Great Food, Good Causes Always on Tap at Glory Days
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ong-time Middleburg resident Richard Danker has been around restaurants all his life. And now, his sports-themed establishments are all around Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia, with more to come as he and two partners ponder places to expand their popular Glory Days brand. With over 20 locations, the closest to Middleburg is located between Aldie and South Riding. There are now franchises in Richmond and Tampa, Florida, with future expansion contemplated for North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Several smaller versions on the same theme called “Fan Fare,” also have been opened. The restaurants, at 6,000 square feet, include 30 televisions, most tuned to sports programming. One set always carries cartoons, the better to keep the little ones occupied, and every table has its own adjustable speaker to pick up the TV sound. There’s an expansive bar area, but calling Glory Days just another sports bar would be a grievous mistake. These are restaurants where The Food is just as important as The Drink, and it’s all family-friendly. One of the most popular beverages is “The Shark Attack,” just for kids. It’s a mix of Sprite and grenadine that comes out of a plastic shark’s toothy mouth into a glass, turning the Sprite blood red. It always evokes squeals and giggles, and the shark goes home as a souvenir. The extensive menu is loaded with burgers, sandwiches and salads, but there are more than enough mouth-watering appetizers and entrees for any gourmet or even vegetarian
palate, as well. Any sports bar you know that serves up fish tacos? In the beginning, when the first Glory Days opened in Burke in 1996, it was mostly limited to typical bar food—lots of wings, and other nibbly things. About ten years ago, Danker and his partners—Jeff Newman of Fairfax and Bob Garner of Pasadena, Md.— brought in Tony Cochones as their food and beverage director. He’d been a widely-respected chef at the Capital Grill in Washington, and he immediately upgraded the menu. “He’s really raised the bar,” Danker said. “There is nothing Tony doesn’t know about food. He works with all the restaurants. He creates the menus. He does food tastings. Purchasing. He’s made a huge difference.” Glory Days also has tried to make a huge difference in their local communities. Each restaurant sponsors youth teams and clubs, has fundraisers, offers discounts for charitable groups and donates food to other worthy causes. It’s also a perfect after-game gathering place, win or lose. Glory Days annually sponsors a 144player charity golf event at the Piedmont Golf Club course in Haymarket, raising $50,000 per tournament, with 80 percent going to the Sunshine Foundation, an organization that grants wishes to terminally ill children. Danker learned the restaurant business from his late older brother, George, who for years owned Danker’s in downtown Washington at 12th and E, NW, close to the National and Warner theaters. It was a classic steak and seafood operation popular with lunch and dinner crowds, as well as late night after-theater patrons. “I started when I was 16,” Danker said. “Washed dishes, worked in the kitchen. George
M i d d l e b u r g L i f e
By Leonard Shapiro For Middleburg Life
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courtesy photo
Glory Days marketing director Charissa Costa and owner Richard Danker at Redskins Park.
taught me how to cook. I knew how to cut meat, and I was the kitchen manager. It was in my blood.” The restaurant closed when its lease ran out in 1994, and Richard Danker moved to Middleburg and opened Dank’s Deli. After the Glory Days start-up, he sold Dank’s to its cook, Pedro Fuentes, and his wife, Maria. Pedro had come to the U.S. from El Salvador as a teenager, and had worked at Danker’s in Washington, starting as a busboy. “Hard-working people,” Danker said. “They’ve done a great job with it.” He’s also particularly proud to say that his own three now adult children, and the six other
kids of his two partners, have all worked at Glory Days at some point. The restaurants have provided hundreds of part-time or summer jobs for high school and college kids, as well as offering career opportunities as chefs, managers and other executive positions. Has he ever considered putting a Glory Days smack in the middle of Middleburg? Probably not, Danker said, “but in this business, you never say never. For us, it’s one day at a time, one store at a time. With Glory Days, we saw a niche. If you serve good food and make it attractive for everyone in the family, people will come.” n
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