READ MORE: Popular Hamilton restaurant shuts down for ‘refreshing’ effort
Here are five things to know about the restaurant.
1. It’s more than 70 years old
Hyde’s got its start after Lloyd “Hub” Hyde returned from serving in World War II. Born in a poor coal-mining town in Eastern Kentucky, Hyde and his brother Jim moved to Hamilton in search of work.
They saved money and, in August 1946, purchased an ice cream shop at 130 S. Erie Highway, which soon became Hyde’s restaurant.
Ownership eventually passed to Hub Hyde’s son, Mick, whose daughters, co-owners Amy Klaiber and Ashley Tuley, started helping out at the business in 2005.
2. It’s known for its pies — and its specials
When they’re not dishing out any of the restaurant’s numerous entrees, services can be found slicing up pie slices. The restaurant has a daily pie special, whips up banana pie each day. The daily cream pie menu includes chocolate (Monday), coconut (Tuesday), butterscotch (Wednesday), custard and peanut butter creme (Thursday), lemon (Friday) and coconut, once again (Saturday and Sunday).
Daily pies and cobblers include Apple and Strawberry-Rhubarb (Monday to Friday), Blueberry and Custard (Thursday), Cherry (Saturday and Sunday), Peach Cobbler and Mixed Berry Cobbler (Saturday), Blackberry Cobbler (Sunday).
Pies are available as a slice, a la mode or as a whole pie.
Daily specials include Spaghetti and Meatballs or Chicken Alfredo (Monday), Fried Chicken (Tuesday), Stuffed Peppers (Thursday), Fillet of Cod (Friday) and Country-Styled BBQ Pork Ribs (Saturday).
3. Most of the guests are quite familiar with the place
Return customers account for 90 percent of the restaurant’s business, with many of them eating there once or twice a day, she said.“We know their names, we know their families, their orders,” Tuley previously told this news outlet.
The place is “like home for families,” who just want to step away from “all of the distractions in life and come — some twice a day — to get a good home-cooked meal,” Tuley said.
4. It has several longtime employees
Some of the people who work at Hyde’s have served generations of local residents. Cook Debbie Dudley and waitress Barb Bastin have been around for nearly 40 years each, while cook and “part-time drill sergeant” Ann Burg is set to celebrate 54 years of working at Hyde’s this September.
5. It’s almost always open
Hungry Hamiltonians can take solace that getting a Hyde’s fix is relative easy. The restaurant is open 363 days a year, only closing for Thanksgiving and Christmas days, Klaiber said.
“We may have shortened hours, but those are the only two where we actually are closed the whole day,” she said.
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