Trending
WILLIAMSTOWN -- Things are taking off at Jerry's Flyaway Cafe.
The Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport restaurant relaunched in March under owner Jerry Spears, who is teaming with former airport restaurant owner Helen Westbrook. It's not the first collaboration between the two, as Spears managed Westbrook's Helen's Family Restaurant and Helen's Kozy Kitchen.
Returning to the airport is "just like coming back home," Westbrook said.
The menu ranges from breakfast items like omelets, French toast and biscuits and gravy to lunch and dinner fare including burgers, noodles and chicken, baked steak and spaghetti.
"It's all home-cooked," Westbrook said. "We run specials every day."
Then there are Westbrook's renowned homemade pies, which have maintained a loyal following no matter where she was cooking them.
"You cannot keep pies made here," she said with a laugh.
So far, the Flyaway Cafe's busiest day is Sunday, when they open a second section. The crowd is usually so big that Westbrook's son, Pleasants County Prosecutor Brian Carr, comes down to help out, adding to the family atmosphere.
But Spears wants people to realize the establishment is also open until 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
The first seats to fill up are those along the windows looking out onto the runway and the lush greenery beyond, Westbrook said.
"It is a beautiful view," she said. "The kids just go crazy over these planes."
The restaurant draws customers from the community while also serving as a benefit for those flying commercially or privately into and out of the airport, Airport Manager Glen Kelly said.
"It actually promotes a lot of fly-in traffic, particularly on weekends," he said.
Westbrook said the restaurant can cater meals for business planes that land at the airport.
Beyond the mere presence at the airport, the aviation atmosphere was expanded recently with pictures and artwork from the collection of Ron Salter, president of Salter and Associates.
Salter, who earned his pilot's license at the airport in the 1970s and worked for marketing company Fahlgren & Associates when the new airport facility was being built, has amassed his collection over 25 to 30 years.
"It's been sitting around in my basement and attic, and I said, 'What good is it doing?’" he said. "It ought to go some place."
At a March gathering to discuss the possibility of establishing a foreign trade zone at the airport, Salter looked around the restaurant and felt like he'd found the right place. The presence of actual planes is "one of the strengths" of the location, so he thought the aviation images in his collection would fit in well.
—
If you go
-Jerry's Flyaway Cafe at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport
-9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
-11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday
-Closed Mondays
-The restaurant will also be closed Sunday, May 27, for Memorial Day.