Page 9 - BusinessWest November 24, 2025

“We have a lot of
repeat business,
and we have
people that say,
‘I can’t wait until
they put out those
specials because I
want to see what
I’m going to have
this weekend.’”
working for us — I’d say a good five families like that. It’s so cool.”
Both Tanseys attribute much of the restaurant’s success to its
staff. In the early days, Sue said, “if we came home on a Sunday
and we were over $1,000, we’d be like, ‘oh my God.’ Now, we serve
400, 500 people on a Sunday.” And they appreciate those putting in
all the work to make that happen.
“Everybody makes fair money; I pay them well. I don’t chintz
around. And if we do have a great week, they get extra,” Mark said.
“How is that money going to enhance my life? I could use it, but
in the long run, by giving everybody 50 bucks, it works out better,
because they’re going to stay, we have less turnover, less training. I
didn’t know that in the first five years of business, but after a while,
we did.”
The result is clear in the waitstaff’s hustle and demeanor, he
added. “That’s how we want it. I want people to feel fun and not
have a grumpy person greeting them.”
Serving Up Challenges
Sept. 3, 2014 was not one of those fun days.
That’s the night the Tanseys were summoned to the restaurant,
which had suffered a major electrical fire caused by degraded con-
duits across the street.
“If you looked in the window, you wouldn’t think we had a fire,
but it was all electrical damage; everything was permeated with
smoke,” Sue said. “They ended up having to take the building
down.”
Thankfully, an insurance policy allowed them to operate at
another spot, and they opened Partners at the Cup on Route 20 in
West Springfield the following June. Before that, however, “we still
had catering to do,” Mark said. “Because I had a rapport with Six
Flags, they had a kitchen out in the back. It was winter, and they
weren’t using their stoves and ovens, and they didn’t charge us at
all.”
First Baptist Church of Agawam also allowed the couple to cater
from there, so they paid rent to the church to do that for a while.
“We had people come out of the woodwork to help us rebuild,”
Mark said.
Partners reopened in December 2015, and the couple ran both
locations until 2020, when the Cup closed for good.
As difficult as the fire was, however, COVID may have been
worse. “I think I still have PTSD,” Sue told BusinessWest. “It was
difficult to figure out the PPP, but we rallied, and we came up
with menus. We had family dinners. We did takeout. We had a few
employees that weren’t afraid, and we ran a skeleton crew.”
That was when Siena came home from Boston, where she had
she studied hospitality and was working at the Omni Parker House
until it closed, and started a new career at Partners.
“We also fed our employees; we would have employee dinners.”
Sue recalled. “It was very hard work. We did fish and chips Friday
night, and people would pre-order. We had a little side window that
worked out perfectly, so people didn’t have to come in.
“But every Monday, we waited for [then-Gov.] Charlie Baker to
drop another hammer. Every Monday, there was another restric-
tion on us. It was awful. But then we were able to open outside,
and we put up a big tent. Eventually, we ended up coming back
inside, though we had to go from 80 seats down to 40, with barriers
between them. But we still had our loyal employees.”
“Thank God for them,” Mark quickly added. “Especially during
COVID. We were not surprised, but taken aback by how much sup-
port we got.”
It’s not just the restaurant that has succeeded, but a catering
business that has taken many forms and operated in many settings
over the decades, and now includes an event space that opened two
years ago right on the Partners property, which can accommodate
parties of more than 400 people.
On both sides of the business, Mark said, they use as much
locally sourced, fresh food as possible, from produce to breads —
no canned vegetables anywhere. And patrons look forward to the
ever-changing specials board, which benefits not only their taste
buds, but the bottom line.
“You can get bacon
and eggs anywhere at
$6, $7, $8. But I want to
Partners
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Business W est << FEATURE >>
NOVEMBER 24, 2025
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