If it weren't for a strange twist of fate 20 years ago, the Everything But Anchovies menu would offer only escargot and croissants instead of Tuscany Bread and Bubba's Specials.
"There was a French restaurant, but nobody knew how to cook French food, so we started making pizzas," EBAs Co-Owner Charlie Dowd said.
And so EBAs was born.
In 1979, Charlie's older sister, Maureen Dowd, was left with a lease for a small space on Allen Street, after her would-be partner fled town with the money they were to use for the restaurant.
The Dowd siblings gathered to support their sister, realizing there were few options. Maureen "had a choice -- lose all her money or make it work," Charlie said.
They made it work.
From their home in Cape Cod, Mass., the Dowds moved to Hanover for six to eight months at a time to work at EBAs.
Maureen worked from the beginning with her sister, Amanda Dowd, working weekends until she could work full time.
Charlie moved up to attend Hanover High School so that he could work part time. He continued working weekends through his time at the University of New Hampshire.
In their restaurant with only 30 seats, the Dowds took orders on matchbooks, cooking burgers and trying to figure out how to make a pizza.
But success was in the making. The Dowds decided that after five years they wanted to make $1 million in sales, a goal they managed to reach.
"There was a team of people that were consistently committed to make it work," Mickey Dowd, another Dowd sibling, said.
Originally called Maureen's Cafe, the restaurant's name was changed when Hanover resident Robin Seton won the contest for the best name.
Slowly over time, all of Dartmouth students' favorite items were added to the menu. "The menu was basically created with student's suggestions and developed. There was no master plan as to how to develop the market," said EBAs Co-Owner James Dowd, who was in sixth grade when EBAs was started and still works there today.
Mickey also worked at EBAs, but when he married, he went another way. Purchasing a farm house in 1989, Mickey started Dowd's Inn in Lyme, N.H.
Today Dowd's Inn has 24 rooms with conference and banquet facilities for up to 250. Another Dowd sibling, Tammy, manages the inn.
Next he purchased the Alden Inn, a stagecoach inn on Rt. 10, used in the 1800s. Today, the inn has 15 rooms and a full restaurant and tavern.
All three ventures have been successful, but Mickey remembers them all as being "brutally hard to start."
The effort to start these businesses has paid off, and nowhere is this more evident than with EBAs. The restaurant has seating for over 150 -- a massive expansion for a restaurant that started with seats for 30.
"We had lines of people outside," Charlie said about the need to expand the restaurant.
Despite the increase, the restaurant is consistently full during peak dinner hours, James said.
The Dowds created EBAs, but for their success, the credit goes to many people, Mickey said.
"We owe a lot to our staff," Charlie said, "Our staff and customers were the ones that made it happen. We are blessed with a great staff and a great customer base."
Executive Chef Dave Firmodig, creator of such items as the Bubba's Special and Buffalo Tenders has worked at EBAs for 14 years and cited job security as the reason he came and stayed in Hanover. "I knew the restaurant was going to be here a long time," Firmodig said.
The Dowds "treated me with respect. It has been a very good experience [working at EBAs]," Firmodig said.
Firmodig is one of many dedicated and hardworking employees, James said. "There are four Dowds, but it takes the 175 employees to make it all work."
Charlies thinks the Dowd family has been touched by the entrepreneurial spirit of their father, who was in the hotel and real estate business.
There are 11 Dowd siblings -- five of whom are currently involved in Upper Valley business. Almost all of them have been involved at some point.
The Dowds' influence and ideas have reached many students and faculty at the College.
"We have tried to provide students a place to come that is Dartmouth-oriented, where you can come and get a good value," James said.
As almost every student orders EBAs or attends a formal at the Dowd's Inn, there has been constant interaction between the Dowd family and the College.
Over time, the Dowds have come to understand how the College works. For instance, "on Wednesday nights there is a lull in business for a few hours because of meetings and at quarter-to-two the night before exams, there is a flood of orders," Charlie said, showing his knowledge of student habits.
