photo by: Shelley Hanson

Wheeling resident Bill Haught poses outside of his new business, the old Bob’s Lunch in Moundsville. Haught said since buying the eatery he has not changed a thing, which is the way his customers like it.

MOUNDSVILLE — When Bill Haught purchased Bob’s Lunch in Moundsville, longtime patrons of the eatery wanted to know if he was going to change anything.

His answer was no — and that made them happy.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said.

Since taking over on July 31, Haught has been amazed at the number of people who frequent the establishment every day — between 450-500. He enjoys interacting with the customers at the same restaurant he used to frequent as a child. It is also the same restaurant he brought his own children to when they were young.

Haught is no stranger to running a company. When he moved to Moundsville in 1976 from Reader, he worked at Reichart furniture for several years. He’s owned and co-owned several businesses over the years including M&M Carpet in Moundsville. He owned radio stations in New Martinsville. He owned a national marketing company at one time. He also built and owned the DG supper club in New Martinsville. At one time he owned piano stores in New York City and Manhattan. In Wheeling he ran a commercial printing company.

Then, in 2000, Haught said he decided to sell all of his holdings in various companies and move to Florida and retire.

Later, Haught and his wife, Karen (Gerrero) Haught, moved back to the Ohio Valley to be closer to their grandchildren. He worked for another company for 12 years, but it was not as satisfying as working for himself.

“In January of this year, I retired for the second time,” he said.

But retirement was getting boring, again. Learning that his longtime friend Gary Workman was looking to sell Bob’s Lunch piqued his interest.

“I have eaten here hundreds of times,” Haught said. “I walked in and brought my wife to see it. … It was busy and packed. I came back eight times incognito and ate and observed. I liked what I saw. The staff works continuously and gets along. The customers; there are so many regulars. So I decided to buy it. I made a deal with Gary and bought it.”

The restaurant has several employees who have worked there for 30 years. It has 28 employees in total.

“I have three managers and they all have been there a long time,” he said. “I spend my time visiting with the customers who come in. I greet the customers, make sure they’re OK. So far it’s been fabulous,” he said.

“We bring people on a regular basis from Middlebourne, Tyler County, to New Cumberland, Hancock County, to St. Clairsville, Belmont County, and Bellaire, Shadyside, and Washington, Pa. This is basically a historic landmark restaurant,” he said.

“There are good, wholesome people coming in. Wholesome food and wholesome prices. There are people who come here multiple times a day. There are people who come here every day.”

Haught said Bob’s Lunch continues to make deliveries as far south as the Washington Lands area and as far north as Benwood.

“There are people who order food by the week. There are people who place an order every day. There is a woman whose mother is homebound and she orders meals for her for the whole week,” he said.

He added his in-house delivery person has worked there for nine years.

“Of all the businesses I’ve been in, and all of them were larger than this, I’m really more excited about this than any other business I’ve been in,” he said.

“The prices are good. The food is fabulous and everyone gets along really well.”

While he’s tending to the restaurant, Haught said his wife, whom he married in 2001, is the executive director of the Seeing Hand Association in Wheeling. He noted her family, the Gerreros, owned the Gerrero Music Stores for many years.

Haught himself is a musician, having played in various bands over the years.

“I played music professionally for 23 years in the Jamboree and a lot of local places in Moundsville and Wheeling. The last one I was in was Backfire with Howard Hatcher and Cal Landis,” Haught said, noting he was a singer but he also played keyboard and guitar.

When Haught wasn’t playing music he also helped coach Little League baseball and basketball at St. Francis School. He has five children and 12 grandchildren.