Old Restaurants

[frankcor]

King Cole Restaurant was once where Teddy's is now. And there was another on S. Gennese St. in Utica. King Cole Plaza?

[Clipper]

Oh hell, let the tail go with the hide, and make myself look really old. Does anyone remember Wittig's Ice Cream Parlors. There was one in New Hartford on the point where Genessee St and the Clinton Road used to come together before the arterial and all the other stuff up there. They also had stores where Manny's Cheesecake is on Onieda St and the Parkway, one in Whitesboro Plaza.

Deller's Restaurant on Schuyler St. was another great place. It had great German food and a busy bar. There is also Kitla's if it is still open. Used to go for a fish fry, and hang at the bar for the dancing and entertainment later. The Plaza Hotel in Oriskany had good food at one time, but I think it was more known as a bar when it burned down.

One of my favorites from the 80's was Beck's Grove. They used to have a seafood buffet on Fridays, that included all the steamed shrimp and coctail sauce you could eat, and crab legs. They quit doing that and turned it into a dinner theater.

[Ralph]

How about the original Tiny's?...when Ed owned the place and Anne was in the kitchen?
My mom used to work there during the summers off from school.

They grew their own hot peppers...hot enough to take the paint off a car!!!

[kim]

Dellers? I remember Dellers! When my husband and I first started dating, we had our parents meet for the first time, in that restaurant! My husbands parents had never been there, which I thought odd since they're from Germany! When did that place burn down? Must have been the early 90's.

[Clipper]

The old Tiny's!! Oh yeah! HOT peppers on a keilbasa sandwich, and a cold frosty beer! ( I still drank when I used to go there). If I remember correctly, they bought their keilbasa from the old Polonia Meat Market on Lincoln Ave, and their rye bread was fresh daily from the bakery on Lincoln Ave also.

Ralph is right, those peppers were the hottest peppers I had ever ate. It was a "two beer" job to cool your mouth back down.

[wcup102]

I remember S Kickers, Unwind Inn, Nofri's and Dandee Donuits. All places my parents wouldtake us kids. Great memories!!! I also know of Paul Coleman's place in A Bay. My parents were good friends with him and I went in there a few times when I was up there. I introduced myself and he remembered my parents and he sang while we were there too. This was several years ago, though.

Does anyone remember Donalty's in Utica? I think it was around Columbia or Lafayette St. I barely remember that place, only that my father and grandfather would get a hankering for Limburger sandwiches and a beer so mother and grandma would load us kids in the car in our PJ's and to the city we would go. We all would wait in the car when "the guys" would go in. We hated the smell of that and still do LOL~!!! They would usually stop at Woodside(where Stewarts is now and there was a Gulf station there at one time that my father worked at just after I was born. I think the name of the station was......Clipper help me out here.....mind fart...who owned that...I GOT IT Sherwood Wolf!!!!!!) in Holland Patent and get us an ice cream on the way down. The we would fall asleep. WOW I guess my mind aint that bad after all. OK what was I saying........

[Clipper]

Oh yeah, Donalty's was a great place for lunch. They had limburger cheese either in a sandwich or on a plate with vinegar and pepper.

It was a real bargain. They had liverwurst and bologna sandwiches, with the meat cut about 1/2 inch thick, slathered with hot mustard, for 35 cents. You could get a "short draft" beer for 15 cents and a 10 or 12 ounce beer for 35 cents. they were also known for their baked beans.

It was a known fact that they were the biggest sellers of Utica Club beer in the city. They still had wooden "full kegs" long after the rest of the bars went to aluminum 1/2 kegs.

[beowulf]

Here is a list of establishments that I recall. I have been away from the area for several years now, but I remember a few.

Coalyard Charlies - went there every night (for a year or so). 12oz butt steak, get your own butter at the salad bar. We usually ate after spending a billion dollars on the Missile Command game.


Fric and Fracs
Red Coach ?
Rusty Nail
Dandee Doughnuts
Brick Oven
Table de Hote (sp?)
Trunfio's
Aylesbury
Keg & Cleaver - I think it turned into Aylebury or other way around
Pirates Cove
The 59-69
Red Lion - site of our 3 hour lunches
Clinton House
Kyuta Drive-in (sp?) - on Rte 12 north of Utica. Very nice people, let met eat and promise to pay later (which I always did)
Buffalo Head - wow, great people there too!!
Silver Wings Service Club on Griffiss just instead Floyd Gate. "Cow Pot" was great.
Unwind Inn - had a great stuffed Bluefish lunch that was cut short when I noticed the wood chips falling from the ceiling onto my plate - huge carpenter ants were enjoying their meal as much as I.

[dgriffin]

I vaguely remember Coalyard Charlies being the site of a night out with the boys before my wedding in 1965. I was just at the Buffalo Head last fall. Not bad, but not like it used to be.
Anyone remember the Villa on Leah and Taylor? Great FF in the fifties and even into the early 60's, before becoming just one more neighborhood dive. I lived just up the street as a little tike in the late forties and my grandmother took me there often on Friday nights for a fish fry.
And Prop's in New Hardford and Audettes on Taylor and Eagle. Sure .. Kayuta for an ice cream cone.

[countrygal]

We still go to Coal Yard's once in awhile. Food is still pretty good. Fric and Frac's just went out of business within the last year or so. Red Coach.....we used to go there after dancing and drinking at JJ's and the Boogie. I ate once at the Table de Hote when I was a kid. It was under a building on Black River Blvd. I think.

[Clipper]

You are right Countrygal. The Table de'hote was in the basement of a motel up near Price Chopper on Black River Blvd. Food was not that exciting, but it was nice place to have a business lunch when I worked at the base. It was in the building that Dr. Joel Amidon bought, and turned into a medical office building. Then he was in the old Sambo's restaurant building, and the last I knew, he was on Chestnut St. by the old supermarket building behind Dunkin Donuts.

His divorce cost him dearly. He ended up giving his wife the Sambo's building, and she also owned the old Unwind Inn building for awhile. I don't think she does anymore, since Aquino's went in there. He was a pretty good doc, but I always went when his partner, Barry Morgan was there. Morgan was up by Ridge Mills school last I knew.

Is the Table De'hote building even still there?

[countrygal]

Yes, I think it's still there. I don't pay attention when I drive in that area. I'll have to look the next time I'm over that way.

I used to go to Dr. Morgan too. My Mom was one of his last patients. He was forced into retirement by the jerks that own the practice. He didn't want to retire, but they made it very difficult for him there. He let his longtime patients know the truth. He's been "retired" now for at least 3-4 years maybe.

[kim]

The Clinton House is some sort of research place for Hamilton College now. Sigh. I spent a lot of time in the bar in the basement of that place!

[lilbump1980]

is anyone familiar with east utica? if so do you remember Politeri Joes aka sloppy joes.. ... ( i am spelling it wrong i am sure) there was not a menu.. it was on the wall.. they threw your silverware at you along with italian bread still in the bag.. And don't ask for butter.. they didn't have it.. you could be grated cheese on your bread.. Best food ever.. they are now closed.

[dgriffin]

I sure do remember what as kids we called "Scabby Joe's." You could have dinner for a family of 6 for ten dollars in the early 1950's.