Here's another Lorain phone book ad for McGarvey's, this time from 1958. I really like the typography in the restaurant logo.
The illustration has a nice little reference to the restaurant owners in the form of the names on the boat: Charlie Solomon, who bought the restaurant from the McGarvey family (but didn't change the name), and Eddie Solomon, who ran the restaurant for more than forty years.
The unsung artist who created the illustration captured the restaurant pretty well.
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More McGarvey Memories
Faithful blog reader Jeff, who often posts comments, remembered how the restaurant used to get flooded after the river thawed.
I remember how the place flooded after the really bad storms, such as the infamous July 4, 1969 storm. (I do remember my family driving over to Vermilion to survey the damage after that storm, passing by McGarvey's as well as Mill Hollow.) That musty odor in the lower level of the restaurant became part of the ambience of the place!
Another thing I remember about McGarvey's was the 'GANGWAY' sign outside, which was a source of amusement for my siblings and me. We never got tired of yelling "GANGWAY!" as we shoved each other out of the way on the way into the restaurant.
Once the original McGarvey's building was torn down and replaced by Red Clay on the River, it was never quite the same. Red Clay was a pretty good restaurant, and we ate there quite a few times, but it's pretty difficult to try and replace a landmark.
Now Red Clay is gone and replaced by a chain restaurant. I'm glad something is in there that people enjoy, but I wonder if 30 years from now if anyone will wax nostalgic about Quaker Steak? (I gotta admit, that name has bugged me since I first heard it – talk about appropriating someone else's brand equity!)
thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember the name of eddies restaurant in Elyria?
ReplyDeleteEddie Soloman also opened a restaurant in Grand River , Ohio called the Beachcomber. It featured a fabulous seafood buffet with fresh Maine lobster, prime rib, jumbo shrimp cocktail, twice baked potatoes and much more. Anyone remember the Beachcomber. My grandmother was the chef/cook and my mom was the hostess/manager. Lou Bovee was the bartender.
ReplyDeleteI sure do! I worked at Tartan Marine and went there often! It had great food and atmosphere! Marlene Robinson
DeleteAs Will noted, the Sandusky Register of March 7, 1961 reported that “A second McGarvey’s restaurant will be opened in April on the Grand River at Painesville, known as McGarvey’s Beachcomber."
ReplyDeleteMy mom was the hostess/waitress at McGarvey's from the mid 50s to about 1961 when Eddie Solomon sent her to Grand River to open his new restaurant. My mother was the manager/hostess of the Beachcomber in Grand River and my grandmother was the chef. I was about 11 years old I helped my grandmother in the kitchen. One of my jobs was to boil the lobsters, which arrived from the east coast shipped in wooden barrels, packed with seaweed. The seafood buffet on the weekends was splendid, which included my grandmothers homemade puff pastry for her lobster Newburgh.
ReplyDeleteJust an aside, my mom was the model for the advertising material at McGarvey's. I fondly remember, both McGarvey's and the Beachcomber.
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