West Oneonta's Secret Restaurant

BY KYLE KOCAN -- (ONEONTA, NY)

The West Side of Oneonta is often considered foreign to students at SUNY Oneonta & Hartwick but one of the hidden treasures is a restaurant known as Jay's Place.  Jay's Place which is located at 453 Chesnut St in Oneonta, NY is opened daily for dinner from 4 PM to 9 PM but is closed on Tuesdays. Jason "Jay" Sperano is the owner and CEO of Jay's Place.  The business is known by many Oneonta residents and citizens who live on the west side where as if you were to ask students about it they would have no clue.  The restaurant first opened in October of 2000, where Jay was working for another company which had been sold.  Once the previous restaurant was sold he decided to open his own place. He stated that "I always dreamed of having my own place" and "the new owners and I didn't jive, it ended up being a much better position to force me to look into building my own place."

Photo Via - Kyle Kocan

Jay is the type of owner who also deals heavily with the prepping of food but also takes care of the financial side of the restaurant.  When asked what a typical day consisted of at the restaurant for him he said "Coming in sometime around noon cashing up sales from the previous day, making sure they have everything they need for the current day, and then leaving to do some banking."  He added that he does do some of the food prepping along with the specials of the day.  Managing the staff throughout the day is another job of his while also making sure the restaurant is clean and tidy at the end of the night so the next business day will run smoothly.  He said within the next three to five years he sees himself doing less with the food prep and the food portion of the restaurant.  Currently he has a couple guys training to do the food prep and hopes that in the next year and a half they will be able to pick that up.  But he also added that "it's a possibility that in 5 years I might even look to sell the place and move on to a new challenge.

Photo Via - Kyle Kocan

During an interview with Jay we talked about success as a business owner and how he would define it.  He said "two ways...we have a daily success where we have an instant gratification of the menu...the food goes out and I can walk around and talk to the customers and everyone is happy."  He added that they have repeat customers that keep coming back to them on a daily to weekly basis.  His second part of defining success as a business owner was "we've been here for 15 years successfully when most restaurants don't survive five years."  He went on to say that they've been able to pull the proper numbers and be successful by their motto of quality and consistency.  When we got to the topic of what talents he looks for in employees he said that the best talent an employee can have is being flexible.  He went on about how a lot has changed since the restaurant first opened like renovating, repainting, new furniture, and new equipment.  He added during the time of being opened, the business has more than doubled since being created in 2000.  The target market of the restaurant is the local west end Oneonta area to families and couples.  When asked to describe his restaurant in one way he said "almost immediately rewarding...the feedback and the reward is almost immediate so it's nice to have that instant gratification with as the food goes out and I can see that the people are happy." Remember Jay's Place is located at 453 Chesnut St. in Oneonta, NY and is open daily from 4 PM to 9 PM except for Tuesdays...so head on over to this secret restaurant located on the West Side of Oneonta.

Photo Via - Kyle Kocan