Rife's Market 1946
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DATELINE MAY 2004
Tracey Hawkins asked: “A couple of folks were sitting around the bar at
The Clarmont the other night. Someone asked ‘What is the oldest upscale
restaurant which is still open in Columbus?’”
Tracey,
here’s the “oldest” lineage evidence, compiled by The Dispatch’s
Grumpy Gourmet.
Stagecoach Days - Gahanna Grill, 82 Granville St., has been at the same spot
since the days when horse drawn freight wagons pulled off National Road (U.S.
Rt. 40) for rest and libations. Original opening date lost in time. (Today is
famed for the Beanie Burger, a hold over from the Hoover Depression when it
was known as the Boomer Burger, of Beanie Vesner.)
1886 - Schmidt’s Sausage Haus, German Village, started as a sausage maker,
but has not been a full service restaurant all those years. Today Schmidt’s is a
major tourist draw in the Village.
1897 - In any debate about the "oldest" restaurants, the address
of 19 Pearl St. (angled corner at :Lynn Alley) comes into play.
Today and for much of the recent century, it has been The
Ringside. As to whether it has been a restaurant or a bar since 1897
is grist for the debate mill. Truth be known, the spot once served
as a bootleg joint during the Hoover Depression when Prohibition
was on the books but not enforced by lawmakers half a block away.
Downtown legend has it that 19 Pearl during the 1920s operated
behind locked doors, unmarked by any signage. In the 1950s The
Ringside was one of those neutral zones for the press. Reporters
for the old Columbus Citizen and Ohio State Journal (later merged
to be the Citizen-Journal) met to trade gossip that eventually ran as
marginal fact in the Columbus Star, the tabloid published in Columbus
that preceded the National Enquirer. The gossip funnel into the Star was named Paul Pry Jr.
1907 - Tom Johnson’s Seafood Restaurant, originally a huge restaurant at 116
S. 4th St., so old that it once had dirt floors topped with sawdust; today
known as Ray Johnson Fish Market, 111 E. Main St. Here’s the evolution of the
place that today serves everything (deep fried or fresh to go) seafood for
carryout only. Tom’s was sit-down, but in the early days of a hundred years ago the
place had ice cases in the back selling fish to go. In 1962 urban renewal
forced Tom’s son, Ray Johnson, to seek another site. It became Ray Johnson Fish
Market operating from a converted car wash. Today it is owned by Ray’s daughter,
Betsy, always found in the kitchen doing the chowders, bisques and fried
everything that swims.
1912 – Resch’s Bakery, at 4061 E. Livingston Ave. since 1960, originally opened
by William Resch a biscuit toss from the long closed Reeb’s near Ohio avenue at east Livingston. Resch was a German immigrant. His new shop quickly gathered in wholesale accounts. That practice continues today with grandson Frank Resch who supplies all bread products to the Maennerchor.
Resch’s qualifies as a restaurant since it has two café tables for patrons who want to sample a wide array of cakes, pies, Danish, and cookies being made with original German recipes. Resch’s today operates with around 36 employees, half of them part-time. Our records show that Resch’s Bakery is the oldest operating bakery in Columbus.
1929 - TAT Ristorante di Famiglia, now at 1210 S. James Rd., but the good
Italian name has had many addresses since first opening at 409 W. Goodale St. in
1929 by the Corrova family where they made the first pizza in the city - for
family only. Pizza had yet to be discovered hereabouts. In 1950 TAT was moved
to 3281 E. Main St.; in 1953 a TAT was opened at 33 N. James Rd. by Jimmy
Corrova who later in 1962 opened TATs at 3858 Sullivant Ave. and 810 Beechwood Ave.
In 1970 Jimmy Corrova opened his fine dining venue where it remains at 1210
S. James Rd.
1935 – Knotty Pine, 1765 W. 3rd Ave., has been a popular Grandview area tavern with food for all these years except for about six months in 2004 when it was being rehabbed by new owners Richard Dick and Jim Savage.
In a measure Knotty Pine is the outgrowth of a small grocery owned in the Depression years by Biase (Chick) Ciccone. He opened his small market in 1923 in a building across the street from the Pine, at 1770 W. 3rd Ave. As Ciccone’s Market it moved across the street in 1933. With two separate rooms, one continued as a market, the adjacent one as the Knotty Pine. In 1935 he operated it as a tap room. He moved his market in 1951 to the adjacent lot which today is the Columbus Italian Club.
