Froehlich’s run coming to an end
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STEUBENVILLE -- For more than two decades, Froehlich’s Classic Corner has been the backdrop for thousands of memories -- wedding receptions, graduation and retirement parties, baby and bridal showers, funeral dinners, business lunches and family celebrations.
This weekend, the longtime downtown restaurant will serve its final customers.
After the last glass is cleared early Sunday morning, Froehlich’s Classic Corner is expected to close its doors for the final time, ending a 22-year run at the corner of Fifth and Washington streets.
While owners Greg and Deb Froehlich are looking forward to spending more time with their children and grandchildren, they admit it is bittersweet to step away from the hospitality business.
“I’m three months shy of 73 and ready to retire,” Greg Froehlich said Tuesday while reflecting on a career that began with the Riverboat Room in the former All American Lanes on Buckeye Street.
“We opened it up in 1998. We bought this building downtown in 2004. I think that’s about 28 years,” he said. “Both of our restaurants had our name, Froehlich’s, in front of them.”
The bowling alley later was demolished and replaced by what eventually became Blessed Solanus Casey Hall, a residence hall on the lower campus of Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Froehlich said the people are what he will miss most.
He said the announcement of the restaurant’s closing prompted calls and messages from customers sharing memories and expressing their appreciation.
“I’ve had some interesting phone calls from people, some of them I didn’t even know, and they were just thinking we were the greatest thing since sliced bread, being downtown and servicing the community,” he said.
One conversation particularly stood out.
“A dear lady who lives in the southern end of Mingo Junction would call me every three months or so with an order for her and her husband, and I would deliver it,” Froehlich said. “When she called, she said that she had heard that I was retiring.”
He agreed to make one final delivery. Before ending the call, the woman made one more request.
“She asked if I could give her a slotted spoon or something that she could remember me by,” he said. “I said yes.”
While the restaurant became known for its dining room and lounge, Froehlich said its banquet business was the key to long-term success.
He also has watched the hospitality industry evolve dramatically over the years, particularly when it comes to holiday parties.
“We’ve seen a decline in corporate holiday functions,” he said. “There was a time when we were at the Riverboat Room that we would be booked by the end of October. That’s all changed now.”
During the busiest years, the restaurant sometimes hosted six Christmas functions in a single day.
“There was a period … where we would average six functions a day,” Froehlich said. “That’s insane -- I look back at that and I don’t know how we did that -- but we did.”
Catering also became one of the company’s specialties.
Among its largest events was serving 1,643 workers at the former W.H. Sammis Power Plant in Stratton. The operation required a rented refrigerated truck, two vans and 16 buffet lines spread across three locations inside the plant.
The entire meal service was completed in about 20 minutes, allowing workers to return to their jobs within an hour.
The experience also taught him a costly business lesson.
“If you trust the person on a big job like that, take a check and not a credit card,” Froehlich said, noting more than $800 in credit card processing fees were deducted from the payment.
Over the years, Froehlich’s catered events for Eastern Gateway Community College for 15 years, the Moundsville Country Club and the Jefferson County Fair for nine years each, Catholic Central High School and Bishop John King Mussio Elementary School for several years, while also participating in First Fridays on Fourth and Steubenville Nutcracker Village activities.
Some of the restaurant’s most popular menu items surprised even its owner.
“We sell a ton of liver,” Froehlich said. “Reubens and codfish are some of our biggest sellers.”
He also has watched beverage trends evolve from light beer to flavored vodka and, more recently, bourbon.
At its peak, the business employed about 30 people. That number declined through attrition during the COVID-19 pandemic, and about 15 employees remain.
Froehlich said he has been helping staff members find positions with other local restaurants, including Scaffidi’s, which planned to interview employees this week.
He added that Scaffidi’s and other local venues have agreed to accommodate events that had already been booked before the building was sold.
Among the memories that stand out most is the Dec. 11-12, 2013, fire that destroyed the Creegan Co. building across Washington Street.
As firefighters battled the blaze in subfreezing temperatures, restaurant employees carried coffee and hot chocolate across the icy street to first responders.
Another unforgettable chapter came on April 22, 2022, when the restaurant’s “Greg the Waiter” nutcracker mysteriously disappeared overnight before reappearing later that day with an apology attached that read, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t being smart.”
The building, originally constructed in 1936 as the Steubenville regional headquarters for Ohio Power Co., later housed Jaggin’ Around and the Welsh Classic Car Museum before becoming Froehlich’s Classic Corner.
Its future now rests with its new owner, the Jefferson County Educational Service Center. Other tenants in the building will have additional time to relocate, Froehlich said.
He added another restaurant eventually will occupy the space.
Froehlich’s Classic Corner will continue opening at 11 a.m. through the remainder of the week. The restaurant’s final day will depend on how long its remaining inventory lasts.
“When I leave, I won’t owe anything,” Froehlich said. “No back taxes, and no mortgages. And then, there will be a few bucks to take home.”