Huntington’s most iconic restaurant marks 85 years of serving its loyal following customers.
By Carter Seaton
HQ 122 | SUMMER 2023
On Friday, June 9, Huntington landmark Jim’s Steak & Spaghetti House celebrated its 85th anniversary. Founder Jim Tweel’s family was there, resplendent in matching green T-shirts. The group included his three children, sons Larry and Ronnie and daughter Jimmie Tweel Carder. If you used your imagination you could also see Jim, who died in 2005, sitting at the counter, a huge smile on his face, watching his great-grandchildren serve cake to customers. When he founded his restaurant in 1938, do you suppose he could have predicted such a party 85 years later?
Back then, Jim just needed to make enough money to support his intended wife, Sally Rahall, from Beckley. She’d agreed to marry him, but only after he had a business of his own in Huntington, where they planned to live. She knew his family had come to America in 1900 from Kfeir, Lebanon, and that entrepreneurship was strongly rooted in his family. Jim borrowed $800 from family members, bought the Kennedy Dairy Store and quit his job at Nassar’s Art Linen Shop where he was making $18 a week. And, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
He changed the menu in 1944 when a man named Bob Elmore gave him a recipe for spaghetti. After a bit of tweaking by Bunny Gray, Jim’s assistant manager, Jim had the recipe that still remains a secret today. That first spaghetti dinner cost 45 cents. By 1990, Jim was cooking up 40 gallons of sauce a day.
For this year’s anniversary, prices were rolled back — but not quite as far as in 1944 — and each diner received a complimentary piece of birthday cake.
According to restaurant manager Bradley Tweel, about 1,000 customers turned out to help celebrate the day. Most days Jim’s uses 8 to 10 pounds of hamburger, but for the anniversary the restaurant went through 53 pounds.
The party began at 10:30 as Mayor Steve Williams spoke, delivering a city proclamation. Representatives from the offices of Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito also offered greetings. Larry Tweel took the crowd on a short stroll down memory lane as he recalled the story of the restaurant’s beginnings.
Over the years Jim’s has served at least four generations of the community as well as a surprising number of famous guests, from Muhammad Ali to John F. Kennedy, who stopped in during his campaign for president.
What’s the restaurant’s secret of longevity? Some would credit the unique spaghetti sauce, the grilled cheeseburger or the crispy fish sandwich. Others have their favorite waitress; many of the waitstaff have been there for over a decade. Still others might say, “You know what you’re getting. It’s consistent and reliable.” As Larry said in his opening remarks, “It’s comfortable; it’s like an old sweater. One of my high school friends said it best: ‘If you want change, go to the bank across the street. Jim’s doesn’t change.’”
Jim Tweel often said it would be support from the community, not the rich and famous, that would enable the restaurant to thrive for decades. And he was right. Bradley echoed that sentiment, saying, “Jim’s doesn’t exist for 85 years without the loyal support of the community and customers. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
