ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604300037
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
When two recently announced motels are built off Interstate 81 near the Dublin Comfort Inn, customers will have a place to eat on the premises.
That was one reason Debbie and Sam Shatila bought and have opened their own restaurant adjacent to the Comfort Inn in the building that was once home to the Bonfire and Johnny Appleseed restaurants.
They've renamed it the Bonfire Grill, although it is no longer part of the Bonfire company that operates restaurants in Bristol and Abingdon.
The new motels planned for the site as well as ongoing industrial and commercial development in Dublin encouraged the Shatilas that they could make the restaurant a successful venture.
Last fall, Debbie Shatila and her husband looked at Lexington, Harrisonburg and Dublin as places where they might operate a restaurant after moving to Virginia from Georgia.
"And this won out," Shatila said. "This is really one of the most beautiful places in the country."
She liked the location as a growing area, with the nearby Volvo-GM Heavy Truck Corp. plant expanding, the Dublin Town Center being planned nearby, a new First National Bank of Christiansburg branch going up, and construction on two adjoining motels getting started soon.
"We did know that the Hampton Inn was coming in," Shatila said. "But we didn't know about the Microtel. ... I think the hotel business is going to be a plus for us."
The restaurant, which offers table service, draws from interstate traffic, area motel guests and local businesses for its customers, Shatila said.
To serve their business and tourism clientele and increase their revenue, the couple is applying for an ABC license. If the couple gets the license, the restaurant will become the Bonfire Grill & Spirits, Debbie Shatila says.
In any case, the word is spreading that the place is open under new management. It is open for dinner only from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, with plans to add lunch hours next.
"We want to go kind of slowly. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves," said Shatila, who is the outside manager while her husband and their son, James, handle food preparation.
"This is a family-run business," Debbie said. "Right now we have about 17 employees ... and we will be hiring more."
Sam Shatila has worked in hospitality for years. Debbie's main background is in sales, but she has had experience in the food and beverage business.
Last fall, she said, she and her husband looked at Lexington, Harrisonburg and Dublin as places where they might operate a restaurant. They had come to Virginia from Georgia.
"And this won out," she said. "This is really one of the most beautiful places in the country."
She also saw its location as a growing area, with the nearby Volvo-GM Heavy Truck Corp. plant expanding, the Dublin Town Center being planned nearby, a new First National Bank of Christiansburg branch going up, and construction on two adjoining motels getting started soon.
"We did know that the Hampden Inn was coming in," Debbie said. "But we didn't know about the Microtel ... I think the hotel business is going to be a plus for us."
The menu offers steaks, chicken, seafood, pasta and barbecue ribs, mostly priced under $10, and a variety of burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads. It will change as customers' preferences become obvious, she said.
"We want to be evolving," she said. "We want to try some new trends, and yet we don't want to be totally trendy. ... We hope to attract people of all ages here, but we're not gearing to any one particular segment."
The restaurant first opened as the Johnny Appleseed Restaurant and operated for five years before closing in mid-1991. Next came Emily's Virginia Restaurant, which gave way at the end of 1993 to the Bonfire Restaurant, which also ended up closing.
Debbie Shatila has been working to beautify the inside of the restaurant as well, by displaying and offering for sale the work of local artisans. There will be artwork from the Casimir Co. in downtown Pulaski, stained glass by Edna Love and her son, and antiques from other shops.
"What we're trying to do is provide some advertising for some of the shops here," Debbie said. "It's good for me, and it's good for the local shop owners."
The restaurant also offers catering and has banquet facilities that can seat up to 100 people.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PAUL DELLINGER/Staff. Debbie and Sam Shatila have boughtby CNBand opened their own restaurant adjacent to the Comfort Inn in
Dublin. color.