This is part of an ongoing series highlighting Signature Dishes at locally owned restaurants in the region. See Trib Total Media’s online directory of restaurants, Dine Local, at dinelocal.triblive.com.
It’s a fish dish that keeps the customers coming back to Snyder’s Bonfire Restaurant and Lounge in Allegheny Township.
Cod is the signature menu item at the popular Western-themed eatery, where the Snyder family has served up 1-pound fried or broiled fish meals for 40 years.
Owner Jay Snyder works alongside his mother, Pat Snyder. At the age of 80, she is on the scene full time.
“It’s half of our business,” said Pat Snyder, of the giant fish meal. “We don’t even really make much money on it — we try to not go overboard with our prices.”
Homemade tartar sauce and hand-breaded cod make for a delicious fish experience.
The breading technique is kept under wraps, but Pat said crumbs and flour are two key ingredients in the recipe passed on to the Snyders when they bought the Bonfire 40 years ago. The Snyders added their name to the already well-known establishment and Snyder’s Bonfire was launched.
When Pat and her late husband, Jerry, took over the venue, one of their first marketing moves was to feature the fish. Jay Snyder said his parents chose wisely.
“Every restaurant had a gimmick back then and my parents chose a fish sandwich,” Jay Snyder said. “We’re lucky and thankful to the public for supporting us all of these years.”
Customers call it “a whale of a sandwich,” said manager Jessica Tobin. “It’s been a number-one seller forever. We’d lose a lot of business if it was off the menu. Customers would be angry.”
The sandwich has won numerous contests and awards. The Bonfire sells about 600 fish meals a week, and during Lent that number goes to more than 1,000.
“I’m proud of it,” Pat Snyder said.
The Western theme of the Bonfire was another marketing move by the Snyders, led by Jerry Snyder (who died in 2014). Customers are surrounded by Western-influenced decor such as lassos, taxidermy, wagon wheels and farming tools, surrounded by wooden walls and floors.
“Jerry loved John Wayne — every movie,” Pat Snyder said. “That’s why there’s so much John Wayne.”
The Bonfire Restaurant and Lounge (5739 Leechburg Road) is open Wednesdays and Thursdays from noon to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. See thesnydersbonfire.com or call 724-845-4961.
