Kewtie Sandwich Shop

If you drive down Seventh Street from Broadway nowadays, in the middle of the first block you might notice two parking lots opposite each other on both sides of the street.

The parking lot on the south side of the street is where the Lorain Journal used to be located before it moved to its present location on Broadway. But the parking lot on the north side of the street is where the Kewtie Sandwich Shop was located at 204 Seventh Street.

The 204 Seventh Street location first showed up in the Lorain City Directory in the 1924 edition, as the home of the cabinet business of Frederick J. Hicks. Subsequent directories continued to list the Hicks cabinet business right into the early 1930s.

Finally, around 1933, the address became the home of the Kewtie Sandwich Shop, run by Arthur and Alf Damm.

1936 Lorain Phone Book Restaurant Listing

Alf Damm continued to be associated with the Kewtie right into the early 1940s.

It appears that a change in ownership occurred sometime around 1941. That's when a gentleman named Dave Adler became the proprieter.

Here's the ad announcing the change, which ran in the Lorain Journal on July 22, 1941 – 74 years ago this month.

It appears that the new owner really tried to make it a nice place with a more ambitious menu. He also promoted his local suppliers in the ad, including Bazley Meat Market, Baetz-Barber Dairy, Franklin Beverage, Arvay Potato Chips and Continental Coffee.

I'm not sure if it all worked out, because the Kewtie had a new person in charge by the time of the 1942 directory. Mrs. Rosa Creveling was the newest person listed. Strangely enough, by 1945 Alf J. Damm's name was associated with the restaurant again.

It was in the 1947 edition that Robert Lane took over the restaurant, remodeled it and renamed it Lane's Grill. Here's the ad announcing the changes, which ran in the Lorain Journal on July 14, 1947.

Robert Lane's name was associated with the restaurant until the early 1950s, when Ethel M. Dounds was listed as managing it.

I guess you can't keep a good name down, because by the time of the 1954 directory, the restaurant was listed as the Kewtie again.

Near the end of the 1950s, its listing in the directory changed to Szabo's Restaurant. And by the early 1960s, it was listed as the Ralmar Restaurant.

The Ralmar name continued to be listed in the directories until around the time of the 1973 directory, when the name changed to Frye's Lunch Counter. Two years later, the restaurant became the Montezuma Restaurant.

The 204 Seventh Street address was listed as vacant in the 1978 directory; the address disappeared entirely in the 1982 book.