The Saratoga has been a fixture of the community in Terre Haute since 1942.
Though some things have changed around the restaurant and bar, one thing has remained constant for more than 40 years – Betty Azar.
Betty walked into The Saratoga in 1975, and has worked there ever since.
"One day Abey called me and … said come on we just want you to try, and if you like it stay," Azar told WTHI-TV. "He gave me a table of 10, I'll never forget that front table 10. I waited on them and he said now you want to work, and I said I guess so."
Azar has been putting smiles on customers’ faces ever since.
At age 91, Azar is showing no signs of slowing down. She said what keeps her going is the people.
“I love it here and I love the people, I love the customers. All the customers have always been so nice to me,” Azar said.
Azar’s daughter married into the family that owns the restaurant, and now Azar works side-by-side with her granddaughter Alexis.
“Every day I think to myself, when I’m her age I hope I can be doing what she’s doing because she’s so happy, she loves it, she looks forward to it,” Alexis said.
Because of her age, Azar only works on Thursday afternoons now. And customers go out of their way to make sure they go to The Saratoga on Thursdays just to see her.
“This is something she looks forward to and wants to do and I think it keeps her young, I really do,” Alexis said. “I really think it's special that we get to work together, and I know that when that time comes that we can’t anymore it’s going to be really hard.”
But until then, Azar will deliver her food with a good laugh and an infectious smile.
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