For nearly 40 years, Margaretville native Lilly Piacquadio has been serving up classic American fare from the Bun N’ Cone at 86 Bridge St. in Margaretville.
“I worked here for nine years as a waitress before I bought it,” Piacquadio, 60, said. “I was a teenager when I started here, and it was a booming business, and has been ever since. We had a couple setbacks and a couple major floods, but other than that, I’ve been doing this my whole life.”
Piacquadio credited the Bun N’ Cone’s size and standards with keeping diners coming back.
“We are family-oriented, and we cater to anything anybody needs,” she said. “We’re friendly and prices are low and it’s fast, good food. There’s other restaurants, but we’re the one that’s been here forever and we’re the most visible. I took over in 1988, and I worked here in the ‘70s, so it’s been here forever and is the biggest restaurant in the area. Seating capacity inside in 85 and we have 14 tables outside along the river, so it’s pretty big. We have a walk-up window, but it’s 2,400-square-feet (inside) and it is a sit-down (restaurant). We do breakfast, lunch and dinner and we’re open from 7 to 9, seven days a week.”
The Bun N’ Cone’s menu is broad.
“For dinners, we have chicken and veal parm, we have heroes, spaghetti, mac ‘n’ cheese; we have everything,” she said. “There’s meatloaf on Tuesdays, chicken ‘n’ biscuits on Wednesday, Thursday is spaghetti and meatballs and Friday is our fish day. And we just got a second (ice-cream) machine with nine flavors of soft serve.”
Piacquadio said Bun N’ Cone clientele has grown over the years.
“(Customers) love us … and it’s a mix, it’s everybody,” she said. “Second homeowners and city people come here, and of course we have the carnival and other events; we just had the Pow Wow and we have flea markets behind Fresh Town (the grocery store). It’s gotten bigger. From when I started out, it’s gotten much bigger and more people are moving up from the city. There’s not property left or rentals left; it’s booming.”
It’s diners, Piacquadio said, that have kept her passionate.
“It’s the customers, and seeing the same people every day,” she said, noting the Bun N’ Cone employs about 10 people, part time.
Though Piacquadio said she’s eyeing the end of her time at the helm, she hopes to see the Bun N’ Cone continue.
“I do have it on the market, and I have someone interested, but we don’t know about that yet,” she said. “And I told them it’s got to stay a restaurant for at least five years. I’m hoping to retire someday, but I may change my mind. I go back and forth, and it is a good business. It’s been my life.”
For more information or to view a menu, find “BUN N’ CONE” on Facebook.