Erie's classic restaurants bring back memories, nourish souls

Did you ever walk into a restaurant and just feel the history? Wonder how many backroom deals have been done there, how many birthdays celebrated, anniversaries, proposals?

These restaurants have an atmosphere that no 21st-century designer could fake. Often the furniture, the tablecloths, the lighting, even the space between the tables, feels comfortable, well-used, storied. Everyone wants to try the next big-name, brand-new eatery, with a seven-figure build-out, the dust still falling from the carpenter's tools while the hosts in the ultra-cool uniforms lead them to a table that was wrapped in plastic a week ago.

But sometimes, you want to eat food you recognize from a menu that hasn't changed appreciably in a generation. You want sauce, the recipe for which someone's mother wrote on an index card in Italy and tucked it away for someone's trip across the Atlantic.

We have attempted to round up a list of these "classic" restaurants still chugging in Erie County, those with history, with flavor, with family pictures hanging behind the bar. Where the owner bartends and answers the phone and all that's missing are the ashtrays.

Some have been left off this list because they qualified for other lists: romantic restaurants, diners, hidden gems, etc. These restaurants serve pure nostalgia thicker than the Greek sauce at New York Lunch.

Classic Erie restaurants

Colony Pub & Grille: 2670 W. Eighth St. 814-838-2162; thecolonypubandgrille.com
McGarrey's Oakwood Cafe, 1624 W. 38th St. 814-866-0552; msm290.flavorplate.com
Madeline's Dining & Events (Previously Crowley's) 8844 PA-18, Cranesville, 814-402-1075, madelinesdining.com

Justin Herring, right, holds his daughter Madeline, as family members gather outside the former Crowley's Restaurant & Lounge in Elk Creek Township. From back left are Herring's in-laws Robert and Patti Tuznik and his wife, Jessica Herring. The group operates Madeline's Dining & Events at the location on Rt. 18.

New York Lunch East Ave., 922 East Ave., 814-454-5591, newyorkluncheast.com
Smuggler's Wharf, 3 State St., 814-459-4273, facebook.com/SmugglersWharfErie
Plymouth Tavern, 1109 State St., 814-453-6454 plymouthtavern.com

Thanksgiving Eve is traditionally one of the busiest nights of the year for bars, taverns and restaurants in Erie County including the Plymouth Tavern in downtown Erie, shown here on Nov. 25, 2011.

Lorie's Wildridge Restaurant, 5455 West Ridge Road, 814-838-3402, lories-wildridge.com
Bizzarros Ringside Restaurant, 3202 Sterrettania Road, 814-833-8444, ringsiderestaurantmenu.com
TK's Lake Breeze Tavern, 4820 East Lake Road, 814-899-3656, TK's Lake Breeze Tavern
Valerio's, valeriospizzeria.com2179 W. 32nd St., 814-833-2959; 1803 E. 38th St., 814-825-2693; 724 Powell Ave., 814-833-8884.