Before the rise in popularity of sports bar chains in the ’80s, local pubs and taverns were a typical meeting spot for Pickerington residents looking to socialize after a long day of working in the fields. One such spot was England’s Restaurant, later renamed Moore’s Restaurant, located at 14 E. Columbus St. during the early ’40s to mid-’50s.
In 1924, the general store at 14 E. Columbus St. was rebuilt into a restaurant by Brooks Huntwork. Clarence and Thelma England then bought the restaurant space from Huntwork in 1926 and opened England’s Restaurant.
Ahead of the holiday season, a group of prominent men in the village — including AJ Good, then-owner of Pickerington Creamery; the village's local doctor, W.B. Taylor; and Jacob Saylor, previous owner of the Saylor House — traveled west on a hunting expedition. The wild game the men brought back went straight to England’s cook, Wilma Moore, to be prepared as sandwiches. But instead of being sold, these were given away to village residents; a tradition that served as an annual feast. A moose head hanging in the old Carnegie Library is a souvenir from one of these hunting trips.
The England’s nephew, Walter “Butch” Moore, who had worked at the restaurant since he was a teen, purchased it from them during the ’40s and renamed it Moore’s Restaurant. Moore’s specialty menu item was a meatloaf sandwich and gravy with mashed potatoes and baked beans that cost 15 cents (an estimated $3.35 today). The restaurant was also known to serve more eclectic items such as fried fish eggs and brain sandwiches.
The community connection cultivated by the England’s continued at Moore’s Restaurant. When a village resident joined the military, Walter’s wife, Wilma, prepared a free dinner party send-off for him and his family. Each night, you could find groups of men socializing in the pool room in the basement of the restaurant. Sometimes, the men’s outings to the restaurant would be too frequent for their wives’ liking, and it’s rumored that one wife even chased her husband out of the building with a broom as he escaped out the back door.
The Moore family sold the restaurant in 1956. During the following years, the location housed several other restaurants and more recently housed Solomon’s Carpet with Down Under Hair Salon on the lower level prior to the city buying the space.
While Moore’s Restaurant on Columbus Street is no more, the Moore’s story continues just a few doors down. Read about the history of Moore’s Pool Hall in the October/November issue of Pickerington Magazine.
Maisie Fitzmaurice is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com.
