A Very Brief History of the Little Grill 

The Little Grill has been a restaurant called the “The Little Grill,” in this location, since 1940. According to old yellow pages and newspaper articles, prior to 1940, it was briefly an antique store, and before that, in the 1920’s, it seems to have been built to be the bathhouse for a public swimming pool, which was roughly in the location of the current Whitmer Tire building. 

Over the years, we have heard stories of people coming here as children in the 1950’s and 60’s. One former regular, Gravy (Fred Rhodes), reported that his father, as a child, who was too poor to pay the nickel for the public swimming pool, used to come here at night and jump off the roof of this building into the pool. Another, Paul Keppel, recalled that when he was a child, there was an owner who made a certain amount of cinnamon rolls every day that would be for sale starting at 10am - people would line up for them, and when they were gone, they were gone. 

Maria Prytrula, (the furthest back in time owner who Ron actually knew - she actually became a regular in the 90’s) owned the Grill from 1980 - 1985, serving only breakfast and lunch. A young man, named Chris Boyer, who worked for Maria, started renting the building from her at night to sell “Mexi-Death Chili,” imported beers, and stage plays, rock shows, and poetry readings, purportedly staying open until 2am some nights. 

In 1985, Chris partnered with Bob Driver to buy the restaurant from Maria. The restaurant used to consist of a long counter with stools where the booths currently reside, the booths were against the front window, and the current kitchen was an office and storage space. Bob and Chris and many friends converted the Grill into a full service restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, 7 days a week, with entertainment on the weekends. Bob started Sunday Brunch at the Grill, as we know it today. Chris left after a year and John Eckman bought into the ownership until he and Bob sold the restaurant in 1990. 

The current owner, Ron Copeland, then a JMU student, was hired by Bob Driver as a dishwasher in December of 1989, and was surprised to return from Christmas break to find the restaurant in the hands of new owners, Tom Kildea and Pete Slayer. Slayer (aka “Slats”) left after a few months, and Tom remained owner until June of 1992, when he sold the restaurant to Ron.  

Ron and Melaine, who met as co-workers at the Grill in 1990, were married in 1994, purchased the house next door in 1995, went on to raise 3 children there, Emmett, Phoebe, and Rose, and owned the restaurant until June of 2003. 

During their tenure, they continued the traditions like open mic night and Sunday brunch, introduced a wider selection of vegetarian options, hosted the Free Food For All Soup Kitchen every Monday for a decade, and basically did their best to keep the magic of the Grill alive. 

In 2002, Ron wanted to go to graduate school but was hesitant to sell the Grill. Ron’s childhood friend and Grill alumnus, Pat Dooley (for whom “The Dooley” is named), who was living in Berkeley, CA, told Ron about the Cheese Board Collective, a worker owned store and pizza restaurant in Berkeley, and suggested that he turn the Grill into a worker-owned cooperative. 

Ron floated the idea to some staff members and Ron, Kendall Whiteway, Jonathan Schrag, Chris Howdyshell, Amie Hyatt, and Jason Wagner met every Wednesday night for 10 months and, after welcoming six other founding members to their group, gave birth to the Little Grill Collective, a worker owned restaurant, that owned the Grill from June of 2003 until December of 2022. 

After the brutality of the Covid era and shrinking numbers of worker-owners, the five remaining owners were exhausted and ready to let the Grill move on to its new incarnation, whatever that might be, and closed the restaurant in September of 2022. 

After much soul-searching and deliberation, on Thanksgiving of 2022, the Copelands decided to purchase the Grill and the sale was made final on January 1, 2023. 

So here we are, embarking on a new adventure with our beloved Little Grill. And we are so happy that you have decided to come along for the ride!