TOLEDO (WTOL) - Four words, “you will be missed” adorn the sign in front of Tom’s Bar B Q and Grill, an institution in East Toledo since 1997.
“It’s amazing that my dad, in his short life of 65 years, was able to accomplish so much,” Thomas Bolander Jr. said.
His father and the restaurant’s namesake,Tom Bolander, was a life-long East Toledoan who’s dream of opening a restaurant in the neighborhood came true. He even built his first house right down the street.
“He would get up, come to the restaurant make sure everything was up and running, he would go get breakfast with my mother and they would get back here for 18 hours out of the day,” Bolander Jr. said.
As his family grew, they all got involved in the business, shaking up fresh lemonade and serving fresh pulled pork sandwiches after school.
“We’d walk from Sacred Heart help my parents with the restaurant and do our school work right here on the table because this was our home. The restaurant was always home,” Bolander Jr. said.
Tom’s family wants everyone who’s reached out to them for the past day to know; the restaurant isn’t going anywhere.
“They really wanted to know that the restaurant and the name Tom’s Barbecue would move forward and they were very supportive of our family on Facebook,” Bolander Jr. said.
