HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A Huntington institution celebrated a major milestone Friday. Jim’s Restaurant turned 85.
Jim Tweel opened the restaurant in the same location in 1938. It’s still owned by the Tweel family today.
“Being a restaurant and surviving for 85 years in the same family is pretty historical,” said current owner Larry Tweel who still runs the shop with is wife Sally.
“There are some restaurants that have survived that long, but not very many. We are only surviving because of the wealth of talent my dad was able to recruit from 1938 until he died in ’05.” he added.
As part of the Friday anniversary, the menu was scaled back along with the prices for the day. The menu for Friday included a small spaghetti special for $4, which included salad, bread, and cake. The only other menu items for the anniversary were a hamburger for $2, cheeseburger for $3, French fries for $1, and all drinks $1. All meals on Friday came with cake.
Tweel noted one of the key figures in the restaurant’s history was a young African American named C.M. Gray known as “Bunny” who was hired by his father in 1940. According to Tweel, Bunny left the restaurant to join the service where he learned how to cook. When he finished his service he returned to Huntington and wanted to go back to work for Tweel.
However, fearing limits at that time by being African American, he only wanted the job if he would be allowed to advance as far as his talent would take him. Jim Tweel wholeheartedly agreed and for many years, Bunny was a fixture at the restaurant and served as the manager and helped run the operation.
“As a pair they were as good as you could want for restaurant management and Bunny was as vital to this restaurant as anybody has ever been, and I hate to say it but that probably includes my dad,” said Tweel.
Jim’s has always been a fixture in Huntington and hosted some big names through the years. Those included John F. Kennedy who ate there when he campaigned for President during the historic 1960 primary in West Virginia. The restaurant was also part of the set of the movie We Are Marshall in 2006.
–MetroNews Affiliate WRVC Radio and Kindred Communications contributed to this story.