The Village Dairy Bar, located at 3844 Central Avenue in Shadyside, had been a morning fixture in Tiger Town for more than half a century when current owner Becky Givens Calinger and her then-husband purchased it almost 15 years ago.
Her husband worked at Ormet, and he, along with many other employees, would swing through and eat breakfast before going to work, or the night shift crew would stop by after a long night. He was also good friends with the owner.
So, when the VDB became available for purchase, the Calingers sold their bar in Martins Ferry, the Gold, and got into the restaurant business.
Since then, you’ve been able to find Becky working behind the counter, taking orders, serving customers, and preparing the delicious items on the breakfast and lunch menu.
Now, it’s just Becky and occasionally her sister handling a loyal group of regulars and, starting soon, a lunch rush of Shadyside High School students.
“We are slower than we used to be right now,” Becky Calinger said. “The pandemic killed me, and we lost a few regulars too.
“I’d say the average age of our regulars is 70, but the high school kids help with that. But some of our customers have been coming here for decades.”
The hours are presently 6 a.m. until 10 a.m., every day but Tuesday. The hours will extend until 12-12:30 p.m. during the week to allow the students from nearby Shadyside High to stop over for lunch.
The students’ lunch period isn’t lengthy, so generally they will text their orders and the food will be hot and ready for them upon arrival.
“They only get 25 minutes, so I make sure it’s ready when they get here,” Calinger said. “We usually have 20-25 kids who stop in every day.”
The Particulars
But why is that? Why does the Village Dairy Bar have such loyal regulars and school students stopping in daily?
Well, there’s something to be said for quality, consistency, and affordability. In that trio, the Village Dairy Bar measures up.
The two page menu has breakfast on one side, lunch on the other.
The breakfast menu consists of multiple combos of eggs, toast, potato and meat. You can find mush, French toast, pancakes, and what Calinger explained is a favorite amongst her patrons, the mess.
“I’ll cut a potato up, and put in either sausage or ham, put in the onions and then mix in the egg in, it’s a big mess, it’s what it looks like,” Calinger said. “But it’s really good.”
Think of a breakfast bowl. It’s along those lines and is extremely popular.
She also serves omelets, along with waffles on Wednesdays and Biscuits and Gravy on Thursdays.
The lunch menu consists of burgers, sandwiches, chicken fingers, fries, hot dogs and cheese sticks. It’s a simple menu, what you’d expect from your classic diner-style menu. But the food is tasty, affordable, and ready quickly.
Yes, Becky Calinger can in fact do it all. She usually is, along with the help of her sister.
“She comes in and helps a couple hours a day, but I’m usually cooking, waiting on tables, taking orders and running the register,” she explained.
The business is steady, but isn’t what it used to be and she’s not able to keep a full or part time employee on and pay them what she’d like.
She owns the building and lives above, and between the restaurant, plus the two other rental units in the building, she makes do.
She knows that trying to corner into the market of either dinner or lunch is difficult because of other eateries in town. She mentioned the Tiger Pub and the job Matt Coffland has done there.
Coffland frequents the Village Dairy Bar for breakfast, and she’ll return the favor come dinner time. But breakfast is Calinger’s niche, that and serving the students at SHS.
There’s room in the diner for a few more regulars though, so stop in and check out the menu, enjoy the great food and friendly service.
