History of Galvin's Dinner House

Through the many years Galvin's has been in business, the building, the menu, and the decor have seen many changes. These changes have added to the great food, service, and charm of the restaurant.

The building was originally designed as a Phillips Service station for customers using Highway 71, the main route to Kansas City. Although the owners did not serve fried chicken, it is thought to have had a lunch counter. While customers were having their cars filled, they could eat lunch, buy a magazine or a pack of gum. It continued to be a service station for nearly two decades.

In 1940 Roy Galvin, a foodservice manager for the Lake Contrary Amusement Park, decided to venture out on his own. Along with his wife Dottie, Roy bought the service station and lunch counter. The husband and wife team did everything from scratch, even to the point of serving customers eggs from their laying that they housed out back. One day a customer requested fried chicken, so Roy went out and sacrificed one of his laying hens. It was so good that the requests kept growing for the fried chicken. As the requests kept increasing, Roy and Dottie found themselves raising their chickens to fry instead of for the eggs.

In the early days, the Galvins served the chicken in baskets with French fries and cole slaw with strawberry shortcake for dessert. They continued serving this menu for the next 30 years to many return customers.

One such customer was a local businessman, who loved Galvin's and whose heart's desire was to one day own the restaurant. His name was Ross "Bing" Wolfing. He told Dottie if she was ever interested in selling Galvin's to let him know. Finally September 1, 1970, Bing's dream came true. He took over the restaurant after Dottie (Roy had passed away by then) had reached her goal of being there for thirty years.

Bing almost immediately started to incorporate some of his ideas such as serving the fried chicken "family style" with mashed potatoes instead of French fries and vegetables instead of cole slaw. He also added gravy for the potatoes and fresh bread. Bing would eventually extend the dessert menu, add salads to the dinner, and adding soup as an extra course to the meal. After a few years, he expanded the menu to include steaks, fish and a pork chop. Although Bing made changes, the one thing he kept the same as Roy and Dottie was fresh and homemade menu choices.

The design and decor of Galvin's today are all Bing's ideas that he envisioned at a young age and a style he grew up in. It was Bing's foresight and dreams that make Galvin's what it is today.

It was in 1972 that I came to Galvin's as a dishwasher. After spending four years in the dish room, I got a little taste of the rest of the kitchen experience and learned as much as I could. I eventually moved out to the dining room where Bing needed a dining room manager, Ten years after starting at Galvin's I became a partner in the restaurant.

November 12, 2003 Bing passed away. As part of the estate the Galvin's was left to me. Today my wife, Toni, and I are the owners. We are committed to seeing Galvin's Dinner House grow and succeed. Along with our dedicated staff (our extended family) we are continuing the tradition Roy and Dottie started many years ago: we continue to serve homemade products.

We hope you find your dining experience just as special and delightful as the many returning have found. We also hope you will make Galvin's a tradition for your special occasions and holidays. We look forward to serving you.

Bill Grace