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Friday, October 2, 2009
After 70 years, Dayton restaurant calls it quits
Wympee — a diner that served burgers and coffee at 416 E. Third St. in the shadow of downtown Dayton since 1938 — has closed.
“Due to the high cost of maintenance, this building and business will be closed” permanently, according to a hand-written sign taped to the front door of the throwback burger restaurant. “Thank you for all your loyalty and business. I will miss you all.” It was signed “Linda and Richard.”
I presume the “Linda” is Linda Anderson, who was the focus of a Dayton Daily News story in May 2008, when Wympee was celebrating its 70th anniversary.
The online story generated dozens of reminiscences from folks who frequented or worked at the diner over the decades. (Click here for photos of the restaurant. )
I think I ate at Wympee no more than twice, and yet, this news saddens me. This diner was truly a place that time forgot, and it was frequented by some real characters. If those old stools could talk …
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TweetNew, upscale restaurant opens in Piqua
Downtown Piqua has a new full-service restaurant: Toone P’s at the Plaza, located in the recently restored Fort Piqua Plaza at 110 W. High St.
The restaurant is the brainchild of Dennis Black, a Piqua native who has operated Toone P. Wiggins in Sidney for more than four years.
The restaurant serves a “full menu for lunch and dinner,” Black said. The menu is patterned after but not identical to the Sidney restaurant, and includes dinner entrees such as House-Smoked Baby Back Ribs, Scallops Saltimbocca and Tune P’s Tournedos of beef. The lunch menu includes Pulled Pork Sandwich and the “Floribbean” crab cake sandwich, Black said. Burgers and flatbread pizzas are served at both lunch and dinner.
Black’s two sons, Aaron and Adam, are graduates of the Florida Culinary Institute. Aaron serves as chef for the Sidney restaurant, and Adam for the new Piqua location.
Toone P’s at the Plaza seats 70 diners, although it also serves as the primary caterer to Fort Piqua’s banquet facility, which seats more than 300, Black said. The restaurant has 20 employees.
The restaurant opened late last week with little fanfare, Black said, and business has been brisk so far.
“The city and surrounding area have been very enthusiastic about our opening,” the restaurant owner said.
For more information, call (937) 778-4093.
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