An iconic eatery in downtown Chatham is celebrating a milestone this week.
The Satellite Restaurant has turned 60 and is celebrating with customers, employees, and former employees.
The restaurant said it will be having daily draws and samples of their famous Hawaiian pizza and all previous staff were invited to a special party on Thursday evening to share some memories.
The current owner is George Tsirimbis, who has been the owner since 1976. George's youngest son, Chris, said his fondest memory is growing up around family at the restaurant.
"It was always a family restaurant. You'd come here and see a manager working that was part of the family, you'd see Dad, you'd see cousins working here. We were all of this place growing up," said Chris.
Chris said the family doesn't see any reason to change its traditional family restaurant vibe.
"Stay true to the roots and keep it a nice traditional family-style restaurant. Seems like those are a dime a dozen. Franchises take over, but the family restaurant will always be there," he said.
Chris said the restaurant has always had loyal customers and he considers them and the staff part of the family.
"We have a lot of loyal customers that come here almost every day. We've grown up knowing a lot of them. Lois that used to come here every single day, she used to sit beside the booth where the family always sat and we always talked to her every day until she passed away and we still have customers like that to this day," Chris said.
George said he misses the old days because they were much simpler. George said he's ready to retire soon and his son Chris will take over the business.
The Satellite Restaurant has also donated $10,000 to the Chatham-Kent Hospice.