Building the Valley: Cindy's Soft Serve and Hometown Food serves up good vibes in Tarentum

A Tarentum diner is offering “good vibes only” through its homestyle cooking and friendly conversation.

Cindy’s Soft Serve and Hometown Food, at 309 E. Fourth St., is a 1950s-style eatery with menu items named as an homage to the Alle-Kiski Valley.

There’s the Red Cat, a burger with fries and coleslaw, named after the old Tarentum High School mascot, and the East Side, a burger with cheese sticks and marinara.

“The West Side of town was kind of tough, so that one comes with onion rings, pepper jack and barbecue,” owner Bob Hatajik said, with a smile.

Wife Cindy, for whom the diner is named, said “our meatloaf’s off the hook.”

It’s a family affair at the restaurant, where the Hatajiks’ son, Cody, 23, is the chef and kitchen manager.

The diner will celebrate its two-year anniversary in September after having spent four years as a walk-up ice cream shop along First Avenue.

“We saw this location and thought it was perfect,” Cindy Hatajik said of renting the spot that formerly housed the Hometown Restaurant.

They splashed the walls with pastel purple and decorated the dining room with retro appliances, like the pale blue refrigerator and bright red microwave. Old-fashioned sundae goblets and red plastic Coca-Cola cups dot the counter.

The Harrison couple said they want the diner to have the feel of an old Isaly’s malt shop. In the fall, they plan to host game board nights on Fridays. They also venture out into town during Tarentum Night Markets with certain specialties.

“It’s kinda tough because we’re hidden on the side street,” Bob Hatajik said. “But we gets lots of good word of mouth. People love our food.”

Cody, a Highlands graduate, said the gourmet burgers are his specialty, but he enjoys trying his hand at new recipes.

A Polish platter is the restaurant’s newest fare. It’s a hard-to-finish feast, plated with pigs in the blanket, halushki, pierogies and kielbasi.

There’s also a quarter-pound frankfurter dubbed the Bob Dog, breaded Alaskan Pollock, steak hoagies, chicken salads and just about any fried appetizer you can think of. Breakfast is served all day, too, with items that include pancakes and four-egg omelettes.

Cindy Hatajik said she grew up in the Karns section of Harrison and learned to cook from her mother.

“My city-chicken and my soups, it’s everything we were raised on,” she said. “It’s all home.”

Starting this week, Cindy’s will offer an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet from 7 a.m. to noon.

“We’re trying to shake things up and keep it fresh,” Cindy Hatajik said, adding that her favorite part of the job is the people. “We have regulars that come every day. They’re here first thing in the morning, and we start the day with good conversation.”

No matter what time of day people dine, there are always 28 flavors of hand-scooped ice cream available. The star of the dessert menu is the Elvis boat, which is decked out with a banana, peanut butter sauce and candied bacon.

“You can’t go wrong with whatever you pick,” Cindy Hatajik said. “They’re all delicious.”

Cindy’s is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 7 a.m. to noon on weekends. The restaurant is closed Mondays.