Reminisce caledonia ny1/27/2024 ![]() He’s hosted fundraisers, car cruises, Chili cook-off’s, live bands, and a drive-thru Trick or Treat for Halloween with almost 100 cars full of children. A few phone calls with lots of negotiating and Betty had a new home.Ĭhuck has the interest of the Village of Caledonia at heart. Constantino! He found out that the shop owner was the mother of the chainsaw woodcarver, James Link. Only the owner of “Carvings and More” said she wasn’t for sale. Chuck saw her in an antique shop in Mt Morris, NY, and knew he had to have her. You can’t mention Reminisce without mentioning Betty Boop – the iconic life-sized wood carving in front of the restaurant. There’s Gifford’s ice cream, too, for a real old-fashioned milkshake or sundae. Oh, and the desserts are all homemade, too! His sister, Pat Schichler of Penfield, does all the baking for his restaurant pies, cakes, and cookies. Lots of times prime rib and fresh salmon are offered also. He cooks his own corn beef and has a big smoker/cooker out back to do those irresistible BBQ ribs with a special rub, and pulled pork. This includes his own Alfredo sauce and a 3- generation marinara sauce recipe. He guesstimates that over 80% of his foods are homemade. He put in another phone line, doubled freezer space and fryers! A kind, devoted customer donated and installed the plexiglass between the booths, so that when allowed to open, he was compliant.Ĭhuck Constantino likes to offer homemade items on his menu. At one point, when cars were lined up down the street, he realized that he couldn’t keep up. He also did deliveries and extended his area from a 5-miles to a 10-mile radius. It wasn’t used much initially, but as the pandemic locked us all down, it was more popular. When Covid hit, it became a drive-thru window. He rebuilt the soda fountain, that he had purchased from an antique store in Pennsylvania five years before retiring, to fit the space in the new restaurant.Ĭhuck has had a walk-up ice cream window since opening in June of 2015. Other items are from “Old House Parts” in Rochester. The big ceiling lights are from an old schoolhouse he got from “Rehouse Architectural”. He likes to repurpose and reuse vintage items. They helped pay for some of the improvements to his property.Ĭhuck bought the building and had to gut the whole place. These benefits included being able to apply for and receive Grants for Economic Development for Livingston County. The town actually changed the zoning to include his restaurant so that he could get the benefits of the “downtown” area. He liked the atmosphere of the small town, liked the fact that it was at the intersection of Route 5 and Route 36, and had its own parking area around back. At his present location in Caledonia, there was already a restaurant, but it had been vacant for 2-3 years. Constantino has lived in Rochester all his life, when it came time to look for a location for his own restaurant, he had to venture outside the city. His friends realized his passion about this era and his collections, and they encouraged him to open his own place.Įven though Mr. So, he finished off the attic with his 50’s theme collection including the red and white vinyl seats, plus a real soda fountain. At first, the group met in his dining room, lacking any other suitable place in his home. A group would meet in each other’s man-cave, garage or basement to play cards, talk or just get out for the evening. The idea of opening his own soda fountain came to him after many months of “guy night” with his friends. After 32 years at Kodak, he was too young to retire when, in 2014, they offered a lump sum retirement package, and he felt he had to take it. He never looked back and hasn’t regretted not getting a degree. But, instead, he got hired at Eastman Kodak and the rest, as they say is history. It so inspired him that he started collecting memorabilia from that time period, serving trays, Coke signs, a Coke wall clock, and a Coleman Ginger Ale (“Noted for its Flavor”) sign.Ĭhuck attended MCC after high school with every intention of transferring to the U of R. It was during a cross-country family vacation, when he was 14 years old, that he became aware of the 50’s culture, especially on parts of the classic Route 66 which runs from Chicago to Los Angeles. Amazing Property in Lakeville! 5707 Big Tree RdĬharles Constantino, or Chuck as most people call him, wasn’t born yet so doesn’t remember the 1950’s, but he loves the era none the less.
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