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Wonsowicz, who won five World Series titles with the New York Yankees as coordinator of advanced scouting, recently opened W's Village Grille with his wife, Leslie, in Waldwick. The family previously owned W's Grill in Oakland.
For the Wonsowicz's, the restaurant is a homecoming. The family lives in Waldwick and wanted to open a restaurant in their community, their daughter Paige said. They celebrated a grand opening on Tuesday, April 4.
While Charlie's natural home is at the baseball diamond, where he wore #87 for the Bombers, his family had a history of owning restaurants.
"This was the perfect fit for him," Paige said. "He spent years on the road and was able to transition to running a business and seeing his family all the time."
Moving the restaurant from Oakland to Waldwick was a natural fit. The new restaurant is only 12 minutes from the old one and it allows them to keep their old clientele while attracting new customers, Paige said.
Paige said W's Village Grille aims to be a family friendly restaurant that makes you feel like you're at home. And given Charlie's background, it's only natural for it to be the spot to watch the big game.
Owing to Charlie's Yankees past, the restaurant is filled with Yankees memorabilia from a lot of the players he worked with over the years. And to make sure all area baseball fans are accommodated, Paige said there is even one Mets jersey.
Yankee players are even known to pop in from time to time, Paige said.
When they took over the restaurant, the Wonsowicz's committed to doing a huge renovation of the property.
"It's a major facelift," Paige said. "We did added four tap lines and a brand new bar area. We put in new flooring and new light fixtures. The kitchen was completely gutted and brand new. A lot of work went into it."
Paige said customers rave about the cheesesteak egg rolls and love the W's wings.
W's is most well known for its burgers, which include the Warrior Burger with bacon, egg, American cheese and ham and the Panther Burger, with cheddar cheese, sautéed onions and bbq sauce.
"We make a good burger," Paige said. "We want people to go home full and happy."
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