A barbecue stand that has fed Luzerne County since 1926 is staring down its final months. Stookey's Famous Bar-B-Que in West Nanticoke will close on Dec. 31 if no buyer comes forward, according to owners Ralph and Marcia Frank, who have run the business along U.S. Route 11 for a quarter century.
Ralph Frank, 77, is the grandson of founders Ralph and Margaret Stookey, who started the business more than 100 years ago as a roadside stand before expanding the operation into their family home, according to the seed facts. As timesleader.com reports, barring a sale, “the 100-year-old business will close on Dec. 31.” Ralph and Marcia have owned Stookey's since Ralph's mother, Shirley Stookey, passed away in 2000, the outlet notes.
WNEP reports that Ralph and Margaret Stookey opened it in 1926 as a small roadside stand on Route 11 in West Nanticoke, and that it will have its last day of service on December 31st if it isn't sold first. Since then, the station notes, the business has passed through three generations and grown into a local landmark.
A Century of Applewood Smoke and Family Sauce
The restaurant has been serving up applewood smoked meats and poultry, with its famous family sauce recipe, since 1926, the same report notes. Pork barbecue remains the top seller. “Our pork barbecue is pretty unique,” Ralph said, according to Times Leader's report, “but over the years, we've added beef, turkey, ham, traditional ribs and chicken.” The seed facts also note the restaurant serves barbecue sandwiches alongside chocolate milk, a pairing Frank has said customers have favored for years.
This isn't the first time Stookey's has faced a sale. Back in January 2020, Frank told citizensvoice.com that he had taken over the business in 1996 after his parents ran it, and he described the restaurant then as “efficient” and “profitable.” At that time, Frank cited the announced closure of SCI-Retreat — which was expected to displace more than 400 Luzerne County jobs — as a factor that would take a toll on business.
Listed for Sale, No Family Successor in Sight
Per the seed facts tied to this story, Stookey's is currently listed for sale by Century 21 Signature Properties at $375,000, and the Stookey family lineage includes no other members who would or want to take over the business. The listing, per cimls.com, includes the business's real estate, equipment, inventory and hands-on training from the owner. The Times Leader's report adds that Stookey's has been up for sale for many months through broker Michael Slacktish at Century 21 in Shavertown.
Frank, who has one son living in Washington, D.C., plans to retire, according to the seed facts. The family announced the pending closure — or willingness to sell — in a Facebook post, and the business's page, which has racked up nearly 7,000 likes, still describes Stookey's as serving “apple wood smoked quality meats and poultry” since 1926, per its Facebook page.
Part of a Wider Wave of Restaurant Retirements
Stookey's situation mirrors a trend playing out across the region's restaurant industry. In the Philadelphia area, longtime owners are increasingly reaching retirement without children interested in taking over, part of what The Philadelphia Inquirer calls a broader generational transition among small businesses. The paper counted 86 Philadelphia-area restaurant closings in 2025, even as more than 100 new restaurants and bars were on the drawing board for 2026.
Among the comparable cases the Inquirer's reporting cites: Cherry Street Tavern, which has operated for more than a century, is looking for a buyer after 50 years of stewardship by the Loughery family. Kelly's Seafood in Northeast Philadelphia is scheduled to close as its owners retire, ending a run spanning three generations of the Kelly family. Not every multigenerational institution is fading, though — McGillin's Olde Ale House has operated since 1860 and has been run by the Spaniak family since 1958.
For now, Stookey's owners say the family tradition behind the West Nanticoke landmark could still continue through a sale, according to the seed facts tied to the story. Whether that happens before Dec. 31 remains, for the moment, an open question.
