My Culinary Odyssey: Huntington Mall, Part One

    I have been going to the Mall at least once a year since it opened over forty years ago. Since the early 90s, I have usually been going twice a year.  The Mall was also the only shopping trip I made in 2020, as I was able to make it there a few weeks before the lockdowns started.  While it is decidedly misnamed (see the first entry), it has been a favorite shopping destination since I was a kid.  Even after a trip where I didn't find anything, I still wind up going back year after year. I even occasionally find something I wasn't really expecting. Of course, this means I have also eaten out many times here. This week's post starts things off with some of the first places I ate out, mostly in the earliest trips back in the 80s. Maybe early 90s if I have the time. Click the link here to read the introduction to this series and find out how I have organized this series. 

• Shoney's, DI:  My first trip to the Mall didn't even involve eating there.  We were unfamiliar with the roads and got at little frustrated at not being able to find the Mall. My mom turned the car around to go back home, but I managed to talk her into stopping at the rest area for information.  Turns out, we were about a mile away from seeing the road signs when we turned around.  Why name the place the "Huntington Mall," when it is miles east of the city and just barely outside Barboursville city limits?  Anyway, we got a free map of the Mall as well. My mom and our guest saw the sign to Shoney's on the way, and they decided we would eat there after shopping. The restaurant was located up a winding road on a short hill. As it was mid-afternoon, we were practically the only people there. My mom ordered some chicken strips for me, but I thought they were too bumpy and barely touched them. We never went there again. I believe I saw on the news that they were closing the restaurant, as well as the most of the chain. I doubt I could find the place again, so I don't know what happened to the building, as I haven't been to the west end of Barboursville since.
• Long John Silver's, DI:  On that first trip to the Mall, LJS was still under construction, but I was eager to eat there once it opened. It would be the third yearly trip before we would eat there. It was the largest LJS I had been in, with three different seating areas, each one on a different level to replicate the ship experience. This was back in the days when servers would still bring your order to your table.  I loved the place.  My mother less so.  She felt it was dark and a little messy. We would never eat there again, although having LJS take out for dinner most of the time when we went back home eased that somewhat. The LJS would close in the 90s, ultimately being replaced by a Ruby Tuesday.  This restaurant prefers diners to come in through the outside entrance, but can leave through the Mall entrance. Online maps show an LJS on the west side of Barboursville. Haven't seen it.
• Bonanza (?), DI: When I was very young, my mom would ask relatives along for our shopping trips as a way to help watch over me. (Didn't always work out that way.) One time, they suggested we eat at this buffet style restaurant.  It was probably a Bonanza, but I might not be remembering it right. It wasn't located in the food court, but it was on the south/Sears end of the Mall, halfway down the west side. I don't think I saw anything that interested me, so I doubt I ate much of whatever my mom got for me. I just read one of the books I had gotten.  This place didn't last past the early 90s. I'm not sure what is in its place now.  Maybe a shoe store, or possibly Victoria's Secret.
• Big Loafer, DI:  For some reason, everyone thought we should eat here one time. It is a part of a chain based on the ubiquitous West Virginia pepperoni roll, with variations of fillings. I swear, this place is not only still open, but it looks almost exactly the same as it did when it opened. Same faux stone and wood exterior, 80s style graphics on the menu, and even the lunch counter stools and booths. It could just well be the only unit in the Mall that hasn't had a remodel in all this time.  Even the memorabilia is about the same, if maybe updated. The one time we ate there, I only had some crinkle cut fries.  Didn't like them much back then.  The place is still open.  Items on the menu board have been removed, prices changed, and pieces of paper noting newer items and other changes. How this place is still in business after all this time is well beyond me.  
• Sbarro's, DI (technically):  Another restaurant that's been here since the Mall opened, but this one has been remodeled.  It used to have a very small seating area and maybe even restrooms.  Both were removed, although the restrooms may have been converted for use for the entire food court. The one time we ate here, probably early 90s, the seats had already been removed.  We ate in the general seating area.  The tables and chairs were too close together to be comfortable, so that was the only time we ate there.  We have since refrained from eating at any location without a seating area ever since.
• Chick-fil-A, DI:  This was another choice made in the mid-80s. We had brought along relatives again.  They wanted to eat at one place, but I didn't. Therefore, my mom decided we should eat here, although I was probably pushing for LJS and this was her compromise. I tried their chicken strips, but I felt they were too bumpy or something, so I barely touched them. I was looking through a comic book instead of eating. We never tried to go back. About fifteen years or so ago, they remodeled the restaurant, eliminating most of the seating space. This forces people to sit in the general seating area. Although I have since grown to like Chick-fil-A (see a later post), this fact alone prevents me from trying here again.
• Arby's, east food court location, DI: This one is tricky, as Arby's might have moved a little after the time I ate here.  See, I think Arby's originally had a larger location right by the main entrance to the Mall. We ate there at that time.  They were phasing out the 'Laurel and Hardy' promotional materials.  I just had some fries, and I can't remember if they were the curly ones. By the 90s, Arby's may have moved one unit down to allow another restaurant the coveted door location. I don't think I ate there after that move.  Later, Arby's would close this location, but they left many of their tables and chairs in the space.  The newer restaurant would use the space as overflow seating. What happened to Arby's? What restaurant took over its spot?

    Come back this Saturday for a bonus post to find out the answers to these questions, as well as finding out about the rest of the places at the Mall where I have eaten.