Roots in the Valley: Duke’s Upper Deck Cafe and a Homestead Small Business Legacy
For Joe Ducar Sr., the story of Duke’s Upper Deck Cafe is a story of family, persistence, and staying invested in Homestead.
In our three-part Roots in the Valley series, Joe looks back on opening the business in 1988, growing it into a restaurant, and building relationships that reach well beyond its doors. His experience offers a personal look at small business growth in the Steel Valley: the daily work, gradual improvements, and community connections behind a lasting local business.
Growing Roots: Building a Family Business in Homestead
Duke’s began as a sports bar. Joe remembers difficult early years, when keeping the business going required determination and a willingness to do whatever needed doing.
As the business earned money, he and his wife put it back into the operation. After about five years, they expanded into a restaurant. Joe eventually left his job with Coca-Cola, and the couple committed to growing the business while raising four young children.
“I was the gas and she was the brakes,” he says of their partnership.
He recalls busy nights, waiting customers, and doing everything from cooking to washing dishes. Family became part of the business as it grew. The progress came gradually, through years of work and reinvestment.
That history gives Duke’s its place in Homestead’s local business legacy: a family choosing to keep building where they had put down roots.
Built to Last: Investing in the Business and the Block
In Part 2, Joe explains that staying power requires continued attention to the customer experience. Good food, an updated menu, a safe environment, and improvements to the building all matter.
Customers saw that effort firsthand. Joe remembers working on renovations while the business was open, sometimes tearing out a wall while people were having lunch. He connects that hands-on approach to the area’s blue-collar mentality and the appreciation customers showed for the work.
The same care extended outside. Joe recalls his wife cleaning the neighboring property because its condition reflected on their own building. Keeping the corner clean became part of a broader commitment to caring for the avenue.
For entrepreneurs thinking about growing a small business in Homestead, that is a practical lesson: invest in the experience people have inside your business and the impression they get as they approach it. In Joe’s account, taking pride in the surrounding block was part of taking pride in Duke’s.
The Campbell Connection: Giving Back to the Steel Valley
Part 3 follows Joe’s relationship with William V. “Bill” Campbell. Joe recalls a connection that began around Campbell’s interest in supporting the Steel Valley football program and developed into a deeply personal friendship.
Their shared love for Homestead became a foundation for community work. Joe describes support for athletic facilities and youth sports, along with foundation-funded crews helping keep the avenue clean.
One of his favorite memories involves a police officer introducing him to a police dog named Duke. Joe says he had purchased the dog for the police force, and learning its name was a moment that made him especially proud.
The story brings the series back to the relationships behind a local business. Joe’s commitment to Homestead grew through family, customers, friendship, and opportunities to help the community around him.
Local Business Legacy and the Steel Valley’s Future
Duke’s story gives a human face to the conversation about economic growth in the Steel Valley. Reinvestment, persistence, and care for a commercial district are visible in the everyday choices Joe describes.
Watch all three parts of Roots in the Valley to hear Joe’s story in his own words: Growing Roots, Built to Last, and The Campbell Connection.
Thinking about starting or growing a business in Homestead, Munhall, or West Homestead? Explore Steel Valley Accelerator’s resources and discover more local business and community spotlights!
