At Scarlotta's, Barlows bring back tradition
By Erik Pekar
Granville has a new eatery that brings back a Granville tradition of yesteryear. Scarlotta's Car Hop opened for business several weeks ago on April 27. The community reaction was hands-down positive and enthusiastic. "Almost everyone that I see says how happy they are to have Scarlotta's back," said Payton Barlow, part owner and manager. Around town, various epithets of praise have been heard, such as "what was old is new once more," that the place "has been restored to its former glory", and that it is "just like the good old days".
Scarlotta's has been busy since it opened. "The past few weeks have been insane," said Barlow. "We have been so, so, so busy! We are so thankful for that. We knew it would be busy but thought it may slow down. It really hasn't at all!"
Even after a month, there have yet to be menu favorites, as practically everything is popular. "There definitely are a lot of popular menu items, but people pretty much love everything on the menu," said Barlow. She did add that there are indeed a few menu items on their way to becoming standouts. "People love the Wes [burger] and Barlow burger," said Barlow, adding that "[they] love anything with Grandma Betty's meat sauce, especially the hot dogs."
Scarlotta's Car Hop is owned by Wes and Laura Barlow, and their daughter Payton. Returning Scarlotta's to family ownership is something the Barlows had wanted for some years. Through buying the car hop this year and bringing back Scarlotta's, not only did Wes and Laura fulfill that goal, a desire of Payton was fulfilled as well. "I always said [that] if I ever got the opportunity to own my own ice cream place, I would love that," said Barlow, "and the opportunity just came [last year when] Andy reached out to us about selling [the car hop to us]."
Wes, when not doing his work for Barlow Electric, is helping out with things at Scarlotta's. "[He helps] all the time," said Barlow, "[he] cleans the ice cream machine, fills ice, cleans the parking lot, anything we need. He's always here to help if there's a machine problem." She added that Wes sometimes works the grill. "He does all this on top of owning his own business," said Barlow. Laura is a fixture at Scarlotta's as well. "She manages the place with me and does the ordering and all that," said Barlow.
Payton does a lot at Scarlotta's; as manager, she has quite the responsibilities. "I'm always here, just making sure things run smoothly," said Barlow. "I do scheduling, the ordering, money management… my mom helps [me] do this too." This is in addition to her waitressing duties. "We have the cars, the deck, the inside [seating] and the window, so it's constantly crazy," said Barlow. "[I'm] always running around."
Barlow is no stranger to the fast-paced world of the food business. "I worked at Jen's (Pit Stop) for eight years, and I really liked doing what I was doing there," said Barlow. She also had the opportunity to gain car hopping experience there in 2020. "I did car hopping at Jen's when Covid hit so that was easy for me to adjust to."
Barlow enjoys her new business endeavor at Scarlotta's. "I am really happy to own my own business with my mom and dad in memory of my mom's grandfather," said Barlow. "I'm happy to bring Scarlotta's back ... everyone is happy to have it back." She looks forward to work. "[I like] seeing all my regular people," said Barlow. "[I like] knowing that I'm doing something that I love, [and] I also like being my own boss." She has gained great experience in the past years. "This is my 10th year of doing something like this," said Barlow. "It's super easy for me now. I feel like I could make an ice cream cone with my eyes closed."
For Barlow, another plus is the togetherness and cooperation of her co-workers. "My friends from college work here, girls I played field hockey with in high school, and the rest are my family," said Barlow. "We're like our own car hop family. We joke around, it's a pretty fun work environment." Barlow gave a shout out to one of the relatives. "Aunt Brittany is a huge part [of this] … she's really close," said Barlow, "when Mom or I aren't here, Brittany's in charge."
Barlow said she is committed to Scarlotta's for the long run, and has no plans of leaving. "It's what I'm going to do," said Barlow. "I'm looking forward to running [Scarlotta's] for the rest of my life. Hopefully my kids will take it over."
Although the first season of the revived Scarlotta's is far from over, the Barlows are already thinking ahead to improvements. "We [certainly] will be expanding in the future," said Barlow. "We have a lot of great ideas for what we will do."
Scarlotta's Car Hop is located at 45 Quaker Street, in the village of Granville. Hours are 4 to 9 pm on Mondays, 11 am to 9 pm Tuesdays through Sundays. Congratulations to Wes, Laura and Payton Barlow on their revival of Scarlotta's. Granville is thankful that it's back.
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The new playground at the Granville Elementary School opened in June, in time for the school's field day. All the previous equipment was removed and made available for bidding as surplus equipment last fall. The new equipment, installed earlier this year, consists of a new swing set; a "fortress" with stairs, climbing areas, walkways and slides; a mini rope jungle gym, and a climbing "stone" like arch. All equipment, excepting the "stone" like material, is done in blue and yellow to emulate the school colors.
The removed equipment included swings, an older "fortress", taller than the present one; a yellow layered plastic structure (called the "cheese" by some students); a "rock" climbing wall, and large and small hanging bars. The old rubber wall around the woodchips was also removed, and not replaced. Most of the old equipment dated from the early 2000s when the playground was last remodeled; the swings dated to the school's opening in 1961. The playground at the Mary J. Tanner School in Middle Granville was previously replaced in 2020; the swings there, also dating to 1961, were kept at that playground. Congratulations to the Granville Central School District for completing the modernization of the playgrounds of the two elementary schools.
Note: start of paragraph 10 edited to reflect editor's modification, and correct error introduced by said modification
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