(Publisher’s Note: This is the fourth chapter of a series of short historical stories that focus on the history of organized crime in Wheeling. A number of eyewitnesses have offered their memories, and interviews were conducted with them and with federal and local officials, including former FBI agent Tom Burgoyne before his passing on January 26, 2023.)
4
Eyes on Ernie’s Esquire
The dimmed dining room in the supper club was classy and exquisite, and the menu is remembered as delectable and divine. The filet, prime rib, and shrimp were expected and even common in the steel-rich valley, but the kabobs, the herring and haddock, and especially the hot coquille were dishes only served by a man named Pandelos.
There was live music, often jazz, and the eatery was proper and polite and sculpted inside the same hillside where an old burned-out tavern known as the Pine Inn once stood along East Bethlehem Boulevard. Ernie’s Esquire possessed a purposeful vibe with a definite mystique enjoyed by patrons celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and special moments, and the eatery was also about status for elected officials, local civic leaders, and for the wealthy, too.
It was about an extravagant experience.
“Ernie’s Esquire was probably the nicest supper club in the valley at that time. It had that reputation,” said former U.S. Attorney Bill Kolibash. “If you wanted to have a very nice dinner because it was some kind of special occasion, you went to Ernie’s. That’s what it was for our family just like it was for other families.
“It was a place where men wore coats and ties, and the ladies dressed to the nines,” he recalled. “That was the image of Ernie’s Esquire.”
The eatery, though, also became known in the 1980s as the preferred establishment for mob boss Paul Hankish and his right-hand men. Hankish liked to celebrate, according to late FBI agent Tom Burgoyne, and that meant dinner and drinks when his band of thieves returned heavy from Pittsburgh operations or a shipment of cocaine made it safe from his contacts in Florida, or a “termination” took place without detection.
“Because of the years that have gone by,” Burgoyne said before he passed away in January 2023, “people have forgotten how ruthless Paul Hankish was, but he was. We proved that Paul Hankish was a cold-blooded killer.”
Kolibash, though, knew Pandelos was clean.
“Ernie’s may have been the place where Hankish liked to have dinner, but people have to understand there was never a connection between Ernie Pandelos and Hankish,” he said. “Ernie never had a reputation for being involved with characters like Hankish.
“The only thing Ernie was guilty of was serving the best food in the area. It was great and the atmosphere was the best around. That’s why people went no matter who they were. They went to that supper club because of what Ernie Pandelos created.”
The Woods Were Watching
He was “Pauly No Legs” to associates and locals alike, and he was THE Boss and everyone knew it. He ran the rackets, the bookies, the brothels, and the drug peddling, and when semis, box trucks, and certain someones went missing, Hankish likely had a hand.
Kolibash, who will release his book, “Justice Never Rests” in late January, refers to him as a “street thug” with a skilled criminal mind, and Burgoyne called him “vicious” and “well connected,” and that’s because Hankish’s gambling rings stretched the length of the East Coast. He was powerful, people feared him, and he loved every moment of his majesty.
“Hankish liked to be treated like royalty, that’s for sure, and that’s why he enjoyed going to Ernie’s Esquire so much. He liked to make an entrance, and he liked to be fawned over, that’s for sure,” Kolibash recalled. “When he went into the place, the ‘Ahhhhs’ were there, and he loved it. He ate it up. And they always kept his favorite table available.
“I spoke with Ernie a lot of times, but he never mentioned Hankish to me. Never. I even got to know Ernie pretty well, but never did he say a word,” he said. “He used to tell me how nice his other restaurants were because he had some up in Pennsylvania and other places. He was proud of those places, and he had the Cork & Bottle in downtown Wheeling, and it was very popular for a long time.”
Burgoyne, an FBI agent for more than 30 years before he was elected twice (2000-2008) as the sheriff of Ohio County, was a founding member of Kolibash’s organized crime task force beginning in the mid-1980s. On occasion, he and his wife, Kathy, would dine at the supper club, and he told tales of trading drink orders with the outlaw during those dinners.
Hankish certainly enjoyed his crime lord reputation, but Burgoyne was admired as the city’s “white hat” lawman.
“I know Tom and his wife liked to go to the Esquire from time to time, and Tom would tell me when he would see Hankish there. Tom used to tell me he would smile at Hankish and Hankish would grin back like it was a game of cat and mouse,” said Kolibash, who will publish his book “Justice Never Rests” in late January. “I guess it was a game between us and him for a while, if you think about it, because he was always avoiding us and we never stopped collecting evidence on him.
