Wow, what a busy week it was on the local food scene! Several restaurants suddenly closed, a new one opened and another changed ownership. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dig in.
Charley’s Cheesesteaks has opened its second location in Charleston, this one taking up shop inside the old Verizon phone store near Lowe’s in Kanawha City. It joins the Charleston Town Center location, which fills the food court spot occupied by Steak Escape for so many years.
Specializing in (no shock here) hot, melty cheesesteaks and tangy wings, Charley’s at 5760 MacCorkle Ave. SE is now open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. For more information, call 681-587-0806 or visit www.charleys.com.
Hens & Heifers and Crisppi’s close
In related news, it was not a good week for chicken. Both Hens & Heifers in Elkview and Crisppi’s in Huntington closed their doors without fanfare last week, leaving a coop full of mixed reviews in their wake.
Located at Crossings Mall in what used to be a Ponderosa, Hens & Heifers struggled to gain traction after opening last year, with negative or mediocre customer feedback outnumbering fans who loved the place.
And if you ever need a case study on how not to run a successful restaurant, just look up Crisppi’s in Huntington.
I’m not talking about Huntington hero and part-owner Randy Moss, per se, but rather the managers and marketers they had running that specific location.
Those employees regularly mocked their own customers – and the city itself – because local folks dared to express a desire to have ketchup with their fries, which Crisppi’s adamantly refused until a few months ago.
I don’t know how you think you can insult the very folks you need to support you and still hope to stay in business. Let’s just hope they learned their lesson before opening a new location elsewhere.
Larobi’s of Campbells Creek & Sbarro’s close
It wasn’t a good week for pizza, either.
Larobi’s of Campbells Creek suddenly closed after only about six months in business inside the renovated building that once housed Dairy Winkle before it was damaged by fire in January 2023.
Although there were other items on its menu, the place was widely known for the pizzas popular at its original location in St. Albans.
Meanwhile, Charleston Town Center lost another restaurant when Sbarro’s quietly closed its counter in the mall’s third-floor food court. Known for giant slices of pizza, Sbarro’s was one of the mall’s longtime dining spots.
Jim’s Spaghetti under new ownership
Family owned and operated for 86 (count ’em, 86!) years, the iconic Jim’s Steak & Spaghetti House at 920 5th Ave. in Huntington is entering a new era under non-family ownership.
Vicki Dunn-Marshall has purchased the restaurant from Larry Tweel, Jimmie Carder and Ronald Tweel, the children of original owners Jim and Sally Tweel who have been operating the place since their parents’ deaths in 2005 and 2016, respectively.
“As their children, we have proudly carried on the traditions of Mom and Dad at the restaurant,” the siblings said in a Facebook post. “However, after serious consideration of our advancing ages and with a treasure trove of wonderful memories of this community in our hearts, we have collectively decided to sell the restaurant rather than close it. We feel a great responsibility to our employees and customers who have been loyal and faithful to us for over 86 years!”
They said the new owner plans to continue the time-honored traditions their father established throughout the years, which helped Jim’s to become the first West Virginia restaurant to be named an “America’s Classic” winner by the James Beard Foundation back in 2019.
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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.