DATE: Friday, July 25, 1997                 TAG: 9707230113

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SUSAN W. SMITH, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   81 lines

A TINY GREAT BRIDGE EATERY GRILLING UP GOODIES, CLIENTELE THE GRILL, A 25-SEAT RESTAURANT, WON THREE FIRST-PLACE READERS CHOICE AWARDS FOR BEST IN CHESAPEAKE.

THE SECRET IS OUT on The Grill at Great Bridge, a tiny little restaurant on South Battlefield.

``Of course we always knew,'' admitted owners Ann and Gary Pyle, ``But it's a great feeling so many others agree with us.''

Recently, the Readers' Choice Awards for the Best in Portsmouth and Chesapeake gave the 25-seat restaurant three first-place awards. The Grill at Great Bridge received blue-ribbon recognition for best breakfast, best lunch and best desserts. It also received second-place acclamation as the best-kept secret in Portsmouth and Chesapeake.

``The Grill was a dream, an idea and a long-time pursuit,'' said Gary Pyle, 39, who puts in more than 100 hours a week at the counter, in front of the grill and behind the scenes. ``And now it's an incredible place to be with friends and do what I love. I don't even think of it as work.''

His restaurant training began in Philadelphia when he was about 14 years old on after school and summer jobs in local restaurants and inns.

The couple met as students at Old Dominion University. After they married, she taught English and he helped open and run several busy area restaurants. But over the years, they dreamed about their own place and even checked out various locations.

When a friend referred them to the Battlefield site, Gary Pyle knew the size and location was just right. But his wife's reaction was a little bit different.

``You bought what? Where?'' said Ann Pyle about the former hot dog stand at 388 S. Battlefield Blvd. which needed a major clean-up and paint job.

But with hard work and some assistance from family members, The Grill at Great Bridge opened in July 1993. Several weeks after the opening, Gary Pyle had to make one major adjustment.

He said customers were so accustomed to ordering hot dogs they were not trying specials like smothered chicken with crab meat or country-style pork chops and mashed potatoes. But with a few swipes of ``White Out,'' he deleted hot dogs from the menu and added Philadelphia cheese steak sandwiches made with sliced rib eye steaks and grilled onions.

Now early customers often get waved in before the 6 a.m. official opening time. While she pours the coffee and starts the orders, he slaps the country ham, bacon and sausage on the grill.

Standard fare includes a hearty breakfast of ham, eggs, grits and toasts or specials like French toast or the Mason-Dixon Omelette with diced ham and cream cheese.

For lunch, grilled chicken, turkey or bacon cheese burgers and club sandwiches are regular items. Side dishes like potato salad or coleslaw are homemade. Breakfast and lunch meals cost less than $5. And desserts, at $1.95, are Ann Pyle's area of expertise.

``If someone told me a few years ago, I would have been making cakes and pies for a living, I would have really laughed,'' she said. ``And now I laugh and have fun as I whip up cheesecakes and ice cream pies.''

Her ice cream pies, made from original recipes, are named after local waterways. For example, the Dismal Swamp Mud Pie is chocolate chip ice cream on a chocolate crust topped with chocolate sauce and a layer of nuts. The Southern Branch Mud Pie, one of the most popular requests, is butter pecan ice cream with butterscotch sauce and toffee sprinkles on a graham cracker crust.

The food isn't the only reason customers frequent The Grill.

The owners said people always run into someone they know or used to go to school or work with. And it's not the kind of place you can be by yourself.

``People talk back and forth between the bar stools and the tables and feel free to join in other people's conversation,'' said Gary Pyle. ``We talk about taxes, road work, schools, traffic, and of course, we solve most of those concerns.''

The Pyles said several times some of their customers had even become part-time help. On occasion, they have have rolled up their sleeves to clean tables and even wash dishes.

``At first, I returned several times because of the food,'' said Mark Puster, who stops in several times a week and is a Saturday and Sunday morning regular. ``But now I look forward to the lively conversations, too. When you leave you've had a good meal and a good visit with friends.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN

``The Grill was a dream, an idea and a long-time pursuit,'' said

Gary Pyle, who puts in more than 100 hours a week with his wife,

Ann, at the counter, in front of the grill and behind the scenes.

``. . . I don't even think of it as work.''

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