Gartner's New Supper Club Grand Opening – March 23, 1954

Gartner's Inn, located near the Elyria – North Ridgeville border on U. S. 20 (Center Ridge), has showed up on this blog as a topic a few times.

It seems to have been around since the early 1940s at the very least, judging by online newspaper mentions. Located 'out in the country' back then, it seemed to have been – not unlike Timbers Nite Club – a magnet for trouble and various violations.

Perhaps that's why the inn seemed to be trying to rehabilitate its image a few times. A 1947 New Year's Eve ad promoted the 'new' Gartner's Inn. And in March 1954, Gartner's Inn changed its name to Gartner's Supper Club. Here's the March 23, 1954 nearly full-page ad making the announcement. Note entertainer Lee Sullivan was the headliner.

So what's a supper club?

It seems to have been a Wisconsin thing that perhaps spread to other parts of the country. A supper club is more or less a restaurant. but a little more exclusive and intimate, with limited seating and a fixed menu. There was also more emphasis on ambiance.

Perhaps Gartner's was just trying something new to see if it worked. Nevertheless, within a few years ads for the business seemed to be unable to decide if it wanted to be called a supper club, an inn or a lounge bar. 

Here's a smaller ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on February 26, 1954, prior to the official Grand Opening in March.

By the early 1960s, it was back to being Gartner's Inn before changing to Porter House around 1963.

It was the Porter House for several years until it became Tiffany's Steak House and Brew in the early 1970s – continuing under that name until around 1996.
After a year with no directory listing, the address became the home of Lite Rock Cafe beginning in the 1998 book. After that, the address was host to a variety of businesses, some at the same time, including Home Plate Cafe, Roca Bar & Grill, Guys-N-Dolls, the Country Ridge, and Crissy's Lounge. 

Today, it is unclear if Indigo Salon still occupies part of the building.

C-T Entertainment Page – April 29, 1949

Well, it’s Friday – and many of you are probably deciding what to do this weekend for fun.

Sixty-nine years ago, people were doing the same thing. To help them decide, they might have consulted the entertainment page of the Friday, April 29, 1949 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, which is shown above.

Even though I’m not as familiar with Elyria as I am with Lorain, I think there’s plenty of fun things to peruse on this page.

It seemed to be the Golden Age of dance bands and trios.

Over at V. F. W. Post 1079, the Jolly Boys – formerly of the Hollywood Bar – were performing. I’ve mentioned the Boys several times on this blog, as well as the Hollywood Bar.

The Phil Nelson Trio was headlining at the Hotel Graystone, Don Wonderly’s Trio was at Davis West Side Cafe, and Charles Brown and His Orchestra was performing at Stoney’s Rainbow Bar. Charles Dickens and his trio were doing a live broadcast on WEOL at Gartner Inn, and The Tunesmiths were at Empire Tavern at the corner of Lake and Adams.

We can’t forget Doc Dolomore at the piano at La Porte Inn on Route 57.

Vacationland was also well-represented on the page, with an ad for dancing at the soon-to-open Ruggles Beach, as well as one for Crystal Beach, where Jimmy Dulio would soon be performing.

In the movie theaters, John Wayne was starring in 3 Godfathers at Avon Lake Theater; Van Heflin and Robert Ryan were featured in Act of Violence at the Capitol; Take Me Out to the Ballgame was at the Rivoli; the 1940 oater Billy the Kid in Texas was at the Lincoln.

We also see ads for the Oberlin Inn (just a nice ride for dinner), and the Melsport Tavern, where the weekly Friday Fish Fry was being held.

All in all, lots to do for fun in Elyria and all around Lorain County back then.

New Year’s Eve at Gartner’s Lounge Bar – 1953

Courtesy Pinterest

If you were looking for a place outside of Lorain (but not too far away) to celebrate New Year’s Eve 1953, a good choice would have been Gartner’s Lounge Bar. It was located out on U. S. Route 20, right across from Bendix near the Elyria/North Ridgeville border.

The above ad ran in the Lorain Journal a few days before New Year’s Eve, 1953. I guess puny party hats were in vogue back then.

Anyway, I did a pretty extensive history of Gartner’s here. 

It started out as an inn in the 1930s before evolving into a supper club in the late 1950s. Later in the 1970s, it became one of the two Tiffany’s Steakhouse locations. 

The building is still out there on Route 20, now the home of Crissy’s Lounge, where I don’t think anyone is going to be dancing to the music of the Continentals anytime soon. In fact, it’s the employees who do the dancing now.

(I decided against doing any field research for this post, as this is a family-friendly blog.)

Gartner's Supper Club Ad – Feb 1955

Back on my first post about Urban Miller's Supper Club (here), someone posted a comment about a supper club on the far east end of Cleveland Street in Elyria by the railroad tracks.

I could be wrong but they might be talking about Gartner's Supper Club. The above ad for the place appeared in the Lorain Journal on February 3, 1955 – 60 years ago this month.

The 'supper club' designation was probably just an attempt to be trendy. Actually this place was better known as Gartner's Inn and was located at 39462 Center Ridge Road. It was opened by Roy E. Fankhauser, a German immigrant, in 1937.

I found an early listing for the tavern in the 1941 Elyria City Directory. It was lumped in with a group of businesses at the east end of Cleveland Street (below).

Unfortunately, Mr. Fankhauser's name was often mangled when it appeared in the directory as the president of the company. In the 1941 book he is listed as R. E. Frankhausen; in the 1947 book as Roy Funkhouser; in the 1957 book, in the twilight years of the inn, it's finally correct.

Interestingly, besides being a tavern owner, Roy Fankhauser was also a pioneer in the area of vending machines. He had installed jukeboxes and bingo machines in his own tavern, and subsequently established a separate business on the side servicing other companies. This side business grew into Ohio Vending Machines and Entertainment, the single largest vending company in Northern Ohio. (You can visit the company website here.)

But let's get back to Gartner's Inn.

In 1947 a full-page ad (at right) announced the opening of the new Gartner's Inn, timed to coincide with the New Year's Eve celebration. A July 1948 article provided more promotion of the "new" inn, and a March 23, 1954 article described improvements done to the exterior of the place.

As the years went on, the Elyria city directories didn't always include the company's listing, as the Center Ridge Road businesses were technically in North Ridgeville. Thus, Gartner's Inn is a little harder to research and was omitted in the directories throughout much of the 1950s.

The last listing I could find for Gartner's Inn was in the 1962 book. Beginning in the 1963 book, the tavern's listing was now the Porter House.

1973-74 Tiffany phone book ad

It was the Porter House for many years until it became Tiffany's Steak House and Brew in the early 1970s – continuing under that name until around 1996.

After a year with no listing at all, the address became the home of Lite Rock Cafe beginning in the 1998 book. After that, the address was host to a variety of businesses, some at the same time, including Home Plate Cafe, Roca Bar & Grill, Guys-N-Dolls, the Country Ridge, and Indigo Salon (which I think is still sharing the space).

Time marches on, and tastes change. The era of supper clubs is long gone, at least in our area.

Today, the primary entertainment establishment at the 39462 Center Ridge Road address is Crissy's Lounge (below).