After 73 Years, A Popular Pennsylvania Restaurant, Known For Its 'Poorboy' Sandwich, Is Closing

Just days after Christmas, sad news hit Pennsylvania: the Cadet Restaurant — a Pennsylvanian fixture that's fed families, first dates, and late-night cruisers for over 73 years — is shutting down for good, another casualty in a difficult year for beloved American diners. Famous for its Poorboy sandwich that became synonymous with the place itself over decades of service to the community, the restaurant will close its doors for good on December 31st, with the last order taken at 3 p.m. sharp. But perhaps even more famous than the sandwich was the 30-foot fiberglass statue of cowboy-hatted Big Sam right out the front door, greeting travelers as they came along Route 422 near Kittanning in Manor Township with a huge grin and an equally large burger.

The Robey family, who took stewardship of the restaurant in 2021, announced the decision on the restaurant's official social media over the weekend. "This place means everything to us. It's not just a business, it's been our heart, our home, and our life," the restaurant's Facebook account said. In response, the post received a deluge of comments and hundreds of reactions within hours.

The family hasn't given a reason behind the Cadet Restaurant's closing yet. When you own a place like this, where customers are family, and every meal carries weight, where every brick is a piece of history, it's hard to imagine the sense of grief when they have to make the decision. The family thanked everyone for the memories and the meals, and, from the outpouring of support on the post, it's clear the customers loved them right back.

The restaurant's story began on March 21, 1952, when George Morda opened what he first called The Owl's Nest, then renamed it "Cadet Restaurant" a while later. When it first opened its doors, the restaurant was unlike any other — it was the first drive-in restaurant in the entirety of the tri-state area. The experience of ordering food without ever leaving the car was brand-new, and people flocked from all over to this small restaurant in Kittanning, PA, filling up its speaker-dotted parking lot to try out this spanking-new service.

About a decade after the restaurant opened, the owner bought the 30-foot Sam at a Chicago trade show for about $3,900 (a staggering $41,800 in today's money). The statue is named after a police officer who often patrolled the restaurant's parking lot and, for decades afterward, stood sentinel over the restaurant in his stead. That was until 1990, when a coal truck sent a Ford Bronco right his way. But after 12 years in pieces, thanks to the community's effort to see Sam, which had become a landmark after all these years, standing again, he was restored in 2002.

And just as before, people want to see him saved. Social media exploded with ideas under posts announcing the restaurant's closing. Ideas ranged from keeping him right there with historical plaques marking where the Cadet stood, moving him to the Kittanning bridge to watch the Allegheny River, or donating him to collectors who preserve these roadside giants. Whatever the fate of Sam (which is still unclear for now), the sentiment underneath all the suggestions is one and the same: Sam's safety matters to the people. And with Armstrong County already losing a big part of its local scene (featuring some unique Pennsylvania food items) with the shuttering of the Cadet Restaurant, we — and many Pennsylvanians — hope that Big Sam won't suddenly disappear, as well.