When Set-Back Inn’s new owner Tom Capalety took over the bar and restaurant at 7335 Roosevelt Road he invested in the most modern conveniences. In spring of 1955 Set-Back Inn installed the first public color TV in town, had air conditioning and standing-room-only crowds gathered around the color TV set.
In the photo above, published by the Forest Park Review on On Sept. 8, 1955, Capalety shows off his TV inside the establishment, which was reportedly packed for a “major color telecast.”
Set-Back Inn, has been replaced by the South branch of Forest Park National Roosevelt Road and Circle Avenue, was a restaurant and inn in the early 1900s through at least the 1950s. It served patrons of the Harlem Race track, where Forest Park Plaza is today. The establishment was named for the unusual entrance — the building did not border the sidewalk, so directions to the establishment were, “It’s at Circle and Roosevelt, set-back from the sidewalk.”
Tom Capalety invested in many improvements after he purchased the historic building in 1954. It was one of Forest Park’s most prosperous establishments with a beer garden, pizza oven and the first public color TV in town.
Capalety, a Forest Park Kiwanis member, was an Oak Parker and veteran World War II. He flew in 70 missions in Europe and was recalled for the Korean Campaign. He only owned the bar for a short time and then went on to another buisness venture.
