The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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  • Customers packed the bar Wednesday, the last day for The Wave Restaurant in downtown Sharon. The owners have said they're looking for a new location

    Last supper at The Wave
April 1, 2010

Regulars fill Wave for its last supper

Iconic downtown restaurant closes

By Monica Pryts Herald staff

SHARON —

Memories along with drinks and wedding soup were flowing Wednesday evening at The Wave Restaurant as a growing crowd gathered for the business’ last night in downtown Sharon.

Regulars filled the downstairs bar while people waited for tables upstairs in the Ripple Room of the familiar restaurant that’s been at 177 E. State St. since 1947.

Anyone using the side entrance walked past a sign that seemed to summarize the conversations people were having about their good times at The Wave: “Enter as strangers, leave as friends.”

“I met my husband here,” said Roberta Orben of Hermitage of her late husband of nearly 20 years, Butch.

She was sitting at the bar with friends, reliving old memories and wondering what the new restaurant will be like. The restaurant’s owners say they plan to reopen in  a new location but have been tight-lipped about when and where The Wave is moving.

“I don’t know what to say except it’s sad,” Mrs. Orben said of the end of the downtown Sharon location.

There have been so many friends, so many happy hours and of course so much good food, which she said she’ll miss during the restaurant’s temporary hiatus.

A few bar stools down, Elaine Simonik of Hermitage remembered all of the family gatherings she’s had at The Wave. They came every New Year’s for many years and she said she hopes the new place opens soon.

Jeff Carine of Hermitage said he’s been coming to The Wave since 1969 and he recalled how the restaurant’s family patriarch, the late Domenic Arena, greeted all of the customers and Angelina Arena’s wonderful cooking.

“I used to eat here five days a week,” said Carine, who owns Carine & Co., Sharon.

The Wave has always had the “best Italian food in the area” like fried haddock, scampi, wedding soup, greens and stuffed hot peppers, he said.

Carine is sad the restaurant is leaving Sharon and said the new place “won’t feel the same,” but he plans to check it out when the time comes.

Gail Hall of Sharon, who’s worked almost every job at The Wave for the last 30 years, also said everyone is sad, but she remembered the good times working Friday and Saturday nights with what she called “one big family.”

“We always had a lot of fun,” she said.

She hopes for the best for the restaurant’s future and urges customers to visit the new location.

Upstairs, Habitat for Humanity was selling raffle tickets for door prizes while a line for tables started to form on the staircase, with Andrew Mudrinich taking it all in.

Mudrinich, who would only say he “has an interest” in the restaurant, said people keep telling him they’re sorry to see it go, especially the food.

The Arena family gets all the credit for that, especially Bob Arena, a trained chef who’s had a heavy hand in the menu. The soups have a certain seasoning and the Chicken Angelina a certain flavor that’s unique to The Wave, he said.

“It’s the result of their family traditions. That’s what people are going to miss,” Mudrinich said of the restaurant’s heritage.

The Wave is one of the area’s oldest restaurants rooted in such traditions, which is why Mudrinich became involved with the business.

When asked about the restaurant’s closing, he said the economic environment of Sharon has been negative enough that it couldn’t be overcome by The Wave’s positive reputation.

The location is no longer conducive to support a profitable business, even though former Sharon Bob Lucas did all he could to help The Wave, Mudrinich said.

The Wave will continue offering quality food through catering while the owners look “very ardently” for a new location better suited for change, which the restaurant and its customers will have to adapt to, he said.

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