I remember some of it like it was yesterday, but the particulars are really sketchy. Those particulars were so sketchy, in fact, that when I went to favorite Facebook Page – I Remember Bridgeport When – to ask for help on memories that, well, I called it the wrong name.

 

Thanks to those good folks, though, my initial inquiry about anyone having memories of the Pizza Inn at what is now Gabriel’s Plaza put me on the right path. Pizza Inn was not the restaurant in question. Instead, it was Pappy’s Family Pub and it was situated in the location where El Rincon has been for years.

 

I remember a few things about the place before I began researching. It was a kid friendly join. You could watch people make pizza. And that since my family made the trip over Bridgeport Hill before I became a teenager to occasionally eat there that the prices had to be good and the portions had to be fair.

 

As I found out, there was a bit of a reason my memory was sketchy. Turns out, Pappy’s – according to Mary Ann Spatafore Hardy, one of the managers that worked there – opened in June of 1974. According to one of the workers, Helen Anderson, that actually had the closing date written down, the doors were closed just two years later and Jan. 26, 1977.

 

To get an idea of the time frame, it was located in the then Holiday Plaza. The plaza sported Kroger, Shoe World, JoAnne Fabric, Byrds Jewelers, The Variety Store, Hallmark Store, Hecks, the Brandlei Music Center, and Radio Shack my good friends from “I Remember” informed me. Some of those, particularly Kroger, I remember.

 

If you look back at the closing date, it’s almost 40 years ago to the day that day that Pappy’s shut its doors for good in Bridgeport. While the doors are closed, the memories for many are not only vivid, but rather strong.

 

Count 1978 Bridgeport High School grad Tim Fortney among that group. Fortney, who now lives in Gautier, Mississippi, confirmed one of my fondest thoughts. It was kid – and as he and others would point out – teenage friendly.

 

“That was a hangout for just about everyone in high school and not just Bridgeport. It was predominantly Bridgeport and Notre Dame kids, but you had kids from Anmoore, Clarksburg, Bridgeport and Fairmont. I don’t ever remember there ever being fights or things like that either,” said Fortney. “Even though the food was good, it probably didn’t matter to a lot of people because they were there to hang out and have fun. You got to see and meet a lot of people there.”

 

Helen Anderson was among that group. Anderson, who graduated from Washington Irving, ended up working at Pappy’s.

 

“I worked there my first year out of high school. They had a little bit of everything from pizza, hamburgers and hot dogs to spaghetti and probably one of the first salad bars around,” said Anderson. “It was a very cool place to go to.”

 

It was indeed a cool place. The business was set up so that you could see the pizza dough being tossed for the pies. You would go in, place your order, get your number, get your drink and begin your festivities for the evening. There were toys given to kids. Birthday parties were held there. The staff wore uniquely colored uniforms. There was a player piano. If you wanted, you had the chance to go right next door and visit the Electric Playground, which was one of the area’s first arcades.

 

For Anderson, the visits to Pappy’s provided more than just a job. It was where she would meet her husband Scott, a 1976 Bridgeport graduate.

 

“I was just sitting there one night with a bunch of my girlfriend and he walked through and he just started talking to me. We started talking and he asked me if I was coming up next night and we started meeting and dated,” said Anderson. “We met there and both worked there; me as a cashier and he was a cook.”

 

The place, according to Hardy, was booming, Spatafore actually came to the Bridgeport location from the one in Fairmont. Afterwards, she would work at Pappy’s in Virginia and Maryland after that.

 

“Bob Rutledge owned the location and his son, Bob, was the overall manager,” said Hardy, a 1973 BHS graduate living now in Fairmont. “The food really was pretty good and, at that time, the drinking age was 18 so you had the 18-year-olds drinking and hanging out and you had others hanging out drinking pitchers of (soda). At one point they even had bands there in the back.”

 

Fortney said the place was lively.

 

“The place was always hopping. Most of the guys were there looking to hang out with girls. What’s amazing is that I go to El Rincon when I come in sometimes and I don’t think the floor plan or layout has changed that much outside of the décor. When I’m there, I think I was there forever when I was younger, but that wasn’t the case,” said Fortney, who left Bridgeport after high school and began a decorated career in the military. “It was just a great place.”

 

Anderson doesn’t disagree. In fact, she said there are some Pappy’s still in existence with the closest one not completely out of range from Bridgeport.

 

“It was always a franchise and I guess they still exist. There’s one in Johnstown (Pa.),” said Anderson, who has lived at Maple Lake since 1989.

 

Like many things, Pappy’s time was brief but beneficial – if for no other reason the joy it brings when those who got to experience it during its time in Bridgeport.

 

“The food was never a problem and it was pretty inexpensive. You could get a large pizza for $2.65,” said Hardy. “Maybe it was just too many kids hanging out and not really buying anything, but it left and left a lot of good memories.”

 

Afterwards, it hosted another Italian restaurant in “The Villa.” That also didn’t last terribly long and eventually El Rincon took over and has been in place ever since.

 

As much as I like some chips and salsa from there, I wouldn’t mind having a slice of pizza, a pitcher of beer and a Pappy Burger today. Maybe a trip to Johnstown is in order.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows a menu Helen Anderson provided via Pinterest, while the second photo is from the 1976 Bridgeport High School Yearbook and courtesy of Mrs. Alice Rowe. It shows manager Bob Rutledge taking an order from Cindy Kinder. The photo of the window, the player piano and the "Pappy's Characater" all provided by either Helen Anderson or from Pinterest.