For more than half a century smiling Jim Tweel has welcomed the famous and the regulars to his legendary downtown eatery.
By D.J. Schroeder
HQ 8 | SUMMER 1991
Huntington has its institutions and landmarks – Old Main at Marshall University, the Collis P. Huntington statue, Ritter Park, the Huntington Museum of Art …
And there’s another many claim is one of the jewels in the Jewel City’s crown – Jim’s Steak & Spaghetti House at 920 Fifth Ave. in downtown Huntington. It’s been at the same location and operated by the same owner -Jim Tweel – since 1938. The famous have tasted the fare – the chocolate, strawberry, and pumpkin pies, the steaks, the fish, and, of course, the well guarded secret spaghetti sauce.
John Kennedy stopped by in the middle of his 1960 campaign for the presidency. Jim also proudly displays autographed pictures of famous entertainers from the big-band era – Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Perry Como, and Ozzie Nelson. Newsmakers and news gatherers eat lunch there and often get more than lunch. A television reporter once commented he learned more about what was going on in City Hall at Jim’s than at City Hall.
Perhaps more unique than the food and the location are those who cook and serve the famous food because they, too, are institutions. Many have worked for Jim for more than 25 years.
Phyllis Elkins has been a waitress for 44 years and quickly thanks Jim for being a friend as well as employer and for “making it possible to live the good life.” Head waitress Martha Baker is a 34-year employee and head cashier Sharon Price has worked for Jim for 26 years. Cashier Betty Jo Kimler has been ringing up the tabs for 45 years.
General manager, C.M. “Bunny” Gray joined Jim at the start. A kid who mopped the floors, washed dishes, and did just about anything. Twee! now calls him “my right hand man.”
But a young lady from Beckley, W.Va., is the catalyst who made it all happen and has been very much a part of Jim’s for more than half a century.
Sally Rahall and Jim had known one another as children, but something special happened when she came to town to attend a high school journalism conference at then Marshall College.
“We saw each other and it was love at first sight,” Twee! recalled.
Tweel was graduated from Huntington High School in 1932 at the age of 16. He worked at “odd jobs” and at age 19 worked at his cousin’s T.A. Nasser’s Art Linen Shop on Ninth Street in a growing downtown Huntington.
“Sally and I courted – that’s what they called it back then – for about three years and one day I realized I might lose her if l didn’t do something pretty quick.”
A family tradition rooted in entrepreneurship meant starting your own business in the “land of opportunity” was the natural thing to do and the solution to the problem of taking a wife.
“Uncle Abe” Tweel already was in Huntington and helped Jim’s mother and father, Simon and Regina Tweel, leave their little village of Kfeir, Lebanon, in 1900 to come to America.
Simon and Regina had heard America was the “land of the free and home of the brave.” After landing at Ellis Island, they took a cab to brother Louis’ home in New York.
“Mom was surprised to hear the cabbie yell ‘hey, the fare?”‘ says Jim as he proudly reels off one of the many family stories from the ‘old days.’ “Mom said ‘free country – free country.’ She thought everything in America was free.”
Jim’s father settled in Huntington, but could not read, write, or speak English. Like many immigrants, he put a pack on his back and traveled the countryside of West Virginia selling trinkets, lace, and linens. He later selected a spot on Third Avenue and opened a confectionery/fruit store.
In 1911, Simon opened a store in the 500 block of Ninth Street. While Simon died in 1924 when Jim was only nine, the store was operated by the family for 60 years.
Back in 1938 Jim saw the Kennedy Dairy Store as the key to his future.
“There was a little store where I am located called the Kennedy Dairy. At Art Linen, I was making $18 a week, which wasn’t bad for a youngster, but you can’t get married on it.”
So Jim went to his two brothers and said “Boys, I need $800 for a down payment on a store costing $1,550, and I got it, interest free.”
Jim bought the dairy and paid the difference in payments with the income from his 10-cent hamburgers, 10-cent milk shakes, and five-cent ice cream cones.
Jim’s opened June 9, 1938. Sally and Jim were married Jan. 29, 1939.
“Sally worked with me. We struggled along. We opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 1 or 2 the next morning. We would always stay open for the dance crowds. One or the other of us would be there.”
Another important event happened shortly thereafter in Jim’s life.
