The Famous Restaurant in Centerville, Ohio
inspired by family crossing generations
OUR STORY
To some, The Famous Restaurant was just a place to eat in a small town in Pennsylvania. But to us—and to Steve and Bessie Thomas—it is so much more.
In 1935, when Steve was just 15 years old, he came to America from a small village in Greece. He and his father moved in with an aunt and uncle and two cousins, Pete and Gus Palles. Armed with a sixth grade education and forced to learn English from scratch, Steve settled into life in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
The Palles family owned a chain of restaurants called “Coney Island,” where Steve worked as a cashier while learning English. One of Steve’s favorite stories was how surprised he was that so many customers warmly greeted him by name during his first week. Turns out, he was wearing a nametag but had no idea what it said.
Steve worked odd jobs until 1941, when he joined the U.S. Army and worked his way through the ranks, eventually serving as personal bodyguard to General Mark Clark. Afterwards, he returned home to Pottsville, where he met and married the love of his life, Bessie Seremetis.
The two started a family and bought their first business, an upper middle scale restaurant that served American and Greek cuisine. They called it “The Famous Restaurant.” Just seven years later, in 1955, Steve and Bessie sold the Famous to the Logethitis family and moved to Dayton, Ohio, to continue creating a legacy by operating and expanding a number of different businesses, including the well-known and still-beloved “Golden Nugget Pancake House.”
Steve’s business success, however, was a side note to his strength, courage, discipline, and work ethic. One of the kindest, most gentle, generous humans around, he never met a stranger and left a lasting impact on all who had the good fortune to know him before he passed away in 1996. Bessie was and is a great mother and grandmother—the glue that holds the family together. As a pair, they blessed everyone around them.
In so many ways, Steve and Bessie are the true embodiment of the American dream. The Famous, then, symbolizes hard work, dedication, fearlessness, and an iron will. It drives us to work hard to pay homage to those who paved our way. Maybe the Famous was not seen as our family’s crowning achievement, but to us, it is the unrecognized leap of faith that has shaped who we are today and continues to inspire the paths to who we will become.
Phone : 937-951-2422
Address: 953 S. Main St. Centerville, Ohio 45459
Hours:
M - TR: 11 :00 am – 10:00 pm
F: 11 :00 am – 10:00 pm
Sa: 11 :00 am – 10:00 pm
Su: 11 :00 am – 9:00 pm
*Reservations are not accepted at this time