Schenectady diner owner, Jimmy Menagias, had passion for life

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Maria Menagias, daughter of Demetrios 'Jimmy' Menagias, stands near the front counter in the Broadway Diner at 2101 Broadway in Schenectady Friday. Maria recalled her father, who founded the diner. Jimmy Menagias died last Saturday.

Demetrios “Jimmy” Menagias had a zest for life.

“That’s the only way to describe him,” Maria Menagias, Jimmy’s daughter, said Friday. “He was so passionate for life, his family and his businesses.”

Jimmy Menagias, who helped found Broadway Restaurant & Lunch and the Blue Ribbon Diner in Schenectady, died last Saturday from pulmonary fibrosis.

He was 89.

“I’m just so grateful he didn’t suffer,” Maria Menagias said. “A month ago, he was up dancing at the 90th birthday party we held for him early. He said it was the best birthday of his life.”

Maria said her father taught her a great deal about life, family and love.

“He worked so hard and all he wanted was a good life for us,” Maria said of her and her brother, Dimitris “Mike” Menagias, who is a head chef at the City Beer Hall in Albany. “He taught us to work hard, how to be successful and lead by example — things no one could ever take from me.”

Born May 1, 1926, Jimmy Menagias grew up in Greece on his family farm until he was drafted into the Greek Army to fight in the Greek Civil War in 1946 at the age of 20.

After serving for over three years, he became a Merchant Marine, Maria said, and brought goods around the world.

Maria said her father ended up in New York City, where he met her mother, Anna. Before long, Jimmy was deported back to Greece, but Anna followed him and the couple married immediately.

“He simply adored my mother,” Maria said. “They were best friends and were happily married for more than 55 years. Even when I saw him last month, he was still doing sweet, little things to show he cared, like giving my mother a kiss on the back of the neck.”

After their first year of marriage, the Menagias moved to Schenectady to join his cousins and make a new life.

At first, Menagias worked as a dishwasher at James Restaurant and the Schenectady Hotel, Maria recalled, before becoming a short order cook at Newest Lunch — the restaurant his cousins Nick and Denis owned.

“He dreamed of opening his own place,” Maria said. “After saving for a while, he did.”

In 1968, Mengias opened the Broadway Restaurant, located at 2101 Broadway, with his family members. They established the Blue Ribbon Diner a few years later, and both are still popular and successful restaurants in the city today.

“They wouldn’t be here without him,” Jimmy’s niece, Vicky Arrington, said of her uncle’s restaurants on Friday.

Arrington and her husband took over the Broadway Restaurant in 1985, and said they’ve worked to make Jimmy proud of his first business, which is known for its hot dogs.

“My husband didn’t know anything about the restaurant business and said he’ll never forget the advice my uncle told him,” Arrington remembered. “ ‘This place is all about the hot dogs,’ he had said. ‘Don’t worry about the eggs, pancakes or anything else. The hot dogs are what will keep you successful.’ ”

Arrington said her husband has listened, and takes care in making Jimmy’s special meat sauce recipe they serve on the American favorite.

“This place is really my father,” Maria said. “Even when other family members took it over, he was proud and wanted everyone to know how happy and proud he was.”

“Everyone knew him,” Arrington added. “When he visited, he’d always stop in, and customers would shout, ‘Jimmy!’ ”

In the early 2000s, Maria said, her parents retired to Largo, Florida. They visited Greece, gardened and played shuffleboard.

Even in his old age, Maria said her father never lost his love for cooking.

When he visited the area last month, his daughter said he was still giving her kitchen tips she’ll never forget.

“I’m 45, and he was still saying to me, ‘Let me show you how to cut that onion,’ even though I know how,” Maria recalled with tears in her eyes. “He’d do it and ask me, ‘Are you watching?’ Every time I cut an onion now, I want to cry, and not because onions make you do that.”

Maria said the family already misses her father’s jokes, laughter and passion.

“We’re heartbroken, but my dad lived a long, great life and is in a better place,” Maria said. “He left us peacefully when all of us are successful and at peace in our lives, and that’s all he ever wanted.”

Calling hours are Sunday at the Daly Funeral Home from 4 to 7 p.m. Funeral services are private.