Sporting a Josh Allen replica jersey, Mark Fisher poses for a photo inside Fisher’s Family Restaurant at 711 W. 3rd St. in Jamestown. Fisher will be celebrating his 30th anniversary as its owner/proprietor on Wednesday. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Mark Fisher looks around the restaurant that bears his surname one afternoon earlier this month, his eyes searching for just the right place for a photo opportunity. Ultimately, he settles on a spot against a wall where a framed certificate hangs.

Signed by Chip Phillips of the New York Army National Guard Field Maintenance Shop No. 2, it reads: “Your friendly atmosphere and good food has kept our morale and spirits ready to complete the tasks at hand. Thank you for what you do, and continue to serve the Jamestown area with great food.”

The sentiment means a lot to Fisher.

“(Veterans) are my favorites,” he says. “None of us would be here without them. They’re incredible people.”

Fisher admits that he has come to know many other incredible folks, too, since he took ownership of the business at 711 W. 3rd St. in Jamestown on Oct. 1, 1995.

“I love all my customers,” he says. “I never would have gotten this far without them.”

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On Wednesday, Fisher will celebrate his 30th anniversary at the Third Street plaza location. Heather Butera, a waitress since the very beginning, said the restaurant will be decorated in celebration. Cake and cookies will be served, along with Fisher’s regular fare.

“I think I’m going to have a couple specials from 1995,” Fisher said. “Again, they won’t be any different. Bacon and eggs are still bacon and eggs. Other than that, I’m not the kind of person who likes to be the center of attention.”

Working in food service has been in Fisher’s blood for more than 50 years. He started at Pace’s Pizza in Jamestown as a 16-year-old and his career path has never changed.

“I went into the bar business for 22 years,” he said. “I ended up being the manager of the Thule Lodge, and I was there for 15 years. After that … I wanted to have a bar, so this is my bar. I just don’t have alcohol.”

But Fisher does have stories to tell. Plenty of them, in fact.

“I grew up on Third Street, but I never stepped foot in here,” he said.

However, after hearing that the restaurant — known as Watsons back then — was for sale, he finally did. And shortly thereafter he bought it.

“I gave (the previous owner) the money Oct. 1, 1995 and I unlocked the door with 10 cents in my pocket. That’s where it all began. I’m not much richer financially, but it’s been the most rewarding thing of my life.”

Having Butera as an employee certainly has been important to the success and longevity of the business.

“She was 18 and doing dishes (when I bought it),” Fisher said. “Wow, could she work. The only two people I kept were her and her mom. … She’s the best waitress I’ve seen with kids in my entire life. I’ve been in this business for 52 years and she’s the best. That alone brings people back.”

Added Butera: “I couldn’t ask for a better boss. … A lot of people don’t have a boss that you can come into work and tell him everything. He’s always been a listener.”

That trait has served him well through the years.

“I’ve learned to cook pretty good, but restaurants are funny,” he said. “They’re not about food. They’re about people. People go where other people are and they go where they like to be comfortable.”

One of the regulars was the late Bob Olson, a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army.

“Bob used to walk from his house up the street with a pointed stick with a nail at the end of it,” Fisher said. “He’d walk up and down all the way to the (Third Street) bridge and back, and he’d pick up cans or trash, because that was his calling.

“Maybe a month or six weeks (after opening the restaurant), I had to go out and talk to him. He was a real hero.”

To honor his memory, Fisher has many of Olson’s framed cross-stitch creations hanging on the wall of the restaurant.

“Other than my dad, he was the greatest man in my life,” Fisher said.

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Fisher is a die-hard fan of the New York Yankees, the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres. On any given day, it’s not unusual to hear him discuss with his customers how his teams performed the day or night before.

“Other than 2009 with the Yankees (who won the World Series that year), it hasn’t worked out too good,” he said with a laugh.

But what has apparently worked out very well was his decision to buy the restaurant three decades ago.

“Everybody’s got a story and I’ve been really lucky to hear a lot of them,” Fisher said.

One last story still makes him smile. On Oct. 1, 1995, his very first customer was a man he’d known for years.

“He said, ‘Let me have an English muffin,'” Fisher recalled. “I made it and I burned it. I gave it to him and he said, ‘Sonny, you have a lot to learn.'”

After 30 years, Fisher has graduated to the head of the class.