In the dairy chain’s heyday, many people remembered the spelling of Islay's using the mnemonic “I Shall Always Love You Sweetheart.” Today they could use “Isaly’s Stow, amazingly, ladles your sustenance.”
It’s been in a variety of buildings housing some combination of deli, dairy or restaurant - each one near the corner of routes 59 and 91 in Stow - since 1929. The current iteration opened in 1998 as Isaly’s II but closed last Christmas Eve when owner Ed Fox retired. Three days later, Samar and Jason Covel bought the place, changing the name to Isaly’s Cafe and Catering.
“I didn’t want to do Isaly’s III, I wanted to focus on catering and ‘cafe’ is a nice touch to add,” Jason said.
The couple, with decades in the hospitality business, jumped at the chance to buy a restaurant. After getting the keys in January, they enlisted friends and their 17-year-old twins, Meghan and Michael, to spend several weeks repainting and revising the menu before reopening last month. Prices might be a big higher due to the economy, Samar said, adding that customers are happy with the revamp and the use of so many Summit County-sourced ingredients.
“Once they see what they’re getting, the service, the local vendors, they say it’s well worth it,” she said.
Kathy Lowrey lives nearby and was a regular until last year’s closure. On Thursday, she made her first visit to the new spot.
“We had good experiences at the last Isaly’s, and so far I’m impressed with the service,” she said after ordering one of her favorites, a BLT.
She also remembered going to Isaly’s for milk or chipped chopped ham when she was growing up in Akron’s Kenmore neighbors. Her husband, Robert, grew up in North Hill.
“When I was a kid, we used to go to Isaly’s for Skyscraper ice cream. It was 10 cents for a cone,” he said. “When I was in high school, we used to go over to the Isaly’s and have coffee and a sandwich.”
For his first return visit, he tried a wrap, one of the new menu items.
The Covel’s said the new avocado toast has proven most popular, and they’ve retained past favorites like the scrambler, a mix of eggs, potatoes and bread. Some customers have requested the chopped ham salad from the former menu, and Samar is trying to find the recipe.
“I’m Lebanese," she said. "We’re used to making a lot of food!”
Swiss cheesemaker Christian Isaly started his namesake dairy in Monroe County in 1833. The chain grew to 300 locations that once stretched throughout the Midwest and introduced items like the Klondike Bar. There is at least one other Isaly’s restaurant in the Pittsburgh area, where the chain thrived for decades after it began closing facilities in Ohio in the 1960s.
