(Publisher’s Note: With the demolition of the former Wheeling Inn pending, we at LEDE News are re-publishing this article concerning what remains inside the dilapidated structure, including the former Riverside Restaurant 7 lounge.)
She recalls frozen drinks were a favorite during the days she was a bartender at the former Riverside Lounge and Restaurant in the 1990s. Pina coladas, strawberry daiquiris, and loaded margaritas were a few of the top sells while Lynne Walton was behind the bar at the establishment that was inside the Best Western Wheeling Inn.
Walton began working at the Riverside in 1994, and at that time, country music’s most popular still were playing inside a nearby theatre called the Capitol Music Hall each and every Saturday night in downtown Wheeling. The hotel’s 80-plus rooms consistently were full of out-of-towners, and local residents frequented the establishment, too, because of the terrific views of the historic Wheeling Suspension Bridge and of the Ohio River.
Or maybe it was the frozen drinks.
“My favorite times there were when I was behind the bar with Mick (Webster), Julie (Thames), Kathy (Sutton), and Terri (Tennant). That really was the most fun because we worked really well together, and the place was always hopping. It was really popular,” Walton reported. “The place was always full of people from the Wheeling area and with the people who were staying at the hotel.
“That was almost 35 years ago but I can still remember how much of a blast the place was,” she explained. “And it seemed like everything I was making was with a blender. I think those blenders were going from the time I walked in for work until I walked out. One after another, the frozen drink was the thing back then just like martinis are now. Back then, though, everyone wanted something frozen with a bunch of whipped cream and a cherry on top.”
The structure that housed the former Wheeling Inn was purchased a few weeks ago by the Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau for $1.7 million after the business was deemed a nuisance in May 2022 by Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger. The hotel was constructed in 1962, and the property was bought in 2005 by NALINI LLC for $1 million.
That company never operated the restaurant or the lounge and the areas since have suffered heavy water damage.
“And what a shame, too, because the place was always crowded, and the money you would make back then was crazy, it really was,” Walton said. “And the banquets were great, too, because once they closed Fabulous Fannies, they made that whole area for banquets, and that money was nuts, too. I think the only bad part about working at the Riverside was how far away the kitchen was. It seemed like it was a half-mile away some nights.
“George Boury and the managers at the Riverside were fortunate because a lot of their employees stayed for as long as I can remember. Most of them were still there even after I left to start a family,” she said. “It was a well-run place, though, and there was money to be made every time you went to work, so it’s no wonder the employees stayed around as long as they did.”
The Food and The Fun
George Boury joined his two brothers, Ellis and Mike, to create the legendary Elby’s Family Restaurant, an empire that grew from the first eatery on National Road in Wheeling to 73 locations in four states.
The company also had a hotel in State College, Pa., Fabulous Fannie’s in the Wheeling Inn, and a stake in TJ’s Sports Garden. But it was the Riverside Restaurant and Lounge that allowed George to create a place for fine dining and nightlife.
“People loved the food there, too. I really don’t remember anyone complaining about it at all,” Walton said. “But to be honest, I really don’t remember much of what I ate there because we always seemed to be too busy to sit down and actually eat a meal. It was more like picking at something in between this and that every shift.
“But it was a place for special dinners for special occasions, and I can’t tell you how many people have told me that it was their favorite place to go in the valley. So many people would come up from Glen Dale and Moundsville, and they would come down from Steubenville, and so on,” she said. “I do remember that everyone loved the burgers there, and they enjoyed all of the entrees, too. We served a lot of burgers at the bar, and people would compare the food to where they were from in the area.”
The menu, Walton recalled, was completely different than what most people recognized as offerings from an Elby’s.
“I know that was important to George. He told me that many times during those three years,” she said. “And when people said something to him about that, he was really proud of it. I know he was a big fan of Ernie’s Esquire and a lot of people compared the menu to what they served up on the hill (in Bethlehem).
“Just like everyone else my age who grew up in this area, I was very familiar with Elby’s. The Big Boy, the Slim Jim, and that stuff, and the Riverside had nothing like that on the menu. It was strictly upper level,” Walton remembered. “That’s probably why we were always crowded, and not just on the weekends.
The Best of Times
When purchased in the late 1970s, the Wheeling Inn was called “The Downtowner,” but two years’ worth of interior and exterior improvements later and the new Best Western franchise opened to much fanfare.
A decade later, Walton moved from her home in Moundsville to Wheeling Island, and initially, she was employed by two different restaurants in the same building. First, it was Applejack’s that was located at 329 N. York Street before the restaurant was transformed into La Docs. That restaurant closed in early 1994.
Several years later, Golden Chopsticks opened for operation at the same address.
“I worked at a couple of places in Wheeling before I started at the Riverside, and I met George Boury back then because he always came into those places during the evenings,” Walton recalled. “So, I talked to him a lot and once the place where I was working closed, I didn’t know where to go next. I love bartending because it was a terrific night job so I wanted to find a new place.
“But I knew George Boury so I asked him and he said yes,” she said. “The funny thing was, though, that when I went to the Riverside that first day, George wanted me to work in every other position first before I went behind the bar. So, I was the hostess, I waited tables, I made tossed salads, and everything else before I started bartending. It made sense, too, because you usually have to do everything when you work in a place like that back then.”
Walton has bartended in a plethora of places since and she still is employed part-time in a couple of establishments today, but the Riverside Restaurant and Lounge always will be one of her all-time favorites.
“I have bartended in a lot of places here in the valley, but the Riverside was definitely one of my favorites because of the people, the money, and because it was really a lot of fun. Some places frown on taking time with customers and things like that, but not at the Riverside. George and the managers encouraged it,” Walton explained. “And the people from out of town? That’s why they came to Wheeling … to have fun.
“Those Jamboree weekends were nuts, just nuts, and we got so slammed in the Riverside that there were some nights when I wouldn’t get home until 4-4:30 a.m. because those country music fans would just want to stay up as late as possible on those Saturday nights,” she added. “I do miss those days because the Riverside was the place to be back then. Now, everyone in town can’t wait to see that eyesore come down and go away, and that’s just so sad.”
The Riverside was the first place I ever got to sing karaoke in the Valley. I had done it a few times in college so when I left there it was great to find a local place that offered karaoke with a wide variety of singers. The Music Hall Players would often stop in and sing as well. I still remember them performing California Dreamin’ in perfect harmony. I had great times there and miss those nights.
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