Family Tradition Restaurant
Harrisville, PA
Casual Dining

Left to Right:  Tracy Choppi, VP of Sales for The Broaster Company; Dave and Carolyn Carr, Owners of Family Tradition, and Lynn and Chuck Griffiths of CJS Sales. 

The Broaster Company, a leading manufacturer and supplier of foodservice equipment, fresh and frozen foods, and branded food programs, presented the Family Tradition restaurant in Harrisville, PA, with its Golden Chicken Award in a ceremony held at the restaurant.  The Golden Chicken award is presented by The Broaster Company to a select number of foodservice operators across the country that have shown exemplary merchandising skills in the promotion and sale of Genuine Broaster Chicken®, the company’s signature product.

Family Tradition, located at 531 South Main Street in Harrisville, is owned by Dave and Carolyn Carr, who established the business in 1985.  While Dave and Carolyn are very much hands-on owners, Carolyn's son, Jeff Kelly, now manages the restaurant, as well.  The locally well-known restaurant seats 137 patrons and is growing steadily. 

Family Tradition’s association with Broaster products began in 1999 when Chuck and Lynn Griffiths of CJS Sales in New Castle, PA, the authorized Broaster distributor in western Pennsylvania and the surrounding Tri-State area, introduced Dave Carr to Genuine Broaster Chicken®.  Chuck and Lynn thought it would be a wonderful fit for the area and a terrific item for Family Tradition to add to their menu.  After sampling this moist, juicy, and flavorful product, the Carr’s knew they had to have it in their restaurant; however, it took some time to coordinate the necessary space in the facility’s kitchen.  In January 2001, everyone’s persistence paid off and it was added to the Family Tradition menu with great success.

“It’s a great recipe and a true moneymaker for our business,” says Dave Carr.  “Customers continue to rave that it’s the best chicken they’ve ever had, and not only do they repeatedly order it when they eat inside, many customers also order it to go.  It’s becoming more and more common for us to receive orders for between 300 and 500 pieces for parties, weddings, and other family gatherings.  In fact, tonight we are preparing a 300-piece order to go,” he adds.

The Carrs also liked the fact that there are no franchise fees involved for this nationally branded product and that the business can maintain its own identity.  Plus, Family Tradition has not had to do a lot of advertising as the news of their great tasting chicken spreads quickly through word of mouth.

Family Tradition serves Genuine Broaster Chicken® and Broaster® chicken wings, both of which are a huge part of the restaurant’s overall volume.  In fact, to keep up with demand, Dave added a second Broaster® pressure fryer in June.  This time he ordered Broaster’s largest unit, the Model 2400, which is able to cook up to 64 pieces of chicken in just 9-1/2 minutes.  Partnered with their existing Model 1800 Broaster® pressure fryer, which can handle up to 40 pieces per load, Family Tradition can now easily kick out over 100 pieces of fresh hot chicken in less than 10 minutes!

With the delicious foods they offer, as recognized by their regular patrons, and now formally by The Broaster Company, the future is bright for this friendly, small town favorite.

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