“I’m hoping you can help me know if I’m remembering a place for real or did I dream it,” she explained.
Actually, it’s two places: A restaurant and a music store, and an accordion may have been involved.
She has this vague recollection of going with her parents to West Bowery Street, just off South Main, between 1949 and 1953.
There was a small restaurant there: Was it Anthe’s?
You’re not dreaming, Nancy.
Brothers Nick and Charles Anthe owned the Paradise Central Cafe at 124 W. Bowery St. for nearly eight years in the 1950s. In 1958, they bought the former Canteen at 1612 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls and operated Anthe’s Restaurant until a fire destroyed the business in 1962.
Charles returned to Bowery Street in 1963 to run Anthe’s Downtown while Nick helmed Nick Anthe’s Restaurant at 1300 E. Tallmadge Ave.
In 1969, Charles moved to the former Sunset Inn at 4315 Manchester Road and opened Anthe’s, a Portage Lakes landmark for decades. Today, it’s Lala’s in the Lakes. In 1978, Nick bought the Patron at 1008 N. Main St. and renamed it Nick Anthe’s, a North Hill landmark for decades. Today, it’s Wise Guys Lounge & Grill.