History repeating: mother hands restaurant off to daughter

By Josh Eiserike

Published: May 28, 2008

The Ol' Port Diner is more than just a place to get a home cooked meal. It's also a family affair, a business handed down from mother to daughter.

Frances Dent always wanted her own place. Her grandmother taught her how to cook, but most of Dent's six children weren't too interested in following their mother to the kitchen. Dent, an outspoken, casually dressed woman, opened True Grit, a Dumfries restaurant with a John Wayne theme, in 1990. You could get a 10-ounce burger, French fries, beans and cole slaw for $5.50.

"I always wanted to own a little place, just my husband and I," Dent, 69, said. "We had everything. We had hot roast beef, we had turkey, we had pork chops."

True Grit closed on Dec. 31, 2005.

Of her children, Dent was always the closest with Teresa Monk. They dress alike (casual), they both enjoy camping. While most of her other children were not interested, Dent passed along the secrets of the kitchen to Monk.

(The impression on Monk was nearly immediate. Monk has been in the restaurant business since before she graduated from Gar-Field Senior High School in 1981. She worked at Padrino's in Dumfries from 1980 to 1990, and helped out at True Grit for many years.)

When Dent closed True Grit, Monk was not ready to run her own restaurant. Still, it was becoming harder for Dent to run the business. She couldn't be there all the time and was getting too tired for all the manual labor.

"I was not taking care of my restaurant properly," Dent said.

She sublet the property to a Tex-Mex sports bar, Sport House Grill II (the original is in Arlington) for a couple years.

When they left, she passed the restaurant along to Monk, now 45.

Monk reopened the restaurant, the Ol' Port Diner, April 1.

"To own a restaurant, you have to really love the business," Monk said. "And that's to love the customers… I love the people, I'm a people person."

Monk, who lives in Spotsylvania County, also drives a school bus in addition to putting in long hours at the restaurant. She had booked four wedding receptions and two surprise birthdays by the end of April. It is also open for breakfast Saturdays and Sundays. Monk gets to the restaurant at 5:30 a.m. to bake biscuits.

She credits the restaurant's early success to hard work and what she learned from her mother.

"We just think a lot alike," Monk said. "I just believe in that you've got to work hard if you want something, no one's going to give it to you."

The Ol' Port Diner specializes in seafood, including delicious crab cakes (made with a secret ingredient). The restaurant, a wide, airy facility with a subdued nautical theme has an endless loop of beach music on the stereo.

"I already gave my mom notice that she has to work August 30 because I'm going to Jimmy Buffett," Monk said.

Still, getting the Ol' Port Diner up and running has not been easy. Monk needed to renovate the place from a sports bar to a more traditional restaurant, often with the frustration of not being able to do the work herself.

Monk had a tumor removed from the back of her right knee two weeks before opening the restaurant. After her surgery, she had to sit and keep her leg propped up, delegating tasks in order to get the place up and running. In addition to Dent and Monk, Monk's sister Rhonda Clyborne makes the diner's homemade desserts at Ol' Port Diner. Monk's children Anthony, 19 and Olivia, 22, both work there, as well as a couple cousins.

Today, she's back on her feet, but her mom is still helping out in the kitchen as the restaurant gets going.

"I'm just helping my daughter," Dent said. "I don't work here because I don't get paid."

Staff writer Josh Eiserike can be reached at 703-878-8072.