A new diner has taken over the old Hartzdale Restaurant space at Capital City Plaza in Lower Allen Township, and it's run by a familiar face in Cumberland County's sandwich scene. Jose “Chuy” Garcia opened Chuy’s Cafe on Sept. 13 at 3401 Hartzdale Drive, Suite 131, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, with cheesesteaks once again on the menu after a yearlong absence.
Garcia is no stranger to the local food business. According to PennLive, he operated Aleco’s Steak & Hoagies for about 15 years before it abruptly closed in 2025, a shutdown he attributed to business dropping off during the pandemic. Cheesesteaks were a hallmark item at Aleco’s, and Garcia has now brought them back at his new spot, saying he was ready to return to restaurant ownership.
Stepping Into a Ready-Made Kitchen
Chuy’s Cafe replaces the former Hartzdale Restaurant at Capital City Plaza, and Garcia didn't start entirely from scratch. The space came with kitchen equipment and several tables and chairs left behind from the prior tenant, the report notes. Garcia is still finishing up the transition, too — he expects a new sign to replace the old Hartzdale Restaurant banner within the week.
The address places Chuy’s in a retail corridor that is still drawing investment. Leasing materials describe Capital City Plaza as recently renovated and across from Walmart and the expanded Capital City Mall; they also say its Hartzdale Drive sign is visible to about 10,000 cars a day. That puts the diner among the neighborhood retail and shopping destinations clustered around the mall, rather than at the mall itself. The plaza’s leasing materials characterize the surrounding area as a growing commercial hub.
Before striking out on his own, Garcia worked at Pizza Grille and Leed’s Restaurant, building a resume that spans much of the local dining landscape. That background shows up in a menu that stretches well beyond sandwiches, touching on Italian, diner-style and Greek dishes alike.
A $5 Breakfast and a Cheesesteak-Heavy Lunch Menu
The cafe opens daily at 7:30 a.m. with a full breakfast lineup of egg dishes, Benedicts, omelets and pancakes. A basic plate of two eggs with home fries and buttered toast runs $5, while the more ambitious Chuy’s Special — two eggs, two pancakes or French toast, plus bacon and sausage — costs $13.95, per the same report.
Breakfast service wraps up at 11 a.m., when the cafe transitions into its lunch and dinner offerings. The sandwich board includes gyros, cheesesteaks and burgers, alongside entrees such as salmon in pink sauce, chicken parmesan and stuffed shells. The cheesesteak lineup carries three options: a traditional Philly for $11.95, a cheeseburger sub for $12.95 and a chicken cheesesteak for $10.95.
Garcia’s return is part of a restaurant economy dominated by smaller operators. Pennsylvania had 26,654 restaurant locations and $46.3 billion in restaurant and foodservice sales, based on 2025 figures compiled in the National Restaurant Association’s 2026 state fact sheet. The association also says nine in 10 restaurants nationally are small businesses, a measure of how common independent operators are in the industry. The Pennsylvania fact sheet provides a statewide backdrop for Garcia’s return to ownership.
Hours and What's Next
Chuy’s Cafe is open 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, giving Lower Allen Township residents a full week of breakfast-through-dinner options. With the new sign expected to go up soon, the diner's next visible step will be shedding the last physical trace of its predecessor while Garcia settles into his second run as a restaurant owner.
