Hometown Hillsdale: Mary Jo Dunlap, ’89: Local Restauranteur

Written by Doug Goodnough

As the owner of DJ’s Family Restaurant in Pittsford, Michigan, Mary Jo Dunlap, ’89, had a plan and Hillsdale College was part of that plan. Despite being a single mother of two young school-age children, Dunlap found the time to complete her associate’s degree at Jackson Community College. Needing a local bachelor’s degree option, she found Hillsdale College and transferred in to the business program.

“It was good. I had no issues whatsoever,” Dunlap said of her Hillsdale experience. “Everybody treated me just like every other student. I was a good student, and I applied myself.”

She credited professors such as James Juroe and Robert Blackstock for helping her through the business program. But Dunlap also enjoyed her classes in the liberal arts, especially U.S. History with John Willson.

“I didn’t like history in school. But (Willson) made it so interesting and fun, and I really enjoyed the class as an adult rather than as a kid,” Dunlap said.

With degree in hand, she was unsure of her next step. Dunlap recalled that during her childhood, Pittsford supported three restaurants in town. So she decided there was a demand for a restaurant, and took a chance on buying and then renovating an old, rundown building in the heart of town. Her brother, who operated a pizzeria in the Flint area, decided to close, so Dunlap purchased some of his used equipment and leaned on his expertise to establish the menu.

“I like to cook, and so some of the dinner entrées and the specials just come from my ideas and what I want to do,” Dunlap said. “And I take suggestions from customers. We try to do what people want.”

With a core menu of pizza, subs, and salads, DJ’s features unique items like the Spott’s Special, a sub with an eclectic combination of meats that oozes with cheese and mushrooms. Cheesy Noodles is an entrée only available on Saturdays, while the Janel Sticks are named after her daughter.

But it takes more than a menu and a building to run a restaurant. Dunlap said finding good employees is a top priority, and “we’ve always been pretty fortunate to have people come and stay for an extended amount of time.”

The building, which needed major renovations before it opened in September of 1991, was a work in progress.

“We were open six years before we opened the dining room,” Dunlap said. “It was just carry-out. We did that purposely because we wanted to make sure it was going to be viable before we plunged in and made more of an investment into the building.”

That carry-out focus proved helpful during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. With many family-owned restaurants struggling without dine-in customers, Dunlap said transitioning to a 100 percent carry-out model was not a problem. Currently, about 75-85 percent of the business remains carry-out, but Dunlap said dining room traffic has picked up during the last couple of months.

DJ’s hosts regular civic group meetings each month, and Dunlap said she tries to take a community- and civic-based approach to business. She was formerly the treasurer of Jefferson Township and currently is on the Pittsford Township Board of Review. She also has served on the Pittsford Memorial Day Committee for more than 30 years.

“I try to be active on what I can in the community,” Dunlap said.

She said she keeps tabs on the progress of her alma mater.

“It’s awesome what the College is doing, how it is expanding,” Dunlap said. “And I love hearing Hillsdale being mentioned by Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.”

DJ’s Family Restaurant is located at 9008 E. Market Road in Pittsford.


Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s new director of Alumni Marketing. He’s looking forward to connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.

 

 


Published in July 2022