In October, Reminder Publishing presented a group of stories with a Halloween theme. One of them dealt with urban legends concerning the former Vincent’s Steakhouse in West Springfield, which is supposedly haunted. This newspaper reported one of those legends that was not based in fact: that the founder of the restaurant had committed suicide. Vincent Lanzarotto did not.

We regret the error.

In an effort to set the record straight, this reporter spoke to Ronald Lanzarotto.

Ronald has heard the stories of his late father Vincent’s restaurant being haunted and he quickly dismisses them. People report smelling cigar smoke and attribute it to his father. Ronald said his father didn’t smoke cigars. Noises are heard and Ronald explained one should expect creaks and groans in a building constructed in the 1820s. Water pipes that shake have a perfect natural cause, and Ronald has shown people who have operated the restaurant since his father’s passing in 1976 why they shake.

For Ronald, these rumors and stories obscure the legacy of Vincent, who became one of the best-known and respected restaurateurs in the region. He opened Vincent’s Steak House in 1951 with partners and managed it until the time of his death from heart failure at Baystate Medical Center in 1976.

His father had a phrase to describe his restaurant: “gracious dining without extravagance.” Ronald, who worked at the restaurant with his father in many capacities, said it was so popular that two-hour waits on Saturdays were not uncommon.

The steakhouse was a goal that Vincent long sought. While working as a bus boy he had a dream of having a restaurant of his own one day.

Vincent paid his dues and furthered his restaurant education with employment at establishments such as ToTo’s in Northampton and the Wayside Inn in West Springfield before opening Vincent’s Steakhouse in November 1951.

Ronald said his father “always hired people with no experience except for the chefs” in order to train employees with the skills they would need.

“He trained them in the proper way to run a restaurant,” Ronald explained. “No short cuts, no bad habits.”

Vincent was dedicated to the best service and the highest quality ingredients, Ronald added. The success of the restaurant was Vincent demanding the best quality from his suppliers.

“When you got prime rib at Vincent’s, you got prime rib,” he said.

Besides the main restaurant, there was a banquet facility in the rear of the property that served as an overflow dining room on busy days, Ronald said. The Hill House was connected to the main building by a covered walkway for the convenience of customers and employees.

In the dining area, was an open hearth on which chefs dressed in kitchen whites prepared steaks. Ronald, who cooked there, recalled how they had a system in which they would stack a steak that was to be cooked rare on top of a steak that was well done.

Vincent’s was one of the restaurants in the area that became a favorite with the performers at the summer tent theater at Storrowton. Ronald recalled stars of the 1960s and ‘70s such as Bob Hope, Pat Boone and Red Buttons coming to Vincent’s every time they performed at Storrowton.

One night on the “Tonight Show,” Hope declared he had the “best meal of his life” at Vincent’s.

Vincent was known as “Mr. Vincent” to many of his patrons. His father always thought his first name was a good one for a restaurant, Ronald explained, that would capitalize on the following he had built at other establishments.

Vincent served as the vice president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. “He won many awards but he never bragged about it,” Ronald said. “He was very, very humble.” Among the accolades, he received the Albert Gordon Award for outstanding restaurant management for 1961-62 from the National Restaurateurs Association.

Operating a restaurant is a “very demanding business,” Ronald said, but his father loved it.

“That was his pleasure. He loved the business,” Ronald added.

It was a family enterprise with Ronald’s mother and sister also working there.

Despite a number of eateries that have been taken over the location, Vincent’s Steak House is still remembered today by many.

“He was a good man, he taught me a lot,” Ronald said of his father.