A downtown Tyrone Restaurant hit the two-year mark on St. Patrick’s Day.
Thelma’s Cafe has operated for the last two years at 966 Pennsylvania Avenue at what used to be Hullihens Pizza.
In a March 2003 article about the restaurant’s opening, it was noted the specialty at Thelma’s is “homestyle cooking.” The restaurant showcases its specialty with a full breakfast and lunch menu.
Thelma’s is owned by Tim and Donna Wahl. When contacted last week about the restaurant’s birthday, Mrs. Wahl was asked if any changes were on the horizon for the cafe. She stressed they just plan to keep doing what they’ve been doing and invoked the “homestyle cooking” theme.
The Wahl’s also own a restaurant in Huntingdon called Donna’s.
When Thelma’s first opened, it adjusted its hours within days, after numerous customers wanted an earlier start time for the breakfast menu.
Before the restaurant opened its doors in 2003, Mr. Wahl took about three weeks to renovate the building. A. A. Contracting and Buck Anders helped with the work. The building had to be cleaned and painted. Wahl was also helped by Deb and Don Boonie, Danette and Pat Leeper, Patty and Jeremy Anders and Peanut and Sherry Miller.
At the time, Wahl said, “We put a new floor in, put new ceilings in, and had a lot of plumbing to do because it froze up,” said Wahl.
A new counter was installed and the kitchen was redone.
Once the building was ready to go, the focus moved to all of the food that Donna prepares herself.
At the time of the cafe’s opening, the restaurant offered almost any kind of egg or omelet for breakfast while the lunch menu included hot meatloaf, hot turkey, hot ham, hot beef sandwiches, steak sandwiches, monte cristos, reubens and hamburgers.
When the business started up two years ago last week, Mr. Wahl said, “She makes everything herself. All the pies she makes. She makes a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing that everybody dies for.”
Other pies and cakes that are available are coconut cream pie, apple pie, apple dumplings, cinnamon rolls and pumpkin rolls.
The Wahls have also remodeled the second and third floor of the building for apartment rentals. Mrs. Wahl said three apartments have been done, and there is one remaining to be remodeled.
She said the business did have water damage in its basement from last September’s flooding but was not heavily affected by it.
The couple’s Huntingdon restaurant, Donna’s, has been in operation for eight years. Mrs. Wahl said she had worked in the restaurant industry prior to that time.
Thelma’s Cafe is open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The phone number is 684-1663. Delivery is not available. The cafe offers counter and table seating to accommodate more than 40 people.
