A longtime Penn Township restaurant is looking for a new owner.
Janet Whirlow operated the eatery at the corner of Route 130 and Harrison City-Export Road for a half century — first as the Dairy Barn ice cream shop and then as Janet’s Restaurant, selling homestyle dishes.
Whirlow, a trailblazer in the local real estate business and a frequent supporter of charitable causes, died in April at 87. Now, longtime friend Jim Minerva is looking for an owner to breathe new life into the restaurant.
The Penn Township restaurant is among a number of recent business developments in Westmoreland County, including a new dog grooming salon in Hempfield.
Janet’s Restaurant
Minerva, 65, of Jeannette started out as Whirlow’s contractor 20 years ago. For the past decade, he helped Whirlow manage the restaurant and several of her real estate properties, including the Penn Heights Mobile Home Park and the district court office in Harrison City. Minerva and another close friend of Janet’s took in her two dogs — Buddy, 10, a dachshund, and Bruno, 12, a Yorkie — following her death.
Janet’s Restaurant sold staples such as hamburgers, hot dogs and homemade soups. But not even Minerva could predict what the daily specials would be. They ranged from chicken croquettes to turkey Devonshire.
“(Janet) would come up with different things to cook,” he said. “People would call in, and all I could tell them was ‘Call back. Whatever Janet feels like cooking tomorrow, that’s gonna be the special.’ ”
In its heyday, the restaurant opened at 7 a.m. and its kitchen closed at 7 p.m., at which time the takeout windows opened to sell ice cream until 11 p.m.
But, as Whirlow got older, the restaurant shifted from her career to a passion project, opening four hours a day from March to November.
The restaurant, located minutes away from Penn Township Municipal Park and Penn-Trafford High School, is listed at $995,000, Minerva said. He estimates 50 buyers have expressed interest in the property, but none has had the financial footing to take it on.
“We just want to see somebody do well here for the community,” Minerva said. “It’s her legacy.”
The Dog Wash Company
Dog grooming is the perfect combination of Courtney McCullough’s two passions: hairdressing and canine care.
McCullough, 46, of Greensburg started out as a hairdresser, earning her cosmetology license in 1999. She worked about five years at a vet clinic before transitioning to dog grooming in 2017.
In October, McCullough opened her own dog grooming business, The Dog Wash Company, in Hempfield’s West Point Plaza.
“I’m just kind of loving this,” she said. “I get to hang out with cute dogs all day.”
The salon offers all of the basic pet grooming services, McCullough said, including bathing, haircuts, deshedding, nail trimming and ear cleaning. McCullough considered other locations but determined West Point Plaza was the most pet-friendly.
“If a dog was leaving here and should happen to get away from their owner, I just didn’t want to be on a major highway,” she said. “We’re tucked back in here, and there’s a lot of parking, so that’s helpful.
“It’s really nice up here. It’s a nice community. Everybody’s super friendly.”