Classic local restaurants that we will always miss

>> FROM THE ARCHIVES: The ghosts of past eateries trigger wave of nostalgia (2010)

🍽️ 1. King Cole Restaurant

Once located in the Kettering Tower in downtown Dayton, King Cole was known for its steaks, seafood and stately paintings on the walls. The server would run a crumb cleaner across the tablecloth between courses.

King Cole closed in May 1998.

🍽️ 2. Charley’s Crab

In the upstairs of the Arcade in downtown Dayton, Charley’s served to-die-for rolls, slathered with butter — those rolls went well with any of the seafood dishes. The Dayton Arcade closed in 1991.

🍽️ 3. Neil’s Heritage House

Located at the corner of South Patterson Boulevard and West Schantz Avenue, Neil’s Heritage House was a popular supper club for more than five decades, and a highly sought-after venue for wedding receptions, reunions and other private parties.

The restaurant initially shut its doors in January 2006, operated in its later years by Walter Schaller. Then in 2010, Serena Walther, granddaughter of the restaurant’s founder, Neil Swafford, moved from California back to her hometown of Dayton, and with her then-husband Eric Leventhal, renovated the space and reopened the restaurant in 2011. The new Neil’s opened strong, fueled in part by nostalgia, but later struggled and closed in late 2014.

In 2015, the non-profit organization Dayton History purchased the iconic property for about $700,000.

>> Neil’s Heritage House contents auctioned off

>> Dayton History buys former Neil’s Heritage House property

🍽️ 4. L’Auberge

Once the most highly credentialed restaurant in all of Dayton, l’Auberge on Far Hills Avenue near the Town & Country Shopping Center in Kettering was founded in 1979 by Josef Reif and the late Dieter Krug. For 19 years, it held a four-star rating from the Mobil Travel Guide. In 2012, the restaurant closed and the building later was demolished to make way for a bank.

>> L’Auberge furnishings, equipment to be auctioned

>> l’Auberge owner blames default on competition, recession

🍽️ 5. Dominic’s

Located on South Main Street across from the former Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Dominic’s served some of the best manicotti in Southwest Ohio. Ordering the garlic-fueled House Salad Dressing was almost mandatory. After a meal at Dominic’s, your skin pores exuded garlic for days.

After 50 years in business, Dominic’s closed in 2007.

🍽️ 6. Anticoli’s Giuliano Tavern

Located on South Main Street in Miamisburg, Anticoli’s Giulano Tavern closed in 2015 after Leo Anticoli, it’s 80-year-old owner, announced his retirement. But the “Anticoli’s” name resonates with Miami Valley residents who dined and celebrated special family events at the Salem Avenue restaurant by that name during that its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s.

During that era, Leo oversaw the iconic restaurant’s kitchen, while his brother Tony and sister Gloria ran the front of the house. The Salem Avenue Anticoli’s closed in 2000, and Leo then launched Caffe Anticoli, which operated on North Main Street in Clayton from 2000 to 2010.

After it closed, Leo and his son Chris moved south to open Anticoli’s Giuliano Tavern in Miamisburg, adding the reference to Leo’s father’s hometown in Italy to the restaurant name. All of the restaurants served traditional Italian cuisine, including spaghetti and meatballs as well as ravioli.

🍽️ 7. The Stockyards Inn

Operating at least since 1900, the Stockyards at 1065 Springfield St. called it quits in 2013. It used to be one of the places to go for a good steak and bottle of wine.

>> Historic Stockyards Inn restaurant calls it quits (July 20913)

🍽️ 8. Peasant Stock

Once a fixture in the Town & Country shopping mall in Kettering, Peasant Stock was the place to go and was famous for its Peasant Salad, a chopped salad featuring green peas, hard-boiled eggs, cheddar cheese and fried bacon crisps. It was served on chilled pewter plates. The restaurant closed in 2000.

🍽️ 9. The Original Rib House

It’s not gone yet, but we already are going to miss it. The Original Rib House in Vandalia, an institution for 38 years, closed July 13, 2019. Barbecue ribs, broasted chicken and sour cream apple pie were menu favorites and served up to the community and annual visitors to the Amateur Trapshooting Association’s Grand American Trapshooting Championships before it relocated.

🍽️ 10. The Barnsider

The Barnsider originally opened in 1975 on North Main Street in Harrison Twp. and closed in 2016. The restaurant had been a popular gathering spot and destination for prom dinners, rehearsal dinners, family gatherings and special events for decades.

🍽️ 11. La Piazza

La Piazza — founded and owned by a member of the longest continually operating restaurant family in the Miami Valley — shut its doors for good in 2018. Located at 2 N. Market St. on Troy's town square, La Piazza was launched by Michael and Jennifer Anticoli in 1992, and celebrated its 25th anniversary the year before it closed.