About Louis

Biography

Louis Tate, the founder and operator of Luigi’s Ristorante, an authentic Italian cuisine dining room and tavern in downtown Clymer, is one of the Class of 2022 inductees to the Indiana County Business Hall of Fame.

Tate is a lifelong resident of Clymer, a son of noted political figure William “Skip” Tate and Barbara Tate, and a graduate of Penns Manor High School.

After many years employed at the family-owned supermarket in Clymer, Tate found himself at a career crossroads at age 30 in 1984 when the former Benamati’s Bar, which then became Angie’s Bar went up for sale. With his family’s backing he placed an offer on the business, found out another offer was made and withdrew his offer. Lou’s bid to buy the bar was then accepted, and the rest is history.

Lou and his brother Ed launched the Luigi’s brand first on Franklin Street and then in 1999 opened a second restaurant that Ed operates in DuBois in northern Clearfield County. Luigi’s in DuBois enjoys the same widespread acclaim and draws discriminating diners from a widespread region of west-central Pennsylvania.

As a spinoff from the formal dining restaurant the Tates operate on Franklin Street, Lou took over a vacant storefront on Sixth Street and opened Luigi’s Pizza shop in 1988.

Lou faced a second crossroads in 1996 following a fire in the kitchen of Luigi’s Ristorante. An extensive closure for restoration and renovation provided the opportunity for the Tates to expand with the construction of a new dining room and larger kitchen. The growth of Luigi’s paid off as the restaurant enjoyed even wide acclaim as one of the best family dining spots of its kind not only in Indiana County but in the region.

In its decades of operation as an economic anchor on Clymer’s business landscape, Lou brought the restaurant’s drawing power and goodwill to bear as a platform for community service events and functions of all kinds. The United Way of Indiana County, the Indiana County Community Action Program, Clymer Little League, Penns Manor Football Boosters, Clymer Fire Department and PennDOT have all benefitted from the restaurant’s philanthropy.

Following the path to community service laid out by earlier generations of the Tate family, Lou ran for election to Clymer Borough council and now serves as the council president, and is also Vice Chairman of the Clymer Borough Municipal Authority. There, his initiative and leadership have been dedicated to improvement of the town’s business district. Tate dedicated his efforts in 1991 to the erection of a monument to the victims of the county’s most tragic coal mine disaster, the Sample Run Mine explosion of 1926.

Through the fortune of Lou Tate and his family’s business ventures in Clymer and in following with the Tates’ commitment to making Clymer a better place to live and work, the borough completed a memorial park on Sherman Street to honor the community’s war dead and named it Tate Park, in honor of William and Barbara Tate.

The Indiana County Chamber of Commerce welcomes Louis Tate, a member of the Business Hall of Fame, Class of 2022.

Watch the Video