Centre County eatery rises to fill need in rural community, gears up for 2nd season
Katie Mantz-Weller laughed as she described her relationship with her husband, Chad Weller, and their recent business endeavor, The Phoenix, a restaurant located in Howard.
“Here we are, living our Hallmark-sort of story,” she said.
Chad is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained executive chef within a State College company that caters to fraternities. He’s worked in food in some form or fashion his entire life, and actually got his start working in food via the area fair circuit as a preteen. Katie works in the forensic science program at Penn State. The two met in 2021 and married within six months — and much like they quickly fell in love, they also “almost fell into” opening what is now a passion project and community hotspot for affordable bites in a family-friendly atmosphere.
In 2024, the two were looking for a new place to call home. They continuously drove by what is now The Phoenix, a building that has been home to a handful of restaurants in recent history, situated at 11053 N. Eagle Valley Road. While it caught their eye, they weren’t sure they could afford the space, even though Chad dreamed of opening his own business.
“Then, we saw on Facebook that the people who owned it reduced the price on it,” Katie said. “So we set up an appointment to take a look at the building. The restaurant is the bottom floor of the building and there’s an apartment on top.
“We took a look at it on a Monday and, on Wednesday, we were putting in an offer. ... We needed a place to live and it had the restaurant. It was perfect for us.”
The two opened The Phoenix for seasonal service in May 2025 and quickly gained a local following and cohort of regulars. Now, the restaurant operates normal hours throughout the summer, with special pop-up service throughout the fall, winter and spring.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Katie said.
The restaurant isn’t just an entrepreneurial experiment, though. It carries deep personal meaning for both Chad and Katie, starting with its name.
“We were trying to come up with names. We came to The Phoenix because we both have started over,” Katie explained. In 2019, she was diagnosed with, and later beat, cancer. “Going through that process certainly changes how you look at life and, for me, part of the rising above and being reborn that The Phoenix represents is coming through that experience. It made me a bit braver and stop putting things off until later, which led to me meeting Chad and being where we are now.”
She left a life in California, working in politics, before moving to Pennsylvania to pursue her career in forensic science, “basically from scratch.”
Chad similarly was rebuilding his life after leaving a prior relationship, before the two met.
“Together, we’re sort of rising from the ashes, starting over — and look at where this has brought us,” Katie said. “So that’s kind of how we landed on the name for The Phoenix.”
As for the menu and pricing, as Chad developed the restaurant’s offerings — which range from smash burgers to cheesesteaks, hoagies to a host of sweet treats — he recalled moments as a single father and not always being able to treat his children to a nice dinner or a round of ice creams.
“When we were trying to figure out how much we’re going to charge and [what] we’re going to serve, he was like, ‘I want to feed the people who live here. I want to make sure that the people who live here can come and eat the food,’” recalled Katie. “So we really try to be price conscious, really try to make sure that we are feeding the people that live here and making sure that everyone can afford to eat here.”
It’s an effort that the community has greatly appreciated, coming out in numbers far exceeding what Chad had originally anticipated.
If you happen to be among those eager customers when The Phoenix opens for the upcoming summer season, May 16, consider ordering one of the restaurant’s best-sellers from the last year: a cheesesteak or smash burger. Or, you can go with one of Katie’s favorites, like the turkey hoagie (made with Chad’s from-scratch Italian dressing) or strawberry pretzel sundae.
Once open, The Phoenix’s hours will be 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesday through Monday.
In the meantime, keep an eye on The Phoenix’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ThePhoenixEats, for details regarding upcoming pop-ups. The next is slated for March 28, 11 a.m.–7 p.m., or until The Phoenix sells out, with a menu including cheesesteaks, wings, BLTs and Italian wedding soup, plus fries, onion rings and ice cream.
Holly Riddle is a freelance food, travel and lifestyle writer. She can be reached at holly.ridd@gmail.com.