Margaret Ciccone today keeps the family history by dates and years. Biase died in 1958. His son, Gildo Ciccone managed the restaurant until his mother, Maria, leased it to Carl Scartz. Scartz eventually bought the business in 1968 and changed the name to Carl’s Knotty Pine.
Through all ownerships, the Pine has kept the culinary faith of Chick Ciccone – Italian fare. In the 1990s one set of owners added ribs and chili, but never tampered with spaghetti and meatballs.
Dick sold his interests in the Knotty Pine in early 2005. Savage is sole owner of record.
1936 - Rife's Market, 1417 W. 5th Ave., while not a “restaurant” per se,
this rustic little produce (fruits and vegetables) may lay claim to being the
earliest deli-styled destination for prepared foods for take out. The late
Charles D. Rife opened his fresh air market selling only produce that he personally
collected from countryside trips into Kentucky, West Virginia and southern
Ohio. He sold from the back of a truck and a shed which partially still exists
though it has been expanded and updated with necessary utilities. He son, Wayne Rife, enclosed the place and added a fresh meat market that today is a
destination for the faithful from all of Columbus.
It was son Wayne who started selling such as baked beans, egg salad,
chicken salad, and ham salad. Today the fourth generation keeps to the roadside market appearance. Ohio Proud should put Rife's on some sort of honor roll for
keeping to the policy of pushing Ohio-grown everything. Example: One of the last
true Franklin County farmers, Glenn Elfrick, brings in seasonal corn and
pumpkins to Rife's. Rife's has been buying Elfrink produce since opening in 1936.
Fourth generation proprietor Mary Kay Rife loads shelves with Ohio labels
such as Garlic (salad dressings) Expressions from Perrysburg; MID'S pasta
sauces from Navarre; and Mrs. Miller's egg noodles, Fredericksburg.
When Ohio melons ripen, Rife's usually gets first digs.
Rife's was a deli before we knew the word in Ohio. The all-scratch list
includes pies, slabs of pork ribs, both pork and beef barbeque, even meat loaf.
At turkey time, Rife's sells only fresh dressed (never frozen) turkeys from
Jackson County.
Ohio Proud take note: “We're always on the lookout for anything in Ohio
that is interesting,” says Mary Kay Rife.
1939 - Plank's Cafe, 743 Parsons Ave., founded long before there was such a subdivision as German Village, the historic area south of the Columbus Downtown. The founder was Walter Plank who saw an opportunity after Prohibition. The cafe went through the second generation with the late Walter Plant, Jr., running the operation. It continues as a destination eatery for many Downtowners who like the noon time spreads. The third generation of Planks, brothers Tom and John, keep the faith of this true community gathering place.
1945 - The Florentine, 907 W. Broad St., a classic Italian restaurant that
has changed little other than to move from the original location directly across
the street. The Penzone family never toys with a winning concept.
1947 - The Clarmont, 684 S. High St., German Village, same location through
the years when opened by the late Frank Kondos; since owned in succession by
Barry Zacks, Bill Bigelow and today by Thom Coffman. Still the place where power
brokers gather to sup from early breakfast through to lunch and dinner. The
1940s flavors have never been disturbed.
1949 - Queen Bee, 248 S. 3rd St., was a booming Greek eatery for tradesmen
selling at the old Central Market where today stands the Greyhound terminal. The
Market fell to urban renewal in 1967, but Queen Bee owner John Pritsolas kept
going with wife Christine in front of the house. In the Market era the place
operated from 4:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Pritsolas calls those long hours “the good
old days.” In 1996 fire closed the Bee for four months. Then mayor Greg
Lushutka created an escrow fund to reopen the place. John did not have insurance.
Christine has since passed away. John works shorter hours five weekdays, but does
it on two replaced hips.
1955 - The Top Steak House, 2891 E. Main St., opened by two young bucks, Lee
Henry and Bill Sapp, mostly to prove to themselves they could make a success
of something while at OSU. The site had been a biker bar. Once the site leased,
they converted an old building, dimmed the lights, offered an excellent
steak, staffed a friendly bar, made their first million. (Later they built The
Kahiki which went on to gain international fame.) Today The Top is owned and
operated successfully by attorney Steve Yoder.
