Sam the cowboy stands tall outside The Cadet Restaurant waiting pandemic's end

An iconic roadside eatery remains closed since March, due to covid-19 restrictions.

The Cadet Restaurant, located along Route 422 in Manor Township, near Kittanning, has welcomed diners since opening in 1952. But owner George Morda, 90, said current coronavirus conditions are too dangerous to risk opening.

Morda said customers have been asking him when he’s going to reopen, but he isn’t giving a timeline. He wants to assure customers that rumors of The Cadet closing permanently are unfounded.

“I closed in January, and I’m not going to reopen until the virus is gone,” said Morda, who has owned The Cadet since day one. “I’m not retiring.”

The restaurant was open sporadically from its initial closure but hasn’t reopened since March.

Financially, Morda said The Cadet will be able to ride out the extended closure because he receives monthly lease income from a Sheetz that occupies the same lot. He also owns other business ventures.

Son Damon Morda said the restrictions are too many to justify trying to open.

“The costs and efforts involved with complying with regulations don’t make sense financially,” Damon Morda said.

The Cadet Restaurant is hard to miss, with a 30-foot-tall cowboy statue dubbed “Sam” and a retro-vibe. George Morda said the “Poorboy” double-decker hamburgers have always been the most popular item.

Originally called The Owl’s Nest, customers enjoyed dining at the first small drive-in restaurant in the Tri-state area.

Sam maybe the most photographed cowboy mascot anywhere. Holding a giant hamburger and crafted from fiberglass, Sam gets his name from a former officer that once patrolled the grounds.

Sam is featured in the book “Roadside Giants,” and was purchased in Chicago for $3,200.

He was toppled by a wayward vehicle colliding with a coal truck in 1990. He remained disassembled and out-of-service for 12 years until a communitywide effort to reinstall him proved to be successful.

For now, Sam hangs out alone on the business grounds, but the Mordas look forward to reopening in the future.

The popular car cruises are canceled during in the pandemic, and George said he hopes they will return too when things “get back to normal.”

“We’ll be back,” Morda said.