After more than 50 years as a local sports mecca, longtime Modesto restaurant sold
The cozy corner restaurant that for more than five decades has been home to Modesto sports fans, players, coaches and more has sold and will start a new chapter soon.
Coach’s Corner on Oakdale Road has changed hands, as married owners Krystal and Shiulal “Chubs” Harakh will step down from operating the place where they met and fell in love.
The east Modesto location has a storied past, spending 43 years as Monaco’s Bar & Grill — a place where Modesto power brokers, from cops to judges and high school football coaches, met in the windowless space for food and fellowship. Today the walls are lined with area sports memorabilia, and regulars still slide into its signature tufted couches.
The Harakhs first met there while they were both working at Monaco’s. He was already a bartender when in 1996 she started working as a waitress. Chubs, as everyone knows him, started working at the restaurant in his early 20s. For a period his brother owned the place.
Then, in 2009, his brother was forced to closed it down amid the recession. But then the next year, the same year they got married, the Harakhs reopened the spot as Coach’s Corner, paying homage to its long history as a place for local sports enthusiasts.
But after a dozen years running Coach’s Corner and keeping its traditions alive, the couple has sold to Nelson Ramirez. The Modesto resident also has owned the Ceres bar the Rusty Nail for the past four years. He plans to rename the restaurant The Standard Pub, and change some menu items and renovate inside.
The end of the Coach’s Corner era comes as regulars still show up like clockwork at the restaurant. In fact, Ramirez’s real estate agent is one of them, and was the one who connected him with the Harakhs when they first started thinking about selling.
Krystal said after struggling to get through the past two years of the pandemic, which she said they only survived thanks to the loyal support of their customers, they wanted to take some well-deserved time off and spend time with their eight grandchildren. Chubs also contracted COVID, and it made them reassess their priorities.
“After COVID we were realizing that life is short. We want to do more than just a restaurant,” she said. “It’s been such a big part of our lives, but we just can’t do it anymore. It’s been really good to us and we’ll miss it a lot.”
Chubs has put in some 40 years working in the same location, first Monaco’s and then Coach’s Corner, and his wife has about 25 years. Their kids have all worked in their restaurant in some capacity too, and their daughter Sofia Wilmoth is its manager.
Ramirez said he plans to keep their staff of about 10, including Wilmoth, and hire more as well. He has some 20 years experience working in bars and restaurants in the area, including as general manager.
His plan is to turn the location into a cross between a contemporary sports bar and neighborhood pub. That will include revamping the menu and renovating the space.
He said the Coach’s Corner name will likely remain until the fall, when it will then be rebranded. He also hopes to have renovations done on the space by the end of the year.
He said people can look to his bar the Rusty Nail to see how he has modernized a space. The watering hole is in the former location of Sweet Lu’s 4th Street Bar. Now it’s a sleek bar with VIP tables and bottle service.
But, Ramirez said he does plan to keep some of the Coach’s/Monaco touches. That includes a few of the favorite menu items like Chub’s Chicken and the prime rib. He also wants to create an area celebrating local sports, where some of Coach’s memorabilia and photos will go.
He said otherwise people should expect a new “pub-style” menu with gourmet burgers, different kinds of tacos, nachos, sandwiches and buffalo wings. He wants to expand the bar, which will incorporate some of the restaurant’s existing banquet space, and expand its hours especially on the weekends.
While Ramirez makes plans for the location’s future, the Harakhs said they’re grateful for the great life the restaurant has given them. Krystal said many of their customers have become like family, even attending their daughter’s wedding.
Monaco’s and then Coach’s has been the longtime home to the Quarterback Club, the nonprofit group that supports area high school football programs.
Chubs said it truly has been Modesto’s Cheers, the iconic neighborhood bar from the classic 1980s sitcom where everybody knows your name. When they reopened the space they carried on the Monaco’s tradition and kept its same menu and look.
“We have that special relationship with our customers. It’s a home for them. We’ve done Thanksgiving and Easter meals for them,” Krystal said. “The people from Monaco’s came back to Coach’s. They watched my husband and I meet there, fall in love, have a family here. We love our customers.”
