Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 9, 1993 TAG: 9304090273
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
VENDING-MACHINE IDEA GREW INTO PULASKI EATERY
Pulaski's newest downtown restaurant was originally supposed to serve all its meals from vending machines."And the idea slowly grew," said Brian Bishop, one of the owners.
Daynell's Delite grew to include a deli, a variety of sandwiches, homemade soups, a half-dozen flavors of ice cream, sundaes, hot-fudge cakes, milkshakes, breakfast specialties and more.
Teresa Wheeler is its manager, and one of its seven employees. "I've always enjoyed cooking and working with the public," said Wheeler, 32.
Daynell's Inc., which owns the restaurant, is a contraction of the names of Dave and Gaynelle Spangler. Bishop is Gaynelle Spangler's son. Dave Spangler also is president of Jefferson Mills in Pulaski.
"One thing led to another," Dave Spangler said, recalling how the project grew from vending machines to a restaurant. Downtown Pulaski has been short of restaurants since the closings of The Renaissance and Piccadilly Circus.
Roscoe Cox, director of the Pulaski Main Street program, had lamented the lack of a restaurant. "So we really did this for Roscoe," Spangler joked. "We did do it to some extent for Pulaski Main Street. That's correct," he added.
"I never had any intentions of developing it into a restaurant," he said. "We don't have any expertise in that area. We're fast learners."
He said the main thing they learned was to hire a competent manager - Wheeler - and let her work. Wheeler had known the Spanglers and been in restaurant work before.
When she finishes a day at Daynell's Delite, she goes home to a husband and two sons, where she usually has to prepare yet another meal.
"Well, we eat out a lot," she said.
Daynell's Delite on Pulaski's Main Street is open from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. Weekend hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, although that could change.
One change about to happen is a switch from paper plates and plastic utensils to real plates and silverware, because the restaurant now has a dishwasher.