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Slow down! I've often been told this but not for the reason you may think. When well-meaning family members tell me to slow down, they are talking about my eating habits, not my driving.
Admittedly I do eat faster than most people. It's not a great habit, but when you grew up at a crowded dinner table of 10 or so people, you learned to eat quickly or lose out, especially to my seven brothers. They could polish off a loaf of bread at one sitting, not to mention two huge meatloaves and fixings.
I eat to live, not live to eat like some folks who savor each and every bite of food. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good meal, just on my own terms. Speaking of food, I have received a couple of requests from former Congressman David McKinley of Wheeling to write a column about the many eateries that once graced the streets of the Friendly City.
He said earlier this summer, he attended a reunion of sorts and the conversation turned to memories of eating at various places in Wheeling in the 1950s and 1960s.
McKinley noted the following from that conversation. "Several of us recalled Louie's Hot Dogs, Stone's Tea Room, the Hamburger Inn, Zeller's Steak House, the 12th Street Grill, Greg's, Figaretti's, Yanda's, the Bella Via, Seibert's, the Cricket Club on Waddles Run, Ernie's Esquire, Acker's, Shultzy's sandwich shop on the Island, Ye Olde Alpha, the ETC, Saseen's, Braden's (at the Mayfair Theater) and Oglebay's outside dining area prior to the construction of Wilson Lodge.
"DiCarlo's Pizza, Burger Chef, Jim's drive in and Elby's Big Boys were our limited fast food choices. There were others that appeared in the latter part of the '60s like Pizza Inn and Cook's White Eagle Cafe in South Wheeling. I'm not as familiar with restaurants and diners on the Island and Warwood. Your readers might enjoy nostalgically adding to this list," McKinley added.
Now I don't claim to be a historian on this subject, but I did pick the brains of a few folks who added to the list of other restaurants from earlier days, some of which still operate today. They included: Brooks Restaurant, Howard Johnson, Eric's Steakhouse, the Dinner Bell, The Anchor Room, Coleman's Fish, Pappas Beef House, the Pancake House, Isaly's, Kennedy's Fish Market, Zien's, Arthur Treachers, Winky's, Christopher's Cafeteria, the Riverside, Abbey's and the lunch counter at G.C. Murphy's. There were ethnic foods -- Chinese, Lebanese and Greek -- thrown in there as well.
The above-mentioned list of restaurants is far from complete. So if you would like to add your thoughts, don't hesitate to email me with your food memories. I would be happy to do a follow-up column with your suggestions.
And now I will head to the fridge and see what's for dinner.
Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at hziegler@theintelligencer or by regular mail at 1500 Main St., Wheeling, WV 26003.