Surrey eatery that’s fed families since late ’50s closes for good

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – A diner that has been run by a Surrey family for the last 62 years has now closed its doors.

The Round Up Cafe on King George Boulevard had its final day serving up its famous homemade cuisine on Friday.

“A lot of people are sad to see it go. There are people who remember coming when … I was 6 or 7 years old running around here,” says Dennis Springenatic, whose parents, Goldie and Orest, bought the restaurant in 1959.

He says for the first 20 years, his parents ran the restaurant around the clock, seven days a week. Springenatic and his siblings, naturally, had roles to play at the diner.

“I used to wash dishes. I started washing dishes there when I was 12.”

His mom is turning 92 in the fall, and Springenatic says she continued to work at the restaurant until the end. But she wasn’t the only loyal worker. The restaurant’s manager, Tanya Abendroth, started as a waitress and became manager 16 years ago.

Another waitress, who is now retired, was with the family business for 33 years.

He admits COVID cut his business in half, but it’s not the only reason why the family decided to call it a day.

“We are in the development zone. You know what? If the closure hadn’t happened this year, it would have happened in the next few years. Do you know how many highrises are going up in Surrey? Lots,” he notes. “COVID made it a little easier to shut the restaurant.”

He says it wouldn’t have been right to sell the business.

“It’s been the Round Up since 1959. So, we weren’t going to allow another family run it. It’s been in our family forever.”

For the past few weeks, people have been popping in and taking to social media to reminisce.

Springenatic says one man remembers meeting his future wife at the restaurant back in 1967. Another man, now in his fifties, recalls coming to eat with his dad.

“We used to have a big jukebox, then individual jukeboxes on each table and people remember putting coins in them.”

He says for now the building will be leased out, “until someone decides they want a big highrise on the property.”

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