and Alan Meinster, owner of another long-time former Chambersburg eatery, Marsilio’s, and now Marsilio’s Kitchen in Ewing. But Rossi assures everyone that aside from a nice, big parking lot, nothing about Rossi’s will change except the location.
Rossi’s opened in what had once been a candy store in the front and a speakeasy in the back, catering mostly to the neighbors. In 1928, when prohibition was repealed, the candy store was changed into a bar room. It stayed that way until about 1950, eventually developing more of a restaurant focus under the management of Mike Rossi’s father and uncle.
“That’s when we started serving the hamburgers we’re still famous for today,” Rossi said.
Rossi started working at the restaurant in 1971, and has been there ever since. He said the eatery has been in the same location with the same menu all this time, but he’s excited for the upcoming move and partnership.
And the move is for real this time. Rossi chuckled when he thought about all the times the restaurant has been wrongly rumored to be on the move in the past 20 years. He said that though some people seem nervous about visiting Trenton, he doesn’t believe the area is unsafe, which has become the perception of the area as the old businesses close or move from the city.
Though Chambersburg once buzzed with business, many of the Italian restaurants that made the area famous have either closed or changed locations, to be replaced by restaurants owned by the next generation of immigrants to Trenton. Rossi’s will soon be one of the many who have left Trenton in the past two years, including Marsilio’s, Papa’s Pizza, DeLorenzo’s Pizza and DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies.
“In many ways, Chambersburg has become what it was decades ago when my grandparents moved here,” Rossi said. “The Central Americans are doing exactly what the Europeans did in the old days, opening local stores and businesses. It has become a Central American destination.”
Rossi said the real reason for the move is he doesn’t want the Rossi’s brand to fade away with him as he gets older and eventually retires.
“I think the best way to do that is to partner with Alan and bring the restaurant to Hamilton,” Rossi said. “Many of our regular customers are from Hamilton Township and have expressed their excitement that we will soon be in their neighborhood.”
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