“A young man came in who still had a year at Douglass High School and wanted a summer job. Business was not that good, but he was young, handsome, spoke well, dressed well. He said his name was Conkolene Gray ‘but they call me Bunny’.”
Jim hired Bunny who went to work doing “Whatever needed to be done … whether sweeping, mopping, or washing a dish. Then he went to the service during World War II. He came out in 1945 and is still with me today. Bunny can do just about everything there is to do at Jim’s.”
Bunny was in charge when Jim underwent serious heart surgery a couple of years ago and ran everything smoothly. Bunny is probably best known for his pumpkin pie. It is in such demand customers ask to be called when he bakes it. Several hundred get calls from Sharon, telling them to come in when Bunny’s pies are ready. She makes calls to Charleston, Louisa, Ky., and many other towns. It’s the same in June when Bunny makes strawberry pies.
There was a third event that played a role in Jim’s success.
A man with a thick Italian accent was out of a job and came by one night and said “Jeem, I wanna start a for you-aspaghetti-house.”
Jim remembers the important date.
Jim thought he had nothing to lose and hired Bob Elmore July 15, 1944. With Bob came his own recipe for spaghetti sauce, enhanced by Bunny, and still a secret today. Jim’s was now in business as a full restaurant.
“It had rickety tables and checkered tablecloths and only took in $15 that first day. It was hot as blazes and there was no air conditioning – only a fan,” Jim says. “A full spaghetti dinner cost 45 cents.”
As for the time when president-to-be Kennedy came strolling in, Jim’s was serving breakfast and all of a sudden there he was, brought in by then Congressman Ken Hechler and local political leaders David Fox and Robert Emerson.
Jim ran home and got a camera. He now quickly points out that “it is commonly known that West Virginia elected him.”
While the veterans at Jim’s have their praise for the boss, Jim is quick to point out their virtues.
Phyllis Elkins started with a work permit at 15. “Her forte is the grill. She can turn out more sandwiches per menu than anyone I know of and Betty Jo can do just a little bit of it all.
“Martha Baker is the tall pretty blonde who works the counter at noon. She has all these regulars and they don’t have to say anything. They just come in, sit down, and Martha’s gone to get their order!
“Sharon is very helpful to Bunny with training the new girls.”
Jim has never kept track of how many people he serves per week, but the restaurant has seats for 125 and most days there are waiting lines.
He is as proud of his food as his spotless kitchen.
“The girls in the kitchen have to be as clean as the girls on the floor. It’s just as clean on the kitchen floor as it is in the dining room,” Jim says.
By 1990 Jim was making 40 gallons of spaghetti sauce every day. Once each week Jim makes 80 gallons because he sells a lot of sauce-to-go.
Jim says the restaurant has been a blessing, providing a life packed with loving and sometimes funny memories.
“We have a lot of very loyal friends. We’re feeding four generations of customers now.”
He also remembers one especially embarrassing moment.
“There is a big round booth up front and seven people came in dressed very nicely. So, I pranced up and in my manner and said ‘Hi folks, you all look nice. Just come from a party?’
“Well, they hadn’t. They had just come from a funeral. I almost fell through the floor. I learned a lesson from that.”
Very special to Jim is the big 50th anniversary of the restaurant in 1988 when 17 members of his family came in to work. The town celebrated. The Herald-Dispatch wrote articles.
The Huntington Foundation selected Jim as a Hall of Fame Honoree. Mayor Bobby Nelson declared him “Mr. Hospitality.”
Huntington newspaper columnist Dave Peyton, a frequent Jim’s customer, wrote about the restaurant during the 50th anniversary celebration:
“To paraphrase an old adage, the more things change the more Jim’s remains the same. And that’s comforting.
“It’s comforting to know that I don’t have to look at the menu. I can order ‘Number 5 and iced tea with lemon’ from a waitress and my ham salad sandwich with cottage cheese and peach salad will arrive the same way it has arrived for more than 20 years.
“No doubt about it. Jim and his folks have spoiled us. And we’re grateful …. “
• • •
After 52 years, Jim still looks forward to going to work Tuesday through Saturday. It’s closed on Sundays and Mondays.
“That’s plenty for my age – Jim will be 76 in August. If I dreaded it, I’d give it up.
“But, I love what I’m doing and I get to meet and greet so many wonderful people. If God allows me, I’ll just go on and on.”
