Sioux City's favorite restaurants are a 'family affair'

That's a saying displayed prominently on the wall of the dining room at Sneaky's, an iconic Sioux City restaurant that (naturally) serves chicken, ribs and other down-home favorites.

If you ask Dave Ferris, at least two generations of Sioux Cityans have been coming for broasted chicken and barbecue ribs at the Gordon Drive eatery he and brother Rick founded in 1979.

"It's something that happens every day," Ferris said. "A person coming back into town after a long absence will always head over to Sneaky's.

"That person wants to know 1) if we are still here and 2) if our chicken's just as good as he remembered it being?" Ferris adds with a grin. "Obviously, the answer to both questions is yes."

In fact, Sneaky's is one of a handful of Sioux City restaurants that have stood the test of time by dishing up decades of memorable cuisine.

"Guys may have come to Sneaky's after their high school football game," Ferris said. "Now, they're coming in with their own kids."

"Let me tell ya, chain restaurants don't inspire the sort of loyalty locally owned places do," he said while getting ready for a noon-day rush. "We love seeing our regulars and our regulars have been loyal to us."

Yet with 33 years of operation, Sneaky's is a comparative newcomer when compared to El Fredo Pizza's, which first opened shop on Sioux City's Court Street in 1957.

"The secret to our success is our sauce," El Fredo owner John Lennon said of the zesty tomato sauce his dad Fred created more than 55 years ago.

Legend has it that the sauce El Fredo's uses had its origins in Italy and introduced in Sioux City by Baxter's Pizza -- though to have been the first area restaurant to specialize in pizza.

After Baxter's Pizza closed it doors in the late 1950s due to the stroke of its owner, the restaurant's head cook moved onto El Fredo's, taking the sauce with him.

"(The sauce) is why people come back year after year," he said simply. "It's also the taste people crave when they move away from Sioux City."

It's also what kept the family-owned pizzeria afloat in good times -- when El Fredo boasted three locations -- and when pizza competition forced it to close the Court Street and Morningside locations.

Currently, its West 19th and Center location -- founded in 1971 -- is El Fredo's sole sit-down restaurant.

According to Lennon, pizzas weren't so prominent when his dad began making big pies in the mid 1950s.

"Pizza didn't become an 'acceptable' food until years later," he admitted. "Yet people began to love ''em because pizza became a social food that you shared with your friends and your families."

Much like Sneaky's Ferris, Lennon has seen his fair share of multiple generations of El Fredo diners.

"I remember seeing people coming in as kids and now, they're coming in with their grandchildren," he said with a sigh. "That's a good feeling."

Having said that, very few Sioux City eateries can match the longevity of Green Gables, a landmark 18th and Pierce Street restaurant that opened around the time of the Great Depression.

"My grandfather (Albert Seff) began the Green Gables on Sept. 28, 1929," Jennifer Vollmer, the third generation owner of the restaurant, said with a shrug. "This wasn't a great time to set up shop but we've been making a go of it for the past 83 years."

Perusing its menu, time looks as if its stood in time at the Green Gables.

Modern-day diners can still sample the same soda fountain desserts as their grandparents once did. 

As for main course, the restaurant still serves up such Green Gables favorites as the Reuben, the Amsterdam (a Reuben plus slabs of deli-fresh salami) and, to Vollmer's dismay, liver and onions.

"I had some young people order liver and onions off our menu the other day," she said, scrunching up her nose. "I may think it's disgusting but people still like it."

Which is why Vollmer has kept her family's restaurant very similar to the way many will remember it.

"In one word, it's 'nostalgia,'" she said. "Whether it was after a high school sporting event or a first date, people consider the Green Gables as an important place in their lives."

This is also the reason why customers frequently turn up at the "Gables" for wedding anniversaries and, sometimes, for family funerals.

"We don't like thinking about it but when a restaurant has served three or four generations of families, that is perhaps inevitable," Vollmer noted.

Yet, Green Gables wouldn't still be in operation if it wasn't for quality food, which Vollmer insists is still being made "the old-fashioned way."

"We still boil our chickens every night and make our all of our soups from scratch," she said. "Not too many chains can say that."

In addition, not too many chain restaurants can say they have such hard-to-find foods as the aforementioned liver and onions or matzo ball soup (a Green Gable mainstay) on its regular menu.

"We keep 'em on our menu because people still order 'em," Vollmer said, still shivering at the thought of cooked livers. "You can't get that anyplace else."

But she said the customer is always right, which is a sentiment shared by El Fredo's Lennon.

"When I was younger, I used to bristle at customer complaints," he admitted. "Now, I know I learn from such criticisms."

Sitting on a stool inside his restaurant's bar, Lennon continued, "People have high expectations when they come to El Fredo. I not only want to meet those expectations, I want to exceed them."

This is how any small business is able to succeed decade after decade, he said.

"The satisfaction of seeing a smiling customer makes all of the hard work worthwhile," he said.

That's also a lesson Sneaky's Ferris learned from his parents (also Sioux City restauranteurs) and one he wishes to pass on to his daughter Christy Wright (who currently manages its Sioux City location).

"The restaurant business is a hard life," he allows. "Running one means it takes precedent over your family, holidays, whatever."

"Still, it means a lot when people say they love your chicken better than anyone else's or the blue cheese dressing that you got from your mom's recipe is the best they've ever had," he added.

Ferris reflected for a moment.

"You don't get that feeling from any chain restaurant," he said. "When you work a small restaurant, you feel like you're cooking for family."