ASHTABULA – Debbie and Vincent Gildone, of Conneaut, visit Lakeway Restaurant, 729 Lake Ave., at least three times a month; and they have never been disappointed.

“I cannot remember a time that I got anything here that wasn’t good,” Vincent Gildone said, while finishing up his meal recently at Lakeway. “We keep coming back because the food is great, service is excellent and it is always very clean.”

At least once a day, Stephanie Moody, of Ashtabula, makes herself at home at Lakeway’s counter.

“I eat my breakfast here every morning,” Moody said. “I enjoy the friendly atmosphere and visiting with the other people who come in.”

In 1952, Gerri and the late Lawrence “Bruno” DeGeorge had a dream of opening their own restaurant serving all homemade food in a friendly, family atmosphere.

“Bruno always wanted to own his own business, when the property across the street, which was the old Lakeway property, came up for sale we bought it and started the restaurant,” Gerri DeGeorge said.

In 1975, the DeGeorge’s built the present Lakeway Restaurant building, and in 1978, their son Dave, then a new graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde-Park, N. Y., joined his parents as head chef. In 1995, Bruno died, but the restaurant and the dream has continued in the talented hands of Gerri, Dave and their dedicated staff.

“Many times Dad’s advice will come to my mind; his presence is still felt here,” Dave said.

“Our key to our 55-year success is our customers always come first,” Gerri said. “A lot of our customers have special diet needs and we try to accommodate that with a special dietary needs section on the menu.”

“We treat all of our customers with the same friendly courtesy no matter how much or how little they order,” Dave said.

In fact, Lakeway Restaurant is committed to serving healthy, kind-to-the-heart entrees and offer special selections for special diets. Through a consultation with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, The Ashtabula County Medical Center and the American Heart Association, Lakeway has implemented a series of guidelines for their food preparation.

All of the foods are prepared with all-vegetable, no cholesterol cooking oils and margarine. They fry fat-free and add very little salt to their cooking, Dave said.

Another key to our success is we treat our employees like family,” Gerri said. “Some of our employees have been with us for more than 20 and 30 years.”

Tom Kelly has been employed at Lakeway for 34 years and does all of their buying and meat cutting.

“Tom started here as a teen performing general maintenance duties,” Gerri said. “All of our employees are good and dependable; we have always stressed teamwork.”

Tami McCullough has been a waitress at Lakeway for 15 years.

“This is my family away from home and I love the customers,” she said.

“All of our waitresses are very professional and efficient, and Tami is certainly one of our best,” Dave said.

Another key to Lakeway’s success is the excellent product that they serve everyday.

“Everything is homemade fresh. We make our own sauces, grind our own meat, all vegetables are fresh, never canned; and all of our soups are homemade,” Gerri said.

In fact, Gerri creates all of the pies and Dave makes all of the cheesecakes.

Lakeway also features another chef, Michael Pierce, who studied at the Baltimore International Culinary College, Maryland.

Gerri’s signature dish is the lasagna and oyster stew, while Dave’s signature dishes feature pasta.

There are three new pasta dishes on the menu that are sure to tempt the palate by Dave, including the Pasta Puttanesca, Tuscan Chicken and Zesty Bow Ties.

“The Pasta Puttanesca has exciting flavors of Italian sausage, chicken, red peppers, onions, spinach and fresh tomatoes, tossed with penne pasta,” Dave said.

A fun key to Lakeway’s success is tourists love to plan their meal-time stops at Lakeway because travelers want to sit down, relax and enjoy great food at reasonable prices, Gerri said.

“This is absolutely the most fantastic place to come to,” said Karen Sukel, of Washington, Pa., who was traveling with her brother Ed Sukel and his wife Donna.

“The first time we came here, we stopped by accident. When we travel we like to try family restaurants because their aren’t any where we live, just chains,” Karen Sukel said. “We thought this looked clean and there were cars in the parking lot, so we came in and we have been hooked ever since.”

The Sukel’s said sometimes they make the long drive just eat at Lakeway Restaurant.

“I got the cream chicken over biscuits and it was out of this world and I am very particular about my cream chicken,” Ed Sukel said.

“Even the tomato soup, is fabulous,” Donna Sukel said. “Anywhere else it would be called tomato bisque.”

Lakeway Restaurant is more than just a place to eat. The DeGeorge family have watched many families grow up and then bring their own families to their restaurant.

“This restaurant has been our life,” Gerri said.

Call Lakeway for more information at 440-964-7176.