GETTYSBURG, Pa. — For 103 years, Ernie’s Texas Lunch has been a Gettysburg staple.
“I always say it’s really cool being Ernie from Ernie’s," said Ernie Kranias, the restaurant's owner. "It’s neat. I know a lot of people and it’s a lot of fun.”
Ernie's has passed through three generations of family.
Kranias's grandfather Anastasos (Ernest) moved to the United States from Greece in 1912. He ended up in Gettysburg and opened a restaurant called "Texas Hot Weenies" on Chambersburg Street in 1921.
In 1927, he moved the hot dog shop across the street and then in 1932, hopped a couple doors over to the current spot in 1932.
Prohibition had been repealed and he needed more seats for a beer license.
Anastasos ran the restaurant until he died unexpectedly in 1953. That's when his son, Ernie's father, Charlie, took over. In the sixties, he changed the name to "Charlie's Texas Lunch."
In 1981, Ernie took the reigns and eventually changed the name once again. He ran the shop with his wife Linda until she passed in 2014.
The menu is still basic diner food featuring the “Texas Hot Wiener” that Ernie's grandfather opened with over a century ago.
He says he and his twin brother took the family business for granted when they were younger, but the older and more involved he got, he started to realize what they had.
“I’ve seen a lot of businesses come in and out on Chambersburg Street but we’re still going," he said. "I start to appreciate it more. It’s meant a lot and this town has just embraced us.”
Now, Kranias has decided it’s time to hang up that apron which was handed down from his dad and grandfather.
“It was just time," he said. "I’m getting older, I want to travel, I’m a cliché…I want to travel and do all the stuff old people want to do.”
But Kranias tells his customers not to worry—the restaurant isn’t going with him.
Waiting in the wings is Harry Tassou, who also owns Olivia’s Authentic Mediterranean Cuisine on Baltimore Pike in Gettysburg.
He had previously reached out to Ernie, asking to be considered as the next owner, if Ernie ever contemplated retirement.
The two got to talking, and when Kranias made the decision to retire, he went back to Tassou.
The building is now being sold to him.
Ernie's Texas Lunch will soon become Honey Bee Restaurant. Harry will be running it alongside his wife Adrienne and their children Yanni and Olivia.
The name is an ode to the Tassou family’s original Honeybee Diner, the first restaurant they opened in Gettysburg when they moved here.
It may be a new name, but it won’t be completely out with the old.
“A lot of the major things customers have grown to love and gotten used to aren’t changing," said Kranias.
“Gettysburg is all about history so we want to embrace it and we want to enhance and evolve it," said Tassou.
Ernie's staff is staying put, as are many of his recipes.
For those who love Ernie’s famous Texas Lunch Hot Dogs, have no fear. Those are staying too.
“Everywhere we can merge…merge our menus, merge our friendships, merge our employees," explained Tassou. "This is just a big merger of families and recipes and traditions.”
For Harry, it’s an honor to carry on a legacy like this one.
“Ernie’s Chuck Taylors are hard to fill," he laughs.
And for Ernie, he knows his family’s legacy is in good hands.
“[Harry] is a good restaurant guy and he’ll do well here. The more I get to know him, his personality’s perfect for this place," he said. "He has an appreciation and reverence for my family and our family’s history and he wants to continue that and give it his own little spin.”
Tassou also has plans to open a food truck where he will sell the hot dogs out of as well.
Paperwork between both parties is being finalized.
Honey Bee Restaurant is expected to open by April 1, which is the same date Olivia's opened in 1991
“Kind of like the Greek Olympians, he’s handing the torch and we’re going to carry it forward," said Tassou.
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