By Kevin Flowers | Erie Times News | Nov. 8, 2007

Erie, PA
George's Restaurant is closed -- and for sale for the second time this year.

The iconic Erie eatery, claimed by some to be Erie's oldest, was put up for sale by owner Jeffrey Pifer on Tuesday, said Neil Kalvelage, a real estate agent with Bay City Realty.

The restaurant, at 2614 Glenwood Park Ave., is also closed indefinitely, said Kalvelage, who is handling the sale.

Kalvelage said Pifer is asking $214,000 for the restaurant, which began operating in a trailer at its current location in 1926.

Pifer bought the business for $170,000 on May 7 from Ivan Samoilo, who sold George's after owning the restaurant for 24 years. After the sale, Pifer's wife, Sheila, ran the restaurant.

Samoilo sold the property in U.S. Bankruptcy Court as a result of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy that he filed. Samoilo said in early May that health and financial reasons contributed to his decision to sell the restaurant.

Kalvelage said Pifer is listing the restaurant already because "it wasn't working out, so he made a decision to sell the place."

The Pifers could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Known primarily as an old-school, meat-and-potatoes diner before Samoilo bought it, the restaurant morphed into an eatery that offered both ethnic dishes -- Korean, Polish, Thai and Hungarian have been among them -- as well as "comfort foods" like roast beef, steaks, pork chops and mashed potatoes. Takeout and catering were also available.

Much of the food was prepared from scratch. The Pifers had said in an interview in May that they planned to operate the restaurant in much the same way Samoilo did.

Originally published online here: http://goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/NEWS02/711080408