Taste O’ Home has been fixture in the community for 22 years and has served as a place were repeat customers come to socialize and enjoy home cooking.
On May 15, it’s closing shop for good.
Owners Neva Lark and Etta Dolly started the business in May of 1986.
“It was something I always wanted to do — I grew up cooking and baking,” said Lark.
Lark noted that the restaurant was closing partly because of the Memorial Bridge reconstruction.
“We had the option to relocate, but we decided to go ahead and just retire,” said Lark.
Lark plans on opting for the early buyout in October.
According to Lark, the building that the Taste O’ Home is currently located in has a long history that dates back to the 1900s, when the B&O RailRoad was thriving.
Before Lark owned the Taste O’ Home, it was the owned by Dave Pitman and was called the Pitman Restaurant. Before that, it was owned by Freda Austin and was called the Rosemont Restaurant.
Once she retires, Lark plans to spend time with her family — including her seven grandchildren — and working in her garden.
“The Taste O’ Home is appropriately named — they offer good, home-style cooking and baked goods,” said John Harvey, a decade-long regular. “They also have a good salad bar. I also like the staff. I enjoy sitting here at the counter and visiting with them.” said John Harvey.”
Hazel and Scoot Coffman, who are also regulars at the restaurant, come the restaurant to visit their favorite waitress and to enjoy the food.
“The food here is outstanding and I am sad that they will be closing,” said Hazel.
“The name Taste O’ Home says it all — they have good home-cooking and a good breakfast on Saturday,” said a regular customer, who wished to remain anonymous. “The restaurant will be sorely missed.”
“A lot of regulars eat there and I don’t know where they’re going to eat now,” said Bart Lay, owner of Solar Mountain Records, right next door to the restaurant. “The Taste O‘ Home is always busy on a Sunday, with the church crowd, and is always busy during holidays. I’m going to miss the restaurant and I wish they would move it somewhere else.”
“It’s terrible,” said Sheriff Gary White. “I’m disappointed that the Taste O’ Home is closing. I think it’s a very good restaurant. I like like that it’s close, and I like the friendly atmosphere. I don’t know where we are going to eat now,” he said of himself and his officers.
“I’m a sorry to hear that they’re closing their doors,” said Rob Tetrick, former owner of the the Mineral Daily News-Tribune. “It’s yet another establishment in Keyser that will be sorely missed. Lark and Dolly were very good neighbors to us when we were here at the News-Tribune. They always helped out in the community by providing food and drink for the firefighters when they were on a call.”
“I am disappointed they are closing, and I hope to find something that is comparable,” Harvey concluded.
KEYSER, W.Va. —
