ALL IN THE FAMILY McCoy’s One Stop a Hub for Home Cooking and Local Music
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STORY BY GRANT RITCHEY | PHOTOS BY LAUREN PAPP
auline McCoy didn’t envision she would be the owner of McCoy’s One Stop, nor did she think the restaurant would last 16 years and counting. In 2004, Pauline didn’t want to open the restaurant in her hometown of Vinton, Ohio. Her husband, Lauchey McCoy, had a different idea. “I said ‘no,’ he said ‘yes,’” Pauline says. Set amid Gallia County’s curvy roads and lush, open fields, McCoy’s serves comfort food including Italian subs, pizza, hamburgers and deep-fried mushrooms. Pauline’s love for food started at 8 years old when she would get home from school and help her mother make dinner for her family. The restaurant is entirely family-run. Pauline and her nieces and nephews work together, helping with both cooking and taking orders. Lauchey helps with electrical issues and runs the flea market out back.
Before McCoy’s, Lauchey worked in the coal mines in Vinton and then moved on to work at the local electrical company. Seven years ago, McCoy’s started selling antiques like lamps from auction houses and children’s toys. “We’re a restaurant, but we’ve got some crafts and antiques while you’re here,” Pauline says. McCoy’s is also known for having live country and blue grass music on Friday and Saturday nights. When McCoy’s opened, music wasn’t in the picture. The idea came from a little boy who wanted to know if anyone knew how to play guitar. A few patrons taught the boy how to play. Then, locals who knew how to play music started to get together and play at McCoy’s on the weekend. Now they have a band play every weekend until sundown. “The music has been a blessing in disguise,” Pauline says.
ABOVE: McCoy’s Saturday night music, such as The Highway 7 Band’s 2019 show pictured, are legendary. Photo credit: Pauline McCoy, via Facebook.
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