It might not be the place where they know what every customer goes by, but after 70 years in business the staff at Rod's Grille most likely knows what's your go-to dish. And it's that kind of care, attention to detail by the Rodrigues family and their employees that's made it such a successful seven decades.

The beloved little local restaurant opened seventy years ago this week on December 22, 1955 a few doors down off Main Street where the Handkerchief Factory is now. Rod's has been at its 6 Washington St. locale since 1965 or thereabouts, according to Raymond Rodrigues Jr. who still runs the joint with his daughter, Meghan.

"I don't want to sound like we're 'Cheers' where we know everybody's name, but we know everybody's order," said Meghan, referring to the lyrics of the theme song from the classic sitcom. "We know you. We know what you like. We want you to feel like family when you're coming here."

Family is at the heart of Rod's Grille, now in its fourth generation of operation. Mariano and Margaret Rodrigues were the original owners, who first passed it down to their son, Raymond Sr. and his wife, Eleanor. Ray Jr. was next in line  with his sister, Sandra, who passed away in 2020. And around the time Sandra took ill in 2013, Meghan returned to the fold.

She actually is now in charge of day-to-day affairs. Ray Jr., who lived most of his life in neighboring Bristol, splits his year traveling between Warren, where he took up residence earlier this year in the multi-family unit he owns behind the restaurant, and the Azores, where he and his wife travel to often.

After a brief foray elsewhere following her college graduation in 2011, Meghan soon heeded the call back to Rod's much like her dad did 30 years earlier. Just like father as well, she spent most of her childhood at the restaurant, so it seemed second-nature to return to the family fold.

"I was working for another company, trying to see where I wanted to go with it," said Meghan, who graduated Southern New Hampshire University with a bachelor's degree in restaurant management. She also holds an associate's degree in baking and pastry arts.

"So my aunt got sick in 2013 and that's when I decided to come work here full time," she continued. "And then after that, I really just loved it. I love the family aspect of it, keeping it in the next generation. So, I stayed here."

Ray Jr.'s story is similar in some respects. He, too, spent much of his formative years at Rod's, but thought he'd do something else later. It just didn't turn out that way.

"I was 17-years-old, graduated high school and I wanted to be self-employed," Ray said. "I'm 17, you know, I'm not going to work with my father. I'm going to do whatever I want. But in reality, I'm in love with this place. It's me. If I'm not here now, when I leave now for a few months, it's not easy. I don't do the work like I did, but I'm still here. It's still part of me."

It's hard for the Rodrigues crew to get away from Rod's. Ray's mom, Eleanor, worked there until she was 89. It's also difficult to not go back to the grille once you've been there, which explains why it has had such a loyal clientele for seven decades.

"Definitely, the small town diner vibes, the red seats, the checkered floor. It's a lot like it's always been. The hot wieners recipe is what my great-grandparents started with. It's been in the family. Nobody else knows the recipe," Meghan said of why the business has thrived for so long.

She continued, "My employees are a big part of it as well. Robin (Holmes), she started here in 1994. Diane (Braun), our cook, she's been here since '92. We have a girl, Julia (Fontaine), that also works with us. She was working here at 16, and now came back years later. Christine (Jorge), she's also been here since the early '90s. She still works on Saturday. Ashley (Rose), all my employees are obviously a huge part of the vibe."

Meghan also gave huge credit to her dad. He is the strand that stretches back to the past and continues to this day.

"A big part of that, and he probably won't even answer the way I'm going to answer, is him," daughter said about father. "He's a big part of it. He's the one generation out of the four generations that's been involved the longest. He's definitely the one who added things. He added french fries and burgers to the menu. He's the one who hired Robin. He's the one who hired Diane, Christine. These girls are all still working here 30 years later. So he kind of set the tone."

Ray was almost brought to tears thinking about his daughter's words and by the thought of having her continue the family legacy.

"To have my daughter here, it means a lot," Ray said, as he regained his composure. "I worked for my family for a long time. It's not easy. It's tough running the business with your family. With your daughter, you expect her to go and you want her to go do different things. I know how hard it is to run your own business, never mind a restaurant, being in it all these years. But her coming back and working for me, it means the world. I don't want to say the world, because everything means the world. But it means the respect that she has for the business, for the family name, for the industry that she works in. And she cares about the customers."

The customers who return day after day, week after week, year after year, have been at the heart of Rod's success. The menu, including breakfast all day every day, hasn't changed much since 1955. It's basically bacon and eggs, pancakes and sausage, burgers and fries, comfortable diner fare.

Meghan has helped modernize certain aspects of the business in recent years, bringing in a POS (Point of Sale) system for credit and debut card purchases. She also ushered in online orders through rodsgrilleri.com.

"TLC. That's my secret. Everybody asks me what my secret was, and I always said TLC," Ray said. "We put in the tender. And because of the care we put in, the customers love to come back. And that's what's kept us in business. It's the families and the generations. Not just my generation running the business. It's the generations coming back. That's what made this business last this long."

Sticking to basics has worked quite well over these many decades. (BTW, for those wondering about what's in the wiener sauce recipe, Ray said cheekily the secret is the same "TLC.") Never tempted to switch things up too much, except for the few homey additions to the menu, Ray said did consider the possibility of franchising, but by doing so, he explained, Rod's would lose that cozy, familiar feel.

Added Meghan, "It is families. People that come back into town for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July. If they're visiting family, their first stop is here. We've had people come right off a plane, making us their first stop. They had to get their Rod's fix."

As it turns out the grille is, in a very good way, an addiction for the Rodrigues family. The fifth generation is already in the mix. Ray's other daughter, Ashley, recently had her first child, also a daughter, Vivian, whom she brings often to the restaurant and who may someday take it over. Whoever succeeds Meghan will undoubtedly continue to have the same appreciation for those who have and continue to patronize Rod's Grille for 70 years now.

"I'd just like to thank all the people over the generations, the families that have come in and all the people who have worked here over the last 70 years. Aunts, uncles, older ones that are not here anymore," Ray added. "And I just want to thank all of the customers. They're the most important. Without them, it wouldn't be a business."