by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Location is often pointed out as one of the keys to business success, and it was location that brought an area restauranteur back to a familiar place.
Tad’s was known as a place to “meet and eat” when it was located at the corner of Park and Forest streets from the early 1950s to the late 1990s, and many businessmen, attorneys and politicians would visit for quality helpings of both. But in 1997, the State needed some of the property the restaurant was sitting on to widen Forest Street and Tad’s moved. It’s new location is at the intersection of Lane and Hyde Grove avenues, and one of its former owners is now in a new location as well.
“The response has been super,” said Norman Abraham, one of the owners of Two Doors Down. “I never dreamed we would get such a good response. It’s like we were in a time capsule waiting to open back up. It’s good to see old friends comeback.”
Abraham was the last owner of the restaurant when it resided at Park and Forest streets, but now he has a new restaurant two doors down from the former Tad’s location. The new name is, appropriately, Two Doors Down.
Abraham was encouraged to open the business by Walter Ware Sr. of Ware Family Realty, who owns a variety of parcels in the Brooklyn area.
“I was working for Zaxby’s, and I wasn’t going to leave unless it was the right situation,” said Abraham. “The location was the deal sealer, and Walter has been great to work with.”
Abraham took a former Catanese Florist building and converted it into a restaurant that offers counter, table and booth seating. The black wooden chairs, benches and tables give the dining room a casual feel, yet Abraham expects to see plenty of business to be conducted at the new eatery.
“We have a great location near two of the major traffic arteries, I-95 and I-10,” said Abraham. “So we are easy to get to and we are also located near Downtown and businesses like BlueCross BlueShield and Fidelity National Financial.”
Abraham has decades of experience managing restaurants and he understands what is necessary to be successful, so he enlisted the help of “the fastest short-order cook in the City,” his partner Enos “Whitey” White Jr.
“He called me up and asked me if I wanted to work with him in a new restaurant,” said White, who was retired from the restaurant business at the time. “I had done all the fishing and boating I wanted to do and we always get along great, so I decided to work with him.”
Abraham and White are among the nine employees working at Two Doors Down.
The restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday and its menu doesn’t include a single item costing over $9. The busiest days have been Thursdays, Abraham admitted. The daily specials tend to draw customers, and the chicken dumplings and Norman’s Middle-Eastern favorites draw about 200 people on average for Lunch. Abraham makes Arabic dishes himself and believes that is one of the reasons they are so popular.
“What makes it good is that I prepare it fresh that day,” said Abraham. “People know if I am going to do it, it’s going to be done right with the freshest ingredients.”
Some of the Arabic items being served include tabbouleh, a salad with parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions; grape leaves filled with lamb and rice; kibbeh, which is similar to a multilayered meat loaf, or meat or spinach pies.
Other specials include meat loaf, baked chicken, beef tips, country-fried steak, cajun tilapia and grilled chicken.
“It’s fast food, but it’s not fast food,” said Abraham. “It’s good, fresh food that’s served up fast.”
Future plans for the restaurant include patio seating and extended hours to serve people who get off of work and might not want to battle traffic.
356-2466