Eatery dishes up food, memories

Four generations work at the restaurant, which opened in 1945.
ELYRIA (AP) -- After 61 years of operating her family's restaurant, Ethel Gibbons hasn't lost much of her step.
The 4-foot-9-inch matriarch, who with her husband, Ralph, opened Gibby's Place in 1945, is 90 but still works at the eatery every day.
Ethel's son, Dick, and granddaughter Sharon also work at the cafeteria-style restaurant in this Northeast Ohio town, and great-grandson Nathan Bunch, 15, washes dishes Friday evenings, making it a family business involving four generations.
But Gibbons has the most experience, along with a lifetime of memories she likes to share.
"Before we got a liquor license, we were bootlegging," she said.
"We didn't want to pay the money to get a license."
A big mistake
Knowing your customers is the best way to make that work, she said, but you can't always know every patron.
"One day two men came in to check out the restaurant, and the girl working the bar thought they wanted to make out with her," Gibbons said.
"When she gave them their drinks she said, 'You don't have to worry about this, it's real stuff.'"
The two men weren't amorous, however, they were government agents.
"They shut us down for 35 days. When we reopened, we kept selling alcohol, though," she said. "Guys used to come in here and drink, and we used to have a ball."
Gibbons, whose husband died 30 years ago, has been a fixture at Gibby's since the very start.
"We bought the land, built the building, and have been here ever since," she said.
She said they had just $44 when they began planning the business.
By the planned grand opening, however, a flooded basement caused a delay and ruined the first shipment of food.
"There was water up to my chest ... it was a mess," she said.
Luckily, they were able to get another shipment of food and the restaurant opened a short time later.
Frequent customer
Gibbons is not the only one who remembers the early days.
Dominic Patania, 81, who helped Gibbons and her husband build the restaurant, continues to be a frequent customer.
"They always make you feel comfortable. It's a nice place to visit," Patania said.
His two friends, Dick Plas and Ralph Turnis, both 81, also remember the grand opening.
"I've been coming since the day they put the roof on," Turnis said. Gibby's remains a cafeteria-style restaurant, just as it was in 1945, but it doesn't see quite as much traffic as it did back in the day.
"All of these factories at the time were working and they all used to come here for meals," Gibbons said.
There are still good crowds, but the factory workers aren't as plentiful these days.
"Most of our business came from General Industries, the building across the street," she said. "It's empty now."
Still loves it
Despite the leaner times, Gibbons remains optimistic.
"I love it, I love the people and I love the work," she declared.
The restaurant is popular for its Friday night fish fries, and "Grandma's famous roast beef sandwiches," granddaughter Sharon Gibbons said.
"It's the sandwich Grandma made famous and she taught us how to make it the way she does," she said.
Ethel Gibbons is at the restaurant every day, Sharon said, mornings for a few hours and some afternoons.
She also regularly preps food, just like she has always done. "She's just amazing," said Sharon Gibbons, who has been working at the restaurant for the past four years.
"When I took this on I didn't know how hard she worked. I really respect her."