1956 - Ding Ho, 3741 W. Broad St., now the oldest surviving Chinese eatery
(and still serving white sliced bread) since the delayed demise of that horrible
Jong Mae near Downtown. For anyone wanting to argue that Wings is oldest -
nay, Wings came about in 1970.
1960 - Plank's Bier Garten, 888 S. High St., founded in 1960 by Willy Plank who still owns the German bar with food. Today, his son, Danny Plank, presides as manager. The Bier Garten today is the city's most popular destination for the many soft ball teams seeking after-the-game suds.
1964 - JP’s Barbecue Ribs, 1072 E. Main St., must be included in any Still Up
and Running History of Restaurants. Owner J. P. Makar is a survivor in the
pork Q wars. Makar rented a closed Sinclair gas station in 1964 to sell Fat
Daddy’s chili dogs. Four years later he added baked ribs and slathered them with
his own sauce creation - commercial Open Pit and a dose of Christian Bros.
burgundy. Makar has survived (*) a full dozen other rib joints around town -
Javan’s, Red Hot & Blue, Crook’s to name a few. His slogan: We Feed The People.
1973 - Windward Passage Restaurant, 4739 Reed Rd., was opened April 1, 1973 by Robert Knapp. It was one of the original "fish houses" in the city and was a quick success, even ahead of Engine House No. 5 which came later in that decade in German Village. One of the early bartenders was Pete Gaynor who went behind the bar in 1978. He is now the owner. He bought the business in the mid-1980s and continues to be a "fish house" in the neighborhood.
In a city that for decades had only fried fish, the Windward was upscale....offering fish prepared three ways: Broiled, sautéed and fried.
Fish, perch and walleye, continue to be more than 50 percent of dinner sales. The menu also offers steaks and in the late 1980s added baby back ribs to the fare.
(*) 1987 - Yoho’s, 3088 Westerville Rd. Another Still Up and Running entry,
Yoho’s as a joint name adds service descriptives such as cafe, joint, catering
and smoker equipment peddler. Owner Art Yoho sells Southern Pride wood smokers
and has five operating on his Yoho’s BBQ parking lot. Yoho’s is the oldest
in town to served real smoked barbecue. Yoho’s survives against market
invasions by Smokey Bones, City BBQ and soon to arrive Famous Dave’s. All smoke with
the real stuff, but Yoho’s still owns the market. One good reason: Art Yoho
owns the lot, the building, pays no franchise fees, works the business himself,
and he has no debt. (Yoho’s the building originally was a Dog N’ Suds drive-in
opened in 1960 by the late Harold Yoho.)
AGING FOOTNOTE: Bun’s in Delaware, a favorite of Duncan Hines in the 1940s,
dates back to 1864 when opened by George Frederick Hoffman, a native of
Bavaria, started it as a bakery. A mysterious fire closed the run in March, 2002. A
smaller version of a Bun’s opened under different ownership in January, 2004.
TOAST: In 2004 century oldsters, Mauger’s in Lancaster and The Alcove in
Mount Vernon, closed. Both blamed the chains for moving into their territory.
More ‘Oldest’ Yet to Come:
Recent informants, readers of this page, send reminders as to old (still operating) restaurants that have been missed. We’re keeping a list. Soon to Appear:
Tremont Goodie Shop, 2116 Tremont Center.
Chef-O-Nette, 2090 Tremont Center.
Da Vinci, 4740 Reed Rd.
Phillip’s Original Coney Island, Franklinton.
Florentine Restaurant, 907 W. Broad St.
The Blue Danube, 2439 N. High St.
Knight's Ice Cream, 596 S. Cleveland Ave., Westerville
The Dell, 115 Parsons Ave. (*)
(*) The Dell being checked. The
place under that name has had
at least eight closings in recent
years and as many managements.
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Doral Chenoweth reviewed restaurants for 20
years as the
Grumpy Gourmet for The Columbus
Dispatch; and now is a columnist for that
newspaper covering the food industry and
restaurant business in general.
thegrumpygourmet@wowway.com
Or 614-538-1822
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