Danny Monaco, owner of Hoffstot's, Chelsea Grille in Oakmont, dies from covid complications

Daniel “Danny” Monaco, owner of Hoffstot’s Cafe Monaco in Oakmont, died Sunday. He was 75.

Monaco and his brother, Tom, started the business in 1971, taking over the Oakmont restaurant Hoffstot’s and featuring their grandmother’s Italian recipes.

They later opened Cafe Monaco, a smaller restaurant with a different menu, next door. In 1990, the brothers renovated the spaces, creating Hoffstot’s Cafe Monaco, which continues offering Italian specialties, as well as a bar and catering menu.

Sept. 7 would have marked 50 years owning the restaurant.

“He was so excited to make it to 50,” said his daughter, Dana Monaco. “That was such a huge accomplishment for him.”

She said there will be a celebration of his life at the restaurant on its 50th anniversary.

In addition, Monaco owned and operated the Chelsea Grille, just a few doors down off of Allegheny Avenue.

“He was larger than life,” Dana Monaco said. “He always went above and beyond.”

She remembered him as a great father to her and her sister, Danielle.

“If I ever needed anything, he came in on a white horse,” she said.

Executive Chef Brian Leri worked with Monaco for 26 years. He said Monaco died of covid-19 complications after fighting the virus for about three weeks.

He remembered Monaco as a kind and generous man who always supported his restaurant staff and the community.

“He always made sure the restaurant was taken care of,” Leri said. “That was his baby.”

Monaco was a strict businessman, Leri said, but also a “pillar of the community.”

“He was such a presence,” Leri said. “Wherever he would go, he was so well known.”

Monaco donated hams to the police department every year and contributed to Toys for Tots at Christmas. People would often come into the restaurant asking Monaco to support local charities — and he’d always say yes, Leri said.

“There was a homeless man, and every Christmas, my dad would go and bring him Christmas dinner. He would go find him every year,” Dana Monaco said. “He was a person that everyone wanted to be around. He always made everyone smile.”

Raised in the Larimer neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Monaco served in the Navy as a mechanic for small boats, another brother, Jerry, said. He served on the USS Tidewater from 1965 through 1967.

“He thought going into the service would be an honor and allow him to figure out what he wanted to do,” Jerry Monaco said, adding their father served in the military.

“He had a good, kind heart,” Jerry Monaco said. “He would always be helping people.”

Leri, who is a part-owner of Hoffstot’s Cafe Monaco, said Monaco wanted to ensure the restaurant survived after his passing.

“We’re going to continue on his legacy here at the restaurant,” Leri said. “He told me many times, ‘I want you to keep what I started going.’ ”

For those in the community who knew Monaco or patronized his restaurant, Leri said, the best way to remember Monaco is to support the business he loved.

“If you want to honor him, come to the restaurant,” he said. “He always wanted the restaurant to be full.”

Dana Monaco said she’s grateful for the community support after her father’s passing.

“He was just very loved,” she said, joking her father had “way too many friends.”

The restaurant, she said, will keep his legacy alive.

“The best way to support him and his family is to support the restaurant,” Dana Monaco said. “It’s been a struggle with covid, so if you want to support him, support us, come out to dinner. That’s what he would want.”

The restaurant is open for dine-in and takeout.

Memorial donations to the Light of Life Rescue Mission or Oakmont Chamber of Commerce also are appreciated, Dana Monaco said.

Friends and relatives will be received at Burket-Truby Funeral Home in Oakmont from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday. A private funeral service will be held at Calvary Cemetery.