“We had undercover agents working the case there at Ernie’s, too, but when it came to me, and Tom, and some others, there was no hiding we were on to him. And he knew it. Paul Hankish was an intelligent man for a street thug,” he continued. “But I think he thought his attorneys would keep getting him off for all his crimes no matter what we did as far as our investigation.”
These days, a shopping plaza is on the west side of W.Va. Route 88 opposite the building where the Esquire was located, but in the 1980s, Kolibash believed it was an underdeveloped and dark-enough area where agents could surveil the supper club from across the road.
That plan, however, didn’t pan out.
“We had undercover people in Ernie’s Esquire, and Tom Kirk was one of those undercover agents,” Kolibash recalled. “At one time we had surveillance across the street, too, but we got made when someone saw the IRS agents that were hiding over there.
“We also wired up a woman who went into Ernie’s for us,” he said. “We didn’t get much out of that evening, but that’s an example of how we collected information for the case. It’s an example of how we did it in all the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) cases.”
Paul and His Favorite Chef
Fancy meat and special spaghetti.
Andy Wesolowski began his culinary career at Ernie’s Esquire as a kid needing a job in 1972, and he somehow went from bus boy to executive chef during his 16 years as a Pandelos employee. He worked directly with Ernie on inventory, kitchen management, menu development, and on creating feature dishes for every weekend.
But when it came to dinner services, Ernie worked the front of the house, Chef Andy ran the line in the Esquire kitchen, and his staff most definitely let him know when orders were entered for the Hankish table.
“And I knew exactly who they were, too,” he said. “I just made sure I gave them good meals so there weren’t any problems with that. I figure that was the last thing anyone wanted to be bothered with at those times. So, as far as the kitchen was concerned, we made it the way they wanted it.
“We didn’t have a very difficult menu at Ernie’s, but it was all very high quality. Ernie always brought in the best products he could find,” he said. “We had a lot of beef because that’s what most people ordered back then. Some seafood, but a lot of meat like steaks and prime rib. People in Wheeling really like prime rib then, and they still do now.”
And Hankish? His favorites?
Fancy meat and special spaghetti.
“Paul (Hankish) really liked Chateaubriand, and there were times when he ordered Lobster Fra Diavolo when we had it on special. And, of course, there were some special things I did for him because he would ask me well before he came in,” Wesolowski revealed. “He’d call the restaurant or tell me when he came in about what he’d like the next time. He usually came in on Friday and Saturday evenings.
“Paul was always very nice to me,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect when I first started cooking for him and his guys. He always had someone with him, and sometimes his driver would sit in another area to give him privacy during a dinner meeting. You just took care of them the way you should and everyone at the restaurant knew that.”
Wesolowski’s servers also informed him when Burgoyne, fellow FBI agent Dick Jones, or any other members of law enforcement or government were seated, as well.
“I’m sure the dining room was like a TV show some nights because we would have Paul (Hankish) in the house, and we would have the FBI, the IRS, or some local big wig here at the same time,” Wesolowski said. “I’m sure those nights were interesting for the staff.
“Paul Hankish was in the news all of the time so everyone knew him, and Tom Burgoyne was never shy about being an FBI agent, so I’m sure everyone else in the dining room were paying more attention to them instead of the food or the music.”
They weren’t friends. Wesolowski and Hankish were acquaintances, at best, and there was little interaction between the two. But that did not stop Hankish from asking for a favor from the head chef.
“Paul came to the kitchen once, and it turned out it was to ask me a favor. He had a little over 2 pounds of lamb he wanted me to grind up for him. After I told him it wasn’t a problem, he sent up the lamb,” Wesolowski recalled. “But I couldn’t find my meat clever so I could push the lamb into the grinder. I looked for it everywhere and couldn’t find it, so I grabbed a whisk and used the back of it.
“After I was finished and after they came and picked it up for Paul, I noticed the metal part of the whisk had come off,” he said. “And I had no idea where it was or what happened to it.”
That’s when Wesolowski had to tell the kingpin he had failed him.
“That was the scariest phone call I’ve ever made,” he admitted. “I didn’t know what to expect. He was nice enough, but you heard things, ya know? The worst things. And that let you know you didn’t want the man mad at you.
“But instead of being upset, he told me it wasn’t a problem and that he would send me more lamb to grind up. I was very, very careful the second time,” Chef Andy recalled. “And he even gave me a $10 tip.”
(Author’s Note: Each week I’ll be sharing a link to one of the chapters of my first “Wheeling Mob” series I wrote while serving as the founding editor-in-chief of Weelunk, a digital media site now owned and operated by Wheeling Heritage, a non-profit organization that promotes the history and heritage of the city of Wheeling.)
