A new eatery is opening this week in Belmont, Ohio, and it will feature several recipes perfected through the years by members of the Strussion family.
The My Way Café and Lounge will open this Thursday at 43920 National Road, the former location of Salsa Joe’s Smokehouse 740. Salsa Joe’s closed in late September after the owner, Tom Strussion and his wife, Angela, were the victims of a double homicide at their home on Trail End Road on Sept. 21.
A neighbor of the Strussions called 911 in the early morning hours after noticing smoke coming from the second floor of the dwelling. Once first responders entered the home, the deceased victims were discovered inside the home. Very little information has been distributed by authorities during the ongoing investigation, and Belmont County Sheriff Dave Lucas said that would be the case as long as it is necessary.
Tom’s sister, Lisa Strussion Balog, and former manager, Missy Murphy, however, did not want to wait to honor the couple with the new establishment.
“There was some time when we didn’t know what would happen with the business, but then we came to a decision to open the My Way Café because we felt it was something Tommy and Angela would have wanted,” Strussion Balog explained. “That’s when we started to think about a name for the place, and anyone who knew Tommy knew he was a big Frank Sinatra fan. That’s how we came up with the name, My Way Café and Lounge.
“The restaurant will have that Sinatra theme, but it also will be a place where a family can come and have a good time,” she said. “It’s going to be a very nice and casual place that I believe people will enjoy very much.”
Family Favorites
The former restaurant featured smoked meats and a plethora of Tex-Mex menu items, but the My Way Café will offer the Strussion’s secret recipes for homemade pasta and meatballs, a variety of sauces, sausage sandwiches, and much more.
“The menu will represent where Tom got started in the food business, and it will represent Tom and Lisa’s family roots,” Murphy said. “Tom had a business called ‘Tommy Boy Sausage Company,’ and he made the sausage using a family recipe. So, we will have that sausage as well as things like fresh pasta, the family recipes of sauces, shrimp, chicken, and a number of other items on the menu.
“We want to source what we have from our local community, but we plan to go to the Strip District in Pittsburgh because of everything it has to offer,” she said. “Plus, we plan to grow the menu over time so we can be sure we have something for everyone. We’ll also have different specials each evening, a variety of different soups and salads, and we’ll also have a number of different sandwiches, as well.”
Although Murphy was a manager at Salsa Joe’s, she is very familiar with the Italian dishes because Tom included several of them on the restaurant’s catering menu.
“I have had a lot of the Italian dishes because that was Tommy’s roots,” Murphy said. “Those recipes also meant very much to him because they represented his family. That meant everything to him.
“Tommy got into the Tex-Mex recipes when he moved to Texas,” she explained. “He loved the foodservice industry but he knew he would have to learn the Tex-Mex dishes if he was going to be the business in Texas because of how popular it is there. But making Italian was where his heart truly was.”
In Memory
Along with Salsa Joe’s in Belmont, Tom and Angela Strussion also owned and operated another location in the Elm Grove neighborhood of Wheeling. Soon after the Strussions moved to Belmont County, they became involved with a plethora of charitable organizations on both sides of the Ohio River.
Last year at this time, Tom Strussion partnered with the Paolina family from Muxie Distributing to produce a 32-pound cheeseburger, a new record in the state of Ohio. The proceeds were given to Toys for Tots in the Ohio Valley, and deputies with the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office were granted permission to eat the beef monstrosity.
Tom, his sister recalled, wanted to make burger challenge an annual tradition to continue raising funds for local children.
“That’s how Tom was. He had a huge heart and he wanted to use his skills with food to make as many people as possible happy,” Strussion Balog insisted. “This situation has been very hard on everyone, and by doing this, a lot of feelings have overcome us. But when people come here, they will see how we have honored my brother and Angela.
“There are a lot of memories of them throughout this restaurant. They will not be forgotten, and you will see that as soon as you step foot in this place,” she added. “We’ve been working very hard to bring everything together for the opening on Thursday so we could be sure we’re doing it the right way.”
