Mary Carol said, “Johnny used to say, ‘the family that works together eats well.’ ”

Ed said Pork Chop John’s has been in the Orizotti family for 47 years. The batter used for the pork chops is still a family secret.

“It’s been passed on,” Ed said.

The batter is still made by hand in a back room. But now the Uptown business takes up 6,000 square feet of the former Doyle Hotel.

In 1975, Orizotti bought a former Texaco gas station at 2400 Harrison Ave. and converted it into the Pork Chop John's location on the Flat. Rick said his dad was proud of the expansion.

Sheila St. Pierre, office manager of Pork Chop John’s Uptown location for 24 years, remembers Orizotti after he retired in 1984 due to his health.

“He was a peach,” St. Pierre said, choking up as she talked about him. “He’d make sure to stop in to come and visit with everybody. He’d tell me stories about the old days. He was great to tell a story. How things were when he ran it. How it was back in the day. You’d love to listen to Johnny’s stories.”