Abe's to celebrate 100th anniversary with free hot dogs at 'American Dream' event
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WEBAbe's Hot Dogs, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 5,337 likes · 961 talking about this · 2,059 were here. Celebrating 100 years! Wilkes-Barre’s oldest …WILKES-BARRE — Abe’s Hot Dogs on Barney Street in Wilkes-Barre plans to celebrate its 100th anniversary Saturday with a popular promotion: free hot dogs.
Free ice cream, too.
Abe’s Hot Dogs, the oldest restaurant in the city, is hosting a community celebration 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday to mark 100 years in business at 210 Barney St. in South Wilkes-Barre.
“Abe was my grandfather. This is the original location and this was the original hot dog — the first hot dog in the valley,” said Bill Obeid, the third-generation owner.
Saturday’s celebration will be held in the parking lot of a restaurant under a tent. The free hot dogs will be cooked on a charcoal grill and an ice cream truck will be on hand. Live music by Tim Noble starts at 3 p.m., followed by raffles.
The theme of the event is "The American Dream."
Abe Obeid, a Syrian immigrant, opened the restaurant in 1924, calling it “Abe’s Community Lunch.” A few years later, his good friend from church, Elias Ferris, opened a hot dog shop directly next door, Ferris’s Barney Street Lunch, sparking a friendly competition that continues until this day.
“Elias Ferris was a friend of my grandfather. They went to the same church. He opened up next door. My grandfather was like gold. He said ‘There is enough business for everybody.’ Sure enough, he was right,” Obeid said. “We’ve had a good relationship all these years.”
Over the years, the Abe’s brand expanded to five locations under the direction of Obeid’s father, William, with additional restaurants in Kingston, Mountain Top, Hanover Twp. and Wilkes-Barre Twp. Obeid’s father also owned the former Triangle Restaurant and Lucky 16 convenience store, both in Mountain Top.
After Obeid graduated from college with a marketing degree in 1980, he decided to help his father run the businesses that he worked at since he was a child.
“I was sweeping this parking lot when I was seven or eight years old,” Obeid said while setting up for Saturday’s event.
Contrary to what some believe, the restaurant Abe’s Lunch on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre, which opened in the 1950s, is not associated with the Obeid family, Obeid said.
In the 1980’s, Obeid said he decided to change the business name from “Abe’s Community Lunch” to the current name “Abe’s Hot Dogs.”
Obeid admits that might not have been the smartest move since these days hot dogs account for only about 40% of the company’s business.
“We have a big breakfast business and a huge menu,” Obeid said.
Over the years, the family “scaled back” the family business, closing the Hanover and Wilkes-Barre Twp. stores and selling the Mountain Top franchise that operates under a different owner.
Obeid noted the kitchen manager of the Barney Street location, Betty Elick, 83, has been working there for 56 years.
“She gave her whole life to this place,” Obeid said. “She is more than an employee. She is the fabric of the business.”
The manager of the Kingston location has worked for the family for more than 40 years, he said.
