Raised in the Restaurant: Anthony Trapani on the Family Restaurant Business

Anthony Trapani started washing dishes at Grill 3501 in Allentown when he was about 14. Today he is an owner and COO of ZEST bar+grille in Bethlehem, Grill 3501, and Time, a rooftop restaurant in Easton: a family group of three restaurants and around 140 employees.

He sat down with Carter McKinney, who worked for Trapani in marketing for a few years when he was first starting out, to talk about carrying a family business forward instead of starting from scratch, and the everyday decisions that keep a restaurant healthy.

Raised in the restaurant

Trapani learned the business from the floor up. He bussed tables and washed dishes as a young teenager, ran food through high school, and served and bartended while studying at Northampton Community College and later Lehigh. A typical nine to five internship near the end of college convinced him that office work was not for him.

The opening for ZEST came almost by accident. The owner of a new building at Third and New Street in Bethlehem visited Grill 3501 and asked Trapani’s father about putting a restaurant there. His father said no at first. Trapani, who likes development, pushed to at least go see it. They were shown the first floor, then the sixth-floor rooftop, and once they saw the view, the family told the developer that if the rooftop did not work out, there would be no restaurant.

His parents put the decision to him directly: if he was in, they would do it, and if not, they were content with Grill 3501. He took about a week, talked with mentors, and said yes. ZEST celebrated its seventh year in business this past January. For Trapani, that choice changed how he sees work: when you build something for yourself, it stops being a job and becomes your life, and he says he loves his.

Leading at 23

Trapani was 23 when ZEST opened. He came in as one of the managers, working alongside two highly experienced managers, which let him ease into leadership instead of carrying everything on day one.

The principle he leans on is simple. Every payday represents someone’s livelihood, whether that person is hourly, salaried, or a tipped server, so decisions have to serve the long term of both the staff and the business. Letting someone go is never fun, he says, and it is not something the family takes lightly or does often.

Working with his parents and his younger sister, who is also in the business, means knowing when to talk shop and when to simply be a family. They look out for each other, and the goal is to represent the family well and create good workplaces.

“Every single two weeks when we have our paychecks, that is somebody’s livelihood.”

Rooftops, events, and the hard part

A rooftop in the Northeast comes with an obvious challenge: winter. ZEST keeps improving its outdoor space, adding an awning, new tiles, drop-down panels with heaters, and most recently two outdoor igloos. Lessons from building ZEST went straight into the plans for Time, and Trapani already has a short list of things he would do differently on a future project.

Private events are a major focus. ZEST has two private dining rooms and a cocktail party area, and it can host up to roughly 250 people for rehearsal dinners, showers, and business outings. It is now closed to the public on Sundays to concentrate on private events. Time’s terrace holds groups of up to 100 and has hosted engagement parties and a celebration for Lafayette’s men’s lacrosse team. Guests have included a group from Governor Shapiro’s office, and over Grill 3501’s 25 years, names like Dan Marino and Ariana Grande.

Every event gets the attention it needs. A baby shower might take a thread of 45 to 50 emails, while a business dinner might take six. Once guests are inside, Trapani says, a smile, good service, good drinks, and good food should be the easy part.

“The hardest part of the whole thing right now is just getting them in the building, getting them to think about you.”

Knowing when to pivot

ZEST launched brunch in April 2021, right as people were eager to get out again, and it ran strong for a few solid years before slowly declining. It meant ordering a separate set of food for one day, and it forced a quick turnaround for a kitchen that may have served 300 to 350 guests on Saturday night, with chefs back at 7:00 the next morning. Between staff morale, costs, and sales, the family dropped it and plans to open on Mondays instead, aimed at business dinners.

“I think that’s important with any line of business, identifying something before it’s too late to make that change,” Trapani says.

The same willingness to adjust shows up in Easton, where Time recently marked two years. At Bacon Fest, moving the restaurant’s tent from the edge of the festival to Center Square brought roughly 20 times the volume of the year before. Time also offers valet parking at dinner, Tuesday through Sunday, to ease a known parking problem downtown. Closer to home, Trapani admits Musikfest week tends to hurt business at ZEST, and the team is working toward a stronger partnership with ArtsQuest.

No finish line

Asked what comes next, Trapani says three restaurants feels right for now. He has been working with his wife, who is in real estate, on other projects to diversify the family’s income.

His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is honest about the tradeoffs. On Saturday nights he usually moves between two or three locations, but he also has flexibility most jobs do not offer. Strong general managers and executive chefs at each restaurant make that possible. He credits an understanding partner, self-awareness, and surrounding yourself with the right people, adding that his wife makes him the best version of himself.

“Don’t be frustrated with problems because they’re always going to come up. There is no finish line when it comes to running a business or having something going on.”