Eden Valley Enterprises -- Lost Restaurants

Abraham and Mahala Stouffer opened a dairy stand in downtown Cleveland's Arcade Building in 1922. They offered wholesome buttermilk and free crackers and soon they had healthy lunch business going. Stepping up their game, they added fresh-brewed coffee and Mrs. Stouffer's homemade deep-dish Dutch apple pies. Stouffer's Restaurants had begun! The operated a number of various restaurants across the country. In Cleveland, the chain was in several locations downtown and in the suburbs.

Memories:

Employee, Tom Roeh remembers: At the Stouffer's by Bonwit Teller, they had ornate glass chandeliers which were dirty, so Tom told a bus boy that they were going to clean them. He got ammonia water and a step ladder and told the bus boy to wipe them down. Suddenly there was a crash. The busboy had turned the CHANDELIER instead of moving the ladder and had unwound it so it came crashing to the floor! Luckily, it was mainly only bent and they were able to get it back up. It stayed like that until the restaurant closed.

Stouffers had standards for their cocktails which included a special large stuffed olive for the martinis. These were very expensive. Tom thought they should get cheaper olives to save money. Tom went to Brooklyn, New York and checked out the place where they bought the olives. H discovered that the olives came in kegs. So he had a KEG shipped back to Cleveland. When the olives arrived the driver slipped, the keg split and the brine came flowing out. To salvage the situation, Tom had to sell the olives to restaurants so he mixed up a brine to save them and then sold them ASAP. (September 28, 2018)

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