Nicholas A. Zoto, business leader and award-winning restaurateur, dies at 83

Nicholas A. Zoto, 83, of Newtown, an award-winning restaurateur who served on local business councils and presidential committees, died Friday, Jan. 1, of acute coronary syndrome at home.

Mr. Zoto liked to say he was “just a kid from West Philly,” and he was, growing up on Yewdall Street between 54th and 55th Streets. But he also won commendations for his restaurants, worked alongside three Philadelphia mayors to improve small business practices, and hobnobbed with three U.S. presidents.

“He was just a leader,” said his wife, Margaret. “He always wanted to be involved.”

“You could count on him no matter what,” said his daughter, Andrea Shannon. “Everybody turned to him, and he always backed you up.”

Born on May 29, 1937, Mr. Zoto was the oldest of four children born to Albanian immigrant parents. His family was active in the St. John Chrysostom Albanian Orthodox Church, and he later served as a parish council chairman and received the Knight of St. George award in 1993 for outstanding service to the church.

He graduated as class president at Bartram High School in 1955 and enlisted in the Army when he was 19. After his service, he met Margaret Burdumi, and they married 18 months later, in November 1959. Together for 61 years, they had three children — Michael, Andrea, and Christopher.

“He was always concerned about his children,” his wife said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better husband or father.”

Mr. Zoto’s family got into the restaurant business after his father and uncle, newly arrived in Philadelphia from Albania, found jobs at a Horn & Hardart restaurant. That led Mr. Zoto and his father to purchase and operate Zoto’s Grove in Northeast Philadelphia. Mr. Zoto and another partner then owned and operated the Red Oak in Center City. Finally, he and his brother Steve owned and ran Zoto’s Diner in Hatfield and Cobblestones in Society Hill. Only Zoto’s Diner remains open.

The Philadelphia Delaware Valley Restaurant Association named him restaurateur of the year in 1992 and honored him again four years later. He also served on small business advisory councils from 1981-93 under Mayors William Green, Wilson Goode, and Ed Rendell.

Mr. Zoto was also active in Republican politics during the 1970s and ’80s and met Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush. He attended Reagan’s inauguration in 1981 and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1984. He was selected for the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships in 1985 and served as a representative from Pennsylvania at a White House conference on small business in 1986.

“He believed in the country and the government,” his daughter said. “He was a patriot.”

Mr. Zoto loved to read, and “his books are still piled up all over the house,” his wife said. He followed the Eagles and Phillies, and wore their hats almost everywhere, even when traveling to Albania, Italy, France, Israel, England, and elsewhere.

He was sometimes mistaken for actor Omar Sharif, and his wife said some friends urged Mr. Zoto to run for mayor at one point. But he said he didn’t want to relocate from the suburbs back to Philadelphia.

“It is impossible to count the number of people that Nick greeted, fed and came to know as friends over his 83 years,” his family wrote in a tribute. “Nick touched the lives of many, and has been a catalyst for change for all the things he held dear.”

In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Zoto is survived by brothers Stephen and James, six grandchildren, and other relatives.

Services and interment were private. Donations in his name may be made to St. John Chrysostom Albanian Orthodox Church, 237 N. 17th St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